I have been a diving instructor for several years and my passion for the sea and for travelling has led me to dive in many parts of the world.
My arrival in Kenya six years ago was almost accidental. 
It was not among the destinations I had set out to reach. As fate would have it, the Zanzibar destination I had chosen was not available, so I was offered Malindi. 
It was love at first sight, struck to the heart by an African sickness that still does not leave me.
Yes, because Africa-sickness exists, it is not just a word, I have experienced it. 
Sickness of Africa is the memory of the sunset, the perfumes, the warmth of the people, the colours. 
Apart from that, the week could not have been better: the kind that leaves you with a thousand memories to tell. 
For diving, I relied on Blue Fin Diving, a diving centre based in Malindi that had an excellent reputation in the diving community. And the choice turned out to be an excellent one.
On the first day, the encounter with a huge manta ray that 'flew' around us was a wonderful surprise. 
A pity I didn't bring my camera, but you know, it was the first day....he thought...
The following days, however, I don't let myself be surprised without a camera. Also because it is the period of the passage of the whale shark...and you never know. 
Of course, as my friend and diving partner Marco and I are well aware, the encounter would be like buying a lottery ticket and hoping to win. 
But in life sometimes you win....and this time we made 13. 
The first dive done, we get back in the boat. But we are not nearly in time to take off our buoyancy aids that Lorenzo, one of the diving centre's owners, shouts 'THE BALENA! 
Just the time to close the wetsuit and we are in the water. The spectacle is incredible: there are three whales, one smaller and the other two gigantic. 
I shoot as much as I can with my digital camera, even though there are moments when I feel that the whale is so close that I can't frame it. They are minutes of adrenalin that you wish would never end. 
But unfortunately they end, prematurely I would say, as a 'very clever' Englishman attaches himself to the dorsal fin of one of the three and with a flick of his tail they disappear, sinking. 
I won't tell you what bad moments the Englishman went through, as the three of us rushed to make him politely understand that it wasn't a nice gesture on his part. 
We are left with the memory of the fantastic encounter...and a few photos 
The rest was no less exciting, especially the head-to-head between Marco and an elephant. But that's another story....