Breathtaking Coral Reefs
Leading up to this trip Ramata convinced me to get my PADI so I headed over to Wilson Diving shop and got certified lest I miss out on some epic experiences with Ramata. Pemba is reputed to have some of the best coral reefs in the world so I could not let this opportunity pass me by. We did 3 mornings of diving and would have done a fourth if we didn't have a plane to catch on the fourth day (you cannot fly until 18 hours after a dive).
I can honestly say that first dive was one of the most epic experiences of my entire life. The variety of fish alone was mind-boggling. We tried looking up some of the species in the field guides but it was pretty hopeless and we soon resigned ourselves to just enjoying their beautiful colours without knowing their names. Among our favourites were some varieties of anemonefish, bannerfish, boxfish, napoleon fish, butterfly fish and the stunning lionfish which I've always wanted to see since I was a kid. We saw about 4 or 3 different species of colourful nudibranchs (poisonous reef-dwelling sea slugs) and moray eels. Alla, Glen and Mike were our divemasters (very experienced and professional). They gave us a lot of feedback to improve our diving skills. Alla didn't give me too hard of a hard time for almost running out of air and Glen lent me his diving torch which was a real life-saver as you definitely need one of those down there! It turned out Glen used to live in Colwood which is my home - how surprising!
On our last morning I went for a snorkel and that was really awesome too. I was able to get some video clips on the GoPro while snorkeling, but not during diving because I didn't know at the time that you need a special housing for the GoPro for going deep.
Birding with Kombo
Birding was a little tricky to arrange but fortunately Mike from Swahili Gecko Lodge/Swahili Divers hooked us up with a local guy called Kombo. Getting the Pemba Scops Owl is not easy and I would not recommend doing it without a guide for two reasons. The first reason is because the window of time when they are calling is very narrow (about 15 minutes) and if you're not in the right spot you're screwed. The second reason is because the walking distances are great. The Ngezi Forest is walkable from the Swahili Gecko Lodge but the owl spot was way on the other side of the forest, and walking around at night unaccompanied in Tanzania is not ideal. Kombo showed up in a van (the driver was coincidentally the same taxi driver that drove us from the airport). By then we had already easily seen the Pemba White-eye and Pemba Sunbird in the lodge gardens (other sightings in the gardens included Lesser Galagos, a blind snake and a Four-toed Sengi seen by Nicole).
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| Bind Snake sp. |
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| Pemba Green Pigeon (female) |
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| Pemba Green Pigeon (male) |
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| African Pygmy Goose |
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| Slayin' some lifers |
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| Pemba Flying Fox |
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| Pemba Scops Owl |
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| Kombo is your man for finding Pemba endemic birds |
We started with the Pemba Green Pigeon which, I am told, is even harder than the Scops Owl. We tried one path in Ngezi forest to look for them roosting and after that failed, tried a second spot. Kombo said we should move on but I had to have one last look in my bins and lo and behold there was a female Pemba Green Pigeon in the middle of a huge tree. The only reason Kombo failed to spot it was because the guy didn't have binoculars. Later a male flew in and joined the female. We proceeded to some marshes in the northern tip of Pemba Island because I told him we wanted African Pygmy Goose. After lots of walking and scanning the marshes we found 3 of these beauties, along with Dickinson's Kestrel and Brown-headed Parrot which were really nice lifers. As the sun began to set we met up with a park ranger who took us to a very particular spot just north of the main entrance to the forest to await the darkness and with it, the Pemba Scops Owl. About a dozen Pemba Flying Foxes flew over our heads. Just as it got completely dark about three different Scops started tooting and we were able to quickly zero in on one and get it in the spotlight. Just as quickly as it appeared, if vanished into the night. Back at the park office building, I should mention that one was also calling there but we were already satisfied. We settled the fairly substantial fees for park entry, transportation and ranger fee. I asked Kombo if any of that money made its way into his own pocket and he basically said no. So I gave him a 'tip' and we were on our way. I felt bad about him not having binoculars so I said I would try to send a pair over to him if I knew of anybody from Canada who is going to Pemba (if you plan to visit Pemba, contact me).
Although it was extremely expensive to visit (largely due to insane government taxes imposed on tourist lodges) Pemba Island was THE top highlight of my Tanzania trip. Thanks to Mike and other staff from Swahili Gecko Lodge and to Kombo for helping make it happen!
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