We started back with Matt this morning, it felt a bit weird to do a course without Amy but is was really good to continue lessons. We got stuck in with the obligatory Navigation Course and strapped on the compass and jumped through all the hoops the unit required. Even though the unit was a bit boring and at times confusing (for my over taxed brain not Djalma's) it was still good, being back in the water and being able to watch the fish swim by.
We broke for a quick lunch and then got stuck back in with the AWARE Unit which focusses on different fish and caring for the aquatic environment. We went out to the Islands, three big coral underwater islands, a taxi ride away. I was really quite excited, especially as the unit wasn't very demanding – swim around and look at fish and hopefully try and remember what they were, however once we were in the water and swimming around I felt overwhelmed and quite a bit anxious. The area was spectacular but a little bit too daunting, we swam between the island and over massive coral beds so big and deep that they seemed to rise up from the blue and not the sea bed, my mind went into Jaws overload and I got over it as fast as I could, which was such a shame because it was so beautiful. It also didn't help that just before the end we had to swim through two small joined caves both of them open topped but to enter we had to swim through an archway, the fit was tight and I bounced off the top in my haste to get through. Djalma was fine, of course and didn't even notice the two (poisonous) lionfish kicking back in the corner,
terrorising me before I'd even got into the cave. Matt swan through before me – not in the plan – which caused me to lose it a bit- I was counting on a Sarah sandwich to feel safe, but I was unspeakably grateful when I realised it was to form a human barrier between me and the lionfish in the corner. We got through the caves and out of the water - it was the only dive that I was grateful when it had finished and I could get out of the water.
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| From 10 Dahab |
We packed up our stuff and headed back in the taxi (they wait for the duration of the dive), the mood a little bit lower because not all of us (me) had really enjoyed the dive. Homework was set back at the centre and we tootled off back to our, now air-conditioned room to read and sleep.
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