Out on the dhow to catch fish.
A fishing day with a captain who treats his crew well - and knows which reefs to leave alone.
There are two kinds of dhow trips on this coast. The fast kind, with loud music, that drops you on a sandbank with sixty other people. And the slower kind, with a small wooden boat, two crew, a hand line and an actual fish at the end of it.
We only book the second kind. The captain is a man Haji has known since they were both barefoot. The boat is repaired every season. The crew gets paid properly.
You leave the village around eight. By eleven you have either caught something or you have not, but either way the water is clear, the sail is up, and there is a thermos of chai. If you want to snorkel on the way back, the captain knows the reefs that are not crowded.
Lunch on the boat is grilled fish, rice, salad and watermelon. Back on the beach by mid-afternoon, with skin a shade darker than it was in the morning.
