So, I’d dropped out of university (the second attempt went much better) and I thought, why not go to Africa for 8 weeks? Scuba diving had never been hugely on my radar, it was sort of filed away as ‘something some people did’. But I’d always had a very deep passion for the environment and conservation, thanks to one fantastic geography teacher, clichéd as it might sound. As an environmentally inclined 19-year-old, a google search on what to do during a ‘gap year’, meant clicking on the first hit and persuading my mum that 2 months scuba diving in Madagascar was the best thing for me to do during my time off.
Amazingly, she agreed and off I went with a 45-kilogram bag full of equipment I had no idea how to use. People asked me what would happen if I’d gotten there and hated diving! But I think a large part of why I immediately fell in love with diving was the circumstances under which I first experienced it. There was no other choice but to love it – I had signed up for 8 weeks of learning to scuba dive, benthic identification education, underwater surveying training, and sailing lessons, that was the deal. Of course, it was helped hugely by the dive instructor I had. Bic was the friendliest, funniest and most passionate instructor I have ever come across, and led me through open water, advanced and rescue (PADI) courses. He is the type of instructor I will constantly work to become. In fact, everyone I met there was unbelievably awesome – a testament, I think, to the power of doing what you love. It makes you the best version of yourself.
The Malagasy people I had the absolute privilege of meeting and living alongside were just the best kind of people. They were always laughing and smiling, they were infallibly generous, and they were so close to nature in ways I had never imagined (and I’m not just talking about the way they would bite through a whole fish – scales, bones and all. Or the way they could scale a coconut tree in 10 seconds. Or even the way they could walk through dozens of sea urchins without a single misstep.)
Here’s a big reason why I fell in love with diving, one I didn’t expect in the slightest. I found it to be a really powerful form of meditation, with similar effects to mindfulness. It completely and utterly occupies all of your brain and all of your senses, it is the ultimate pull to the immediate present. All your focus is on your equipment: deflating/inflating your BCD, regularly checking your SPG, watching your NDL*. And on your body: controlling your buoyancy with your breath, streamlining your equipment, keeping your position horizontal. And on safety: checking water conditions, understanding the specifics of the dive site, navigation. And not to mention actually enjoying seeing and experiencing your dive. While I respect and appreciate the benefits of meditation, I had never been very good at traditional methods, but diving gave me a whole new way to connect my mind and body in the present moment.
I talk more about the actual diving in my next post, along with quick summaries of my diving experiences thus far.
The time spent on dry land in Madagascar was crazy. We showered and brushed our teeth in salt water, we ate fish three times a day seven days a week, the giant screaming flying cockroaches would keep you up at night, the V&D hit twice and led to a kidney infection, the heat was a brutal 50 degrees Celsius and 100% humidity, we had to bang ants out of the bread and fight off crabs for the jam. It was the best 8 weeks of my life.
* Buoyancy Control Device; Submergible Pressure Gauge; No Decompression Limit
Dive With Lucy 