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Published: December 26th 2023
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Our day began with another visit from our companion - obviously knew a good thing when he was on it! But sadly, all good things come to an end for cats (and humans) and we had to depart our lovely boat. Our driver collected us for the long drive to Marsa Alam.
We wove through the agricultural scenes by the Nile on our way…and I mean that quite literally as side of the road seems to be a vague concept here…through village after village until we headed east and the scenery changed starkly. Lush green fields quickly gave way to harsh rocky terrain which seemed interminable. Luckily we had something else to entertain us which also seemed interminable - Taylor Swift.
A quick stop for lunch with some delicious chicken meals and we were on our way again before we hit the coast near Safaga. Here, the stark rocky land met the brilliant blue of the sea, but its proximity to Saudi Arabia and the accompanying trucks and heavy industry made it hard to appreciate. A few more hours along the coast and we arrived at our resort.
A wander around the property left us feeling thin and
glowing, surrounded by Northern Europeans escaping to warmer climes. Unfortunately this also apparently compelled them to disrobe at every opportunity. Luckily the view was fairly distracting.
A quick swim in the pool and dinner at the buffet before collapsing to bed.
A nice leisurely start to the day with breakfast and some relaxing before we were collected and driven a few km down the coast to Abu Dabab for some snorkelling. Collected our gear and headed out in the water for some truly beautiful coral and fish and some of the best visibility we have ever seen. The dive shop man had told us that there was coral on the sides and turtles in the middle, so we ventured out to see what we could find. The middle seemed like a wasteland and we were wondering what on earth he meant. We were giving up and heading to shore when we stumbled across a huge green sea turtle cruising along his way.
But lunch was calling so we bade farewell to our contemplative mate and headed in for pizza. A quick bake in the sun to dry off before we boarded our speedboat to start the search
for the dugong.
Unfortunately the wind did not make searching easy and he remained elusive so we headed to an outer reef for some more snorkelling. We all absolutely loved the visibility and water temperature and delighted in diving down the drop off to say hi to the huge collection of fish up close. Another search for the dugong proved fruitless but we stumbled across a few turtles, including a pair who clearly needed some privacy.
Another stop for some more snorkelling and we came across a lion fish, some crazy open-mouthed fish and a couple more turtles. Disappointed not to find the dugong but a beautiful day nonetheless. Back to the resort to change and get ready for the celebrations that had been building over the last few days. Some drinks and some food before we attacked the most enormous and elaborate dessert buffet anyone has ever seen. Hundreds of individually detailed cakes and pastries was almost too overwhelming to eat…but we managed.
Back to our room for some secret Santa gift exchange - everyone was delighted with their gifts - before an early night.
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