A 2-year-old Tash shuffled on the Sega dance floor not knowing that Mauritius had already stolen her heart. After many revisits to the island with her family, her love for sand & sea took a dive into the blue. Literally. She qualified as a Dive Master while finishing her bachelors degree at Stellenbosch in Drama. With her diving family they visited many coral reefs within the Indian ocean islands.
The island of Mauritius called again. She joined a very well-known operator where she spent most of her working career building unforgettable beach holidays. With an A type personality, she is phenomenal at administrative tasks and organising plus…she loves a good spread sheet.
She is a proud South African that has visited many of the beauties that our country has to offer. Some of which are Cape Point, Table Mountain, Robben Island, the Otter trail, Cango Caves, SALT (Southerland), Addo Elephant National Park, Pilanesberg National Park and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
There are too many to choose from, but the one that stands out the most for me is witnessing thousands of baby Green turtles hatching on the beach and heading down the shore in Madagascar. Did you know that the turtles’ sex is decided by the temperature where the eggs lay. That means, the eggs further down, where it is coldest, become males, and the eggs on the top where temperatures are warmer, become females. Being part of this process is such a good reminder that when we find ourselves in a challenge, to just keep going. If these minute-old turtles can trek across a beach to get to the ocean, we can also take on our greatest challenges.
While some prefer to lie back, with cocktail/beer in hand, on the beaches of Praslin (Seychelles), I’m kitting up my gear at the Dive shop. Being a NAUI Dive Master has opened up an entire new world for me, full of vibrant colour, flourishing coral growth and endless photo ops. Although I still yearn to share a moment with a whale shark, I have been extremely fortunate to dive with dolphins, reef sharks, turtles, manta rays… You’d need to read my logbook of 200+ dives to see the full list.
