Wasini and Kisiti Islet from Shimoni : Snorkel

The 'Monsoon' Dhow which was our boat for the day, correctly named as it was raining. 

Tea break after round one of snorkelling on the reef

We headed out today on the 'Monsoon' a Dhow boat with a large crowd all knew some of each other through work in Nanyuki so it was a nice social day out checking out the reef which lies some 10km off Wasini Island in the Southern Indian Ocean. It sits in the 'Kisiti Mpunguti Marine Reserve. Once you sail round the various islets you reach the reef which offers some excellent snorkelling with various fish and sea life to see. Here are a few snaps from under the water:

Octopus in the coral which made some amazing colour changes as we went past to camouflage 

Striped tropical fish between the corals 

Bright colours in the fish 

Different corals that move around 

 The other interesting thing to note is the house pictured below which is in Shimoni where you get the boats across the Pemba Channel, from here you can head to Zanzibar and also Pemba both Tanzanian islands. This was the first building of the British Imperial East Africa Company. They chose this area as it was empty but it had been a major slave area for sending slaves out to the Zanzibar markets but after the abolition of the slave trade this town emptied until this building was erected and many others  following on throughout the town which where built by the British. It was essentially the start of the colonial period which had its roots in Shimoni. For now it seems it has slipped back into obscurity due to the much larger resorts up the coast and also the decline in tourism in Kenya which is hitting the country quite hard at the moment.

Old site of the first British Imperial East Africa Company head quarters.