Ten of us just returned from a combination diving/safari trip in Kenya and Tanzania. We dove the Pemba Island area north of Zanzibar on the Kisawani, a small (65 foot) live-aboard, operating out of the Pemba Fishing Lodge in Shimoni, Kenya. The diving was exceptional and the safari all you could ask for.

The trip started out less than enjoyable as our plane from San Antonio was held on the runway for over an hour due to bad weather in Houston. Upon arrival, we found out that our British Airways flight had been canceled ten hours earlier. They not only failed to tell us, they let us get boarding passes online just that morning. The canceled flight resulted in us being shunted on another British Airways flight and a later flight on Continental. As last minute add-ons, this meant middle seats all the way. When we arrived at Gatwick Airport (London) we had to board a bus to Heathrow Airport (London). Even though we were on the same airline, we had to take our bags with us. Of course, this meant processing British customs and immigration.

The ride to Heathrow was reasonable, but since we had come in on a flight hours earlier than scheduled we had over eight hours to kill. British Airways will not let you check in sooner than three hours before the flight. Rather than wander around the airport pushing our large bags carrying diving gear, photography equipment and safari clothing, we checked into the Hilton at the airport. Expensive, but we needed a shower and somewhere to rest before the flight that evening. The three individuals that were coming over later on the Continental flight would do their waiting in Houston. We returned to the airport three hours before departure to find out that you were only allowed a very small carry-on. Smaller than a computer case. That meant checking our carry-on bag and stuffing everything we could into our pockets.

The flight to Nairobi was uneventful and after immigration we collected our bags and walked to the domestic terminal. We were informed the flight was canceled and that we would be on a later flight (much later) to Mombasa. We also learned since we came in on British Airways we would have to pay overweight charges ($56 to $98) per person on our Kenya Airways flight. We wandered around the airport and found a small restaurant that was open. Food was adequate and cheap so we sat at the table until time for our flight.

The flight to Mombasa was just over an hour and we were met at the airport by the representatives of the Pemba Fishing Lodge (the first part of the trip that had gone according to plan). They transferred us to the lodge at Shimoni, and we sat there for several hours while they prepared the boat for our arrival. They did arrange for us to get a shower (probably more for their comfort than ours as we had been traveling a long time in the same clothes) and some tea.

We boarded the Kisawani about midnight and departed for Pemba Island. The boat holds ten people in four small rooms and one large one. The large room has an ensuite bath and the other rooms share two lavatories and showers. No problem as that is what most live-aboards were like in the 80's. We did encounter some problems. The boat only produced 14 gallons of fresh water an hour, and they were already short so we had to limit ourselves to one real shower a day. We actually ran out of water one day and were restricted to using water for drinking only for 18 hours. The air conditioner in some of the rooms had a broken fan system so they were quite warm (they did fix that during the trip). Heck, we were here to dive; what were a few inconveniences.

We got up the next day at about 6:30 AM, a feat after being awake so long and traveling through several time zones. Breakfast was fresh fruit, toast butter, jam, peanut butter and Marmite (the British answer to Australian marmalite), and an excellent home-made cereal. Breakfast was the same every morning until the last day when we actually got an egg with sausage and bacon (unfortunately, the British version).

Diving equipment was stored on the back deck (very small) and diving was from two zodiacs (six in one and four in the other). There was a small basket for each two people (my partner and I seemed to always lose ours so they had one on the zodiac to hold cameras). There was a wash tub for wetsuits (cleaned occasionally) and one little plastic tub for cameras. If you had a small digital still camera and slave strobe it would fit in the tub. If you have a video system with any type of lights, forget about it. If they would get a large plastic garbage can for the wetsuits, they could use the large tub for cameras. Any arrangement other than the existing one would be an improvement. The zodiac motors occasionally failed to start, but the skipper was always able to eventually fix whatever was wrong.

The diving was fantastic. You could tell very few people had ever been around here and the sea life was abundant. We saw turtles, schools of fish, lionfish, rays, and nudibranchs on every dive. Spanish Dancers were regularly sighted on every night dive. None of us found anything to complain about as far as the diving was concerned. The crew was also excellent. They would do whatever it took to get you the dive you wanted. The cook on the boat was a treasure and the food presented was enjoyed by all. We had a great deal of fresh fish of every variety during the week.