Malawi and Tanzania

In the course of a month-long holiday in Africa I fitted in a day’s diving in Lake Malawi and another in the Indian Ocean off Mikindani, Tanzania.
 
The Lake Malawi dives were arranged through Aqua Africa, Nkhata Bay, Malawi. The lake is 500m above sea level. The site I dived was called Playground Point. The site has lots of rocky formations and a bewildering array of the cichlid fishes for which the lake is renowned.
My second dive was a night dive at the same site. We swam with a marauding pack of 50 cm+ dolphin fish who used the light of our torches to prey on any unfortunate cichlid that got caught in the beam.
Aqua Africa has its own on-site accommodation and restaurant, which offer excellent value. There is fantastic snorkeling from the centre’s private beach.
At Mikindani, in the far south of Tanzania, close to the Rovuma Estuary which forms the border with Mozambique, I dived with Eco2 and stayed at their excellent guesthouse Ten Degrees South. The first dive was at Lulu Shoal, with coral reef to explore and a mind-boggling variety of multi-coloured life forms. Fortunately I was aware that local fishermen illegally use dynamite, so the first time a shockwave hit us I regained my composure after just a second or two of assuming my body had exploded. The second site was Cryptomania where, among the myriad of life forms, were seahorses and pipefish.
Mikindani itself is a fascinating old town with a chequered history dating back to the slave trade. There is incredible snorkeling close to the nearby town of Mtwara, 10 minutes away by crowded minibus and 15 minutes back by motorized rickshaw.
   
The guesthouse is very friendly, with an eclectic clientele that included a man who fights pirates for a living. You don’t get many of them in Barnsley.

Sound brilliant Mick but I'm not sure about the dynamite. It could well have effected by buoyancy, if you know what I mean