Speeding along the glassy turquoise seas past a massive container ship I look forward and muse over the fact that we have 2 uniformed soldiers carrying Kalashnikovs sitting at the bow. A sailor looks down from high up on the deck of the Tanzanian ship. Did he even for a split second think that we may have been Somali pirates?
The sun is beating down on us as the inclement weather of the last couple of days is just a distant memory. Our little speed boat skims over the Gulf of Aden across Berbera’s harbour and after an hour our destination comes into view. We jump overboard onto a tiny patch of sand that barely qualifies as an island. Perched on it is a red and white “candy cane” lighthouse that is rusting and sadly out of action.In typically African fashion that does not mean that this outpost is deserted as a couple of locals live at the base of it ostensibly to keep a watch out against invasion.
