The Reef - 2

The reef might be a mile out but, living almost on the beach as we did as boys at the Hoey house at Nyali (above), the sound of the ocean breaking across its coral rampart was a constant, distant roar, a reverberation, a sound which was part of the fabric of that beautiful, peaceful place.

As well as protecting the beaches from the worst of the waves, the reef acted as a barrier to sharks, so at high tide we could swim without worrying about them; and the pools exposed at low tide offered a wonderful playground for small boys. This picture is an unusual one: my father rarely came down to the beach as he did on this occasion at the Hoey House.

I like to think that I was born on a beach. This is the European Hospital in Dar-es-Salaam where I came into the world, and whoever took this picture....

....must have been almost standing on the beach - the yellow arrow points along the line of the photographer's view.

So I also like to think that one of the first sounds I heard was the Indian Ocean breaking on one of the coral reefs off Dar-es-Salaam.