Tree Goats

I finally was able to capture the not-so-uncommon tree goat with my own camera-phone. I wasn't able to find 6 goats in one tree, but maybe next time. Here's a picture of Lake Ghoubet too. I'll post more from the live-aboard soon.

96 Hour Liberty Trip - Dolphin Excursions Liveaboard pt. 3

Day 2 – 3/27/12

Sleep was apparently not important after the first day since I slept for about 4 hours. After the Deli started up, I got out of bed to a quite boat. The weather was nice, though it wouldn’t last. I had some great Ethiopian coffee and a crumbly snack cake. We were underway heading through the pass into Lake Ghoubet on our way to ‘The Crack’.

Once we arrived near our destination, we noticed a group of around a 100 people walking the shoreline. Apparently, they were migrating to somewhere. We briefed the dive and were cautioned that we may not find our underwater destination. Everyone suited up, headed into the skiffs and we took a pounding from the waves. The wind had kicked up quite a bit and made it difficult to hit our spot. Everyone hit the water and descended. The scene reminded me of the numerous dives spent at Lake Travis. Unfortunately, this would not be the day we found ‘The Crack’ and after a few minutes around 100 feet, we returned defeated and received another beating while loading up in the skiffs and transferring to the Deli.

The Deli took off towards more protected waters and breakfast was served. I’ve been stuck in Djibouti for a while and it was by far the best breakfast I’ve had. Breakfast the next few days would be a nice change of pace from the camp Galley. We found our new location near ‘The Red Virgin’ where we would spend the rest of the day. Our first dive at Red Virgin would start around 90 feet traversing the coral wall. The dive was great, as was the lunch that followed.

 

Time between dives here was filled with fishing for myself and a few others while most napped. We had a little luck and caught a couple small snappers and a small grouper. For our afternoon dive, we started on Red Virgin near our previous exit point and continued south. I was glad this was the reef we would dive repeatedly and could have spent several days here.

The night dive would be an area near Red Virgin, but farther north. Again, all kinds of critters were wondering on the reef, but there were not any Octopi to be seen. After the dive some fished while others hung out. As the crowd dwindled, one of the fishers managed to catch a cuttlefish with the help of the captain and a bucket. The captain insisted on keeping it and fresh, delicious calamari was served. The rest of the night I slept topside.

96 Hour Liberty Trip - Dolphin Excursions Liveaboard pt. 2

Day 1 Continued - 3/26/12

The next stop on the way to Lake Ghoubet would be Ras Korali. After a good lunch, we suited up, loaded up into the skiffs and headed out to ‘The Point’. We dropped down to about 40 feet and cruised the rocky reef. There was plenty of coral and lots of fish. I still had not remembered to adjust the settings on the camera which resulted in lots of dull colored photos. Luckily, there were plenty of others on the trip that shared their photos. There was a large school of Barracuda cruising through the reef. I’m not sure if it’s the species or if the Barracuda are good at hiding, but there were not any large Barracuda to be found. After 25 minutes we came up to 20 feet and explored for another 20 minutes. We loaded up into the skiffs and headed back to the Deli.

During out 2 hour break, I hopped in one of the skiffs with the skipper and headed out to a fishing spot. We didn’t have much luck, but caught a nice sunset. We headed back to the boat and everyone suited up for the night dive. A few stayed back on the Deli, and the rest of us descended into darkness. The reef was quiet and most of the fish were sleeping. There were a lot of interesting critters that crawled out for the night. About an hour later, we loaded up and went back to the Deli for another delicious meal.

After dinner, the rest of my evening would be spent trying to catch lunch and dinner for the next couple days. Though there were a lot of fish bighting, we did not have much luck that night. 

96 Hour Liberty Trip - Dolphin Excursions Liveaboard pt.1

After waiting to find out how to set up a liveaboard adventure for my 96-hour liberty, MWR managed to save the day and offered a tour with Dolphin Excursions. I was happy to not have to plan anything and I eagerly waited for sign-ups to open.  Finally, I made the reservations just a few weeks before taking off. It was well timed, but not perfect. After the tour, I will still have slightly over two months left and having about one month would be better. So here is how the adventure goes. 

Day 1 – 3/26/12

We started off boarding the M/Y Deli, an 85 foot wooden schooner with sails removed and a compressor set up on the deck. Not the best setup for diving, but when coupled with a pair of dinghies, it sets it up for a great mother ship liveaboard. The group anxiously awaited casting off and setting sail (or setting diesel power), and checked to ensure all equipment was on hand. Quarters were assigned, the broken toilet was ‘fixed’, and we set sail. For the next three and a half days it I would share the Deli with the crew of 5, Dapper Dan (Dolphin Excursion’s instructor), and 10 others mostly from CLUville. 

Our first dive would be at Ras Eiro, between French Beach and Arta Beach. After anchoring the Deli, we boarded the skiffs and headed to the dive site. We descended to about 50 feet and cruised through the reef. I had feared that visibility would be terrible based on my trip to French Beach the day before, but it turned out to be much better than expected.

Most members of the group were adjusted to routine diving having been on many day trips while in Djibouti and others were still getting comfortable underwater. After 45 minutes, my buddy was low on air. Back to the skiffs we went.

We returned to the Deli and enjoyed a nice lunch. This would be the routine for the next few days…Dive, eat, dive, eat, dive….and throw in some sleep wherever you see fit.

I’ll talk more about the dives and post more photos over the next week (or possibly next few weeks).