East African sailing trip – log 27

SAILING LOG28

September 10, 2004

Rhett and Wolf chat on the radios and we decide to push on the Ilha das Rôlas (Island of the doves) In hind sight this is not a good decision as the anchorage is exposed and due to the tide-over-current and strong winds.

Despite the bouncy night we sleep soundly, and set off excited and looking forward to our snorkel over the Zala banks 3nm north.

The Zala banks reputably a spectacular coral reef known for the variety of corals and reef fish is a disappointment to us.

Either we are in the wrong spot or the reef has been devastated by the numerous cyclones that pass through these islands. We find this reef rather barren compared with others we have dived. 

We enjoy the snorkeling though, spotting numerous lettuce leaf, plate and other corals, small marine animals such as colourful nudibranches (sea-slugs) and live shells, golden-headed jawfish, clown-fish and an assortment of blennies.  

You should value and care each other’s emotions to give the relation a long way of journey. viagra australia icks.org This leads to an increased cyclic guanosine monophosphate in the penis which in viagra samples no prescription turn enhances flow of blood by smoothing helicine penile arteries. As with many other complications of diabetes controlling your blood generic viagra purchase sugar levels periodically and avoid weight gain, hypertension, and sedentary lifestyle. Obesity – Another common problem getting viagra in australia among younger men today is obesity, which is the potential cause of ED. Wolf and I love the ocean, being marine aquarists and dive masters, so any time spent in the sea swimming over reefs, escalates our sense of euphoria.

Far too soon we are sailing past Ilha Macaloė – close enough to see the ruins of the old fort. It amazes me to see all these tiny islands with ruins of huge forts, evidence of power and struggle to maintain power, on each little island dotted along this coast. 

I am saddened when I see the development, no matter how supposedly controlled and environmentally sensitive the developers claim they are. It heralds a change from the hands of the island’s original inhabitants to the lodge and hotel owners, same as everywhere else … to the ones holding the purse-strings.  

I fear that apart from the jobs created by the lodges, very little wealth reaches these once happy islanders, and I wonder about the long-term effects on their existence and way of life.

Where ever we sail we are greeting by smiling children, women singing while they do their chores, and men happily fishing from their dugouts as they have done for decades. Now I wonder just how long it will take for the realization of inequality and dissatisfaction to make its appearance.  

I thank the Lord for the opportunity to see these islands as they are – sparsely populated, abundantly rich in tropical fruit and vegetation, unpolluted and pristinely natural and I ask for forgiveness on behalf of mankind for the greed and constant desire to exploit any environment not already ravaged by commercialism. Oh God, forgive us… for we know not what we do.