Dahab

The conspiracy of the cats and the fly/mosquito axis

For years the flies and the mosquitoes have been allies, ensuring a continuous barrage against the mammals - flies by day and mosquitoes at night. Up until quite recently, the date confused by incomplete records from either the vaults of catadopia or the otherwise meticulous archives at insectopia, the cats have been at the front line in the mammals' war against the aforementioned extremists factions of the insect empire. The cats employed guerrilla tactics to swipe off any stray squadrons of flies and mosquitoes that would venture too close to the territories of their colonial masters - the humans. Furthermore, guaranteed a fresh supply of fish and meat, precious commodities to the cats who's own natural resources had been depleted by stringent laws on fishing around the bay areas of the Sinai, the cats were happy to forgo the hunting of spiders and sparrows, ferocious warriors from the tempestuous, some say anarchic tribes of the arachnids and the birds who were natural enemies of the insects and were prone to sporadic genocidal activity.

This, in turn, led to an expansion of the 8 legged and feathered kinds and, therefore, fresh troubles for the mosquitoes and flies who's number's dwindled dramatically. Then came the fateful meeting between the lord of the flies and the cat's own spiritual leader to organise the great betrayal. Due to an increase in numbers which had , ensured the cats could no longer rely solely on the handouts of the humans, the cat's agreed to declare war on the birds and spiders. Some say this decision was encouraged by the great and wise gods of the cats to the south, in sub Saharan Africa, who had their own grievances against human kind. Whether this is true or not, the flies offered their own bargaining chips in promising to land on as many pieces of food as was physically possible that the humans were attempting to eat, thus providing a fresh supply of rejected food which the hungry cats could devour at their leisure. The alliance has lead to a change in fortunes for the cats, mosquitoes and flies who have multiplied in the Sinai region to something resembling an epidemic; to a genocide of the birds and spiders leading to their great migration and to a continuous irritation for the humans of the area who are subject to incessant pestering at mealtimes by the new axis of flies and cats and from risk of sporadic terror attacks by the flourishing mosquitoes.



Ok, I'll admit it, I've been reading too many international relations books and, blessed with an adoption of the Egyptian approach to life, which nine days in Dahab has allowed, I have too much time on my hands!! But the facts remain. This place is LITTERED with flies, mosquitoes and cats the latter of which is cute, the former of which provides a constant irritation and my own adoption of a continuous spasm of swipes during the day and rambo style raids on the mosquito population of my bedroom at night, confusing them with a barrage of light before employing a stinging attack with my towel. Sadly they are winning the war as my face for the last few days has resembled that of a teenager with a Saturday job at Macdonald's, determined to make use of his staff discount and forgoing the opportunity to spend any of his wages in Boots...

None the less, Dahab is a splendid place. Populated by Egyptian men (I'm yet to see an Egyptian woman over 14 and under 60 here) resident divers and tourists, predominantly here to sample the spectacular and easy to reach underwater scenery, this is very much a holiday town, but one which has maintained a level of charm supposedly absent in places like it's neighbor Sharm el Sheik. After adjusting to the constant "do you wanna see my shop?" inquires, I have found that the Egyptians are relatively laid back and, sometimes, even honest!! Would you believe it, I'm pretty sure I'm paying local prices for some commodities if, however, tourism based items are naturally overpriced.

Bob Marley is played on loop, everyone wears "dive now, work later" tops and refers to you as brother, nobody washes their hair (salt water showers render such an activity futile), the local bar contains a beach volleyball court and the sun belts down continuously accompanied by a pleasant sea breeze to ensure you are never too hot. Dahab is a hippie paradise which I have very quickly become used to after the wonderful chaos of Damascus and the continual stresses of Jordan (Wadi Rum excluded).

I did, however, leave the town for an excursion up Mt Sinai to see the sun rise. I'm afraid I'm going to go slightly against conventional wisdom with my report of that trip by using superlatives only to describe the incredible effort it took to get to and from. Perhaps my personality has been dented by sitting on a beach for 4 days, but an all nighter which included waiting an hour for the bus to leave the hotel, sitting with 16 others in a 15 seater minibus for an hour and a half, climbing a camel trail for a similar length of time, lying in the freezing cold for three hours waiting for the sun, a two hour walk back down to the monastery/coffee shop at the bottom, a 2 hour wait for the bus back and then an uncomfortable final 90 minutes to get back to the hotel in time for a day of utter confusion due to sleep deprivation was not my idea of fun. The fact that I have had to enter the red to pay for the luxury and that the sunrise at Damascus was atleast as impressive (though different) added insult to injury.

Don't get me wrong, if you did the trip in a comfortable bus, if the weather was 5 or 10 degrees warmer as I'm sure it is in the Summer, and if the whole thing was done with a bit more efficiency (why wait for 2 hours at the coffee shop and why leave 3 hours before you need to to make it in time for the sunset?) then the clearly spectacular sunset would have been worth the climb.

None the less, sleeping for 12 hours last night (barring being awoken to the bizarre combination of sounds of someone vomiting outside my room accompanied by the call to prayer) has left me feeling fresh and ready to take on "Eel Gardens" which will be my 2nd snorkeling sight after very impressive "Lighthouse" reef which blew anything I saw in Aqaba out of the water (pardon the pun). I went snorkeling with a freediver (someone who dives without oxygen canisters) from Sweden who is coming with me again today which contributed very much to the experience as he guided me around the rocks and encouraged me to dive down a little way to see a little closer what was under there! He can apparently dive 27 meters without air but around the lighthouse it doesn't get much deeper than about 10 meters so he was pretty relaxed about the whole affair.

I was considering going to Cairo on yesterday's overnight bus but visa complications, a lack of money and an an addiction to the chilled out vibe of this place has encouraged me to stay put, probably for the rest of my trip so this may be my penultimate blog before I write my round up on the flight back home. But, hopefully I'll get some more pics put up soon so look out for them! I have some great stills of Jordan from my video camera which are to come and also some to accompany the blog about Crak de Chevalier in Syria.

I hope you're all enjoying the build up to Christmas and everything that goes with it and that it's not too nippy and you dash out to get all your presents!

Gavin

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