While the others were getting on their masks and equipment, I perused the information board in the thatched shelter at the end of the beach, before deciding to walk around to the western end of the island on one of the well-marked nature trails. The ranger told me that he spent two weeks on the island at a time, and two weeks off, bringing all all his own food and water as Masali is totally arid. Sounded like the job for me.The only other visitors are fishermen, who had set up camp and were busy cooking on an open fire. My shell-lined path took me through forest to a narrow palm-fringed beach, where a growing number of protected green turtles now lay their eggs at certain times of year. A dhow was anchored a few yards out, about to go out fishing. I swam in perfectly clear water, practising my floating and emptying my mind. The ride back was bumpy as a wind had sprung up, but who cares?A barbecue on the beach meant great food but as much flesh covered up as possible to prevent my legs being dinner for the bug life.

Some of my friends took a 24-hour trip to Zanzibar to explore historic Stonetown (two hours by boat from Mkoani) but I had become so expert at doing very little that I didn’t bother. My days had become harmonious periods of walking, swimming, reading and looking vacantly at the horizon And drinking, of course But surely, that’s the point of places like this. The FactsGetting thereJanet Street-Porter travelled with British Airways Club World. A week in Pemba with Earth Travel (020-7793 9993) costs £2,690 per person, including British Airways World Traveller flights to Dar es Salaam, private air transfers to Pemba and seven nights’ full-board accommodation at the Fundu Lagoon, until 31 March.Rooms at The Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, where Janet broke her journey, can be booked through Leading Hotels of the World (0800 181123; ) and cost from $290 (£193) per room per night.. As the fiddle and steel guitar kick in, Willie Nelson spins past. In the background, Elvis asks a tigress to dance, while two cowgirls do more for the wearing of chaps than John Wayne and his ilk ever could.

Welcome to Austin and a fancy-dress party, Texas country style. Austin, the state capital, deep in the heart of Texas, is a city where you have to abandon preconceptions. So you think Texas is full of redneck hicks and reactionary George Bush clones obsessed with oil and money? You think country music is all about tears in your beer, while some old gal belts out bad covers of Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks songs? Think again. Thanks to a large student population and thriving music and film scenes, Austin is one of the coolest, most laid-back capitals you will ever visit. It’s no coincidence that Richard Linklater, the cult film director, set Slackers here And the live music is exceptional. Locals might moan that Austin isn’t what it was, but they don’t know how lucky they are. In 10 days I saw some 30 bands of every variety, with artists playing for the love of it, rather than an industrial desire to shift units.

The difference is discernible, the result invigorating.Take a room at the Austin Motel, a funky little place on the brow of a hill south of the city centre, recognised all round town for its landmark sign, beckoning tourists with the boast “So close, yet so far out” and, on the reverse, “No additives, no preservatives, corporate free since 1938″. People here are friendly; rooms are cheap and decked out with some cracking retro furniture and whole days can be whiled away around the original 1950s kidney-shaped pool. It’s also in the middle of Austin’s most interesting strip, South Congress, a hive of secondhand clothes and record shops (Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds is a good vintage clothing source), Tex-Mex restaurants (El Sol y la Luna) and the Continental Club, the best music venue in town. During our visit, the place buzzed with the South Congress street party, held on the first Thursday of each month, with free food and drinks, store discounts and live bands. Austin is full of secrets such as this, and another is next to the motel: the parking lot behind Jo’s coffee shack has weekly free live music and film screenings.The town centre is a longish walk north over the Congress Bridge – whose nooks and crannies are home to 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats – at dusk, between May and October, they fly down river hunting for insects. Or you can take a ride on one of the free dillos (short for armadillos) that serve the downtown area Austin’s public transport is exceptional. Dillos are plentiful, and if you need to go further afield, regular buses cost 50 cents (35p) for round trips.