Egypt 2012 Blog 2

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Friday 20^thJanuary, Saturday, Sunday



On the Friday morning we were picked up from the hotel and taken to Old Sharm, the original fishing port, for a trip on a “submarine”: actually a high tech glass bottomed boat. Old Sharm which is about 10 miles from our hotel is set on a very nice, well sheltered and almost circular sandy bay. The glass bottomed boat was very good in that passengers had seats below deck and below sea level where we could sit and watch the passing marine life and corals. The trip lasted for about an hour and the captain navigated very skilfully taking the boat seemingly within inches of the coral outcrops. Unfortunately the photos taken through the glass windows didn’t come out too well. Afterwards we decided to stay and explore a bit of Old Sharm which was quite interesting. On Saturday we visited old Sharm again via Namaa Bay (the only place where beer can be bought from the shops) and had lunch in the same restaurant as on the previous visit. Because it’s more sheltered from the cold winds blowing down the Gulf of Aqaba than where our hotel is located the temperatures were much warmer in Old Sharm, and it was very pleasant sitting on the beach in the warm sunshine.

On Sunday after tennis I finalised the details of a trip we planned to make to Petra in Jordan involving getting a bus from our hotel at 3am Monday morning in order to catch a ferry from Nuweiba (higher up the Gulf of Aqaba towards the Israeli and Jordanian borders) to Aqaba in Jordan, and then by bus to Petra and staying overnight in Petra before reversing the journey on Tuesday afternoon, arriving back here just before midnight. This was all arranged and paid for when after lunch I received a text message from the travel agent asking me to call him as there was a change of plan. When I called him he told me that the ferry from Nuweiba for Monday had been cancelled because of high winds and there was snow in Petra. The trip has now been put back 24 hours but cannot be postponed any longer than that as we return to UK on Thursday 26^th. So it’s fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow and Tuesday.

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Photos

Indian Lionfish
After cruising around the coral reefs outside Sharm el Sheikh this guy and the attendant sardine size fish were spotted in one foot of water next to the jetty

Old Sharm Bay and beach
The geography here is very similar to parts of the UAE; Fujairah where the sandy coastal plain is backed by rugged mountains