Blogs from Sinai, Egypt, Africa
May 14th 2012
May 9, 2012 Nautica entered the Suez Canal very early this morning. It took approximately 10 hours for the journey to Port Said and the Mediterranean Sea. There is a constant stream of ships transiting the canal. Some have to anchor in the Great Bitter Lake near the middle, until their turn to continue. Most segments of the canal are too narrow for two way traffic. We were lucky and sailed right through. The east bank of the canal is the Sinai desert. For the most part it is bleak and sand covered. By contrast the west bank is lush and green due to an extensive irrigation system with water diverted from the Nile delta north of Cairo. The “sweet water” canal system was originally designed in the mid 19th century to provide drinking water for ... read more
April 10th 2012
As we debarked from the Ferry into the Arab Republic of Egypt, chaos erupted. Jordan has been so organised and orderly that Egypt came as quite a shock. For customs & immigration reasons our Jordanian leader was not with us for the journey across to Egypt and we were instructed that our new tour leader would meet us as we got off the ferry. As we entered the busy customs hall there was no one there to meet us. Myself and the other members of the group did not have visas so we told we couldn't enter until our tour leader arrived with the required visas. With no Intrepid representatives answering our calls , it was an long wait until our paths crossed with Nikki, a Customer Representative from the ferry. Nikki from South Africa was ... read more
February 17th 2012
Often, when I’m alone and surrounded by the beauty of nature, I’m filled with a love so intense that it frightens me. I want to shout it out at the top of my lungs. I want to find any outlet to release it, spread it around, and watch it grow. Inevitably, I end up crying silent tears. They are not tears of sadness, but tears of love – love that has outgrown my heart, pushed through my tear ducts and streamed down my cheeks. I think of all the people I love; of all the people who have made me big with their love. I hope that they know how much they mean to me, and I worry that I haven’t told them often – or recently – enough that I love them. I compose heartfelt ... read more
February 16th 2012
Hardly anyone visits the serene coastline of northern Sinai. Add to that the fact that it’s mid-February; then factor in the recent strings of kidnappings and other misdeeds that have been occurring in Egypt over the past few weeks and what you get is me, alone on Sawa Beach, reveling in the quietude and the crystal clear waters of the Red Sea. The border crossing to get here (surprisingly my first by land on this journey) was incredibly easy. I was the only one there. Guards had to be woken from naps to cursorily inspect my bags and officials had to be called in from lounge rooms to stamp my passport. It was all smiles and “Welcome to Egypt!” I had two hours before the bus left (don’t worry, I’m not hitching) that were easily killed ... read more
January 22nd 2012
Un an après, et toujours à Dahab. C'aurait pu être n'importe où ailleurs, d'ailleurs, mais je suis arrivée, j'ai aimé et je suis restée. Ces deux derniers mois n'ont pas été de tout repos, avec les nombreux plongeurs au centre, ma nouvelle charge de responsable du marketing, et la création des cours et formations de Red Sea Research (qui avance, pas aussi vite que le responsable aimerait, mais on est en Egypte, et ça avance, donc c'est bien). J'ai eu droit à un peu de repos la semaine passée avec un répit du côté du centre de plongée qui est devenu plus calme. On a eu notre premier groupe de plongeurs Tec qui revient d'ailleurs début février, donc un agréable changement dans notre routine de ploneurs loisir, et le début de collaborations avec des instructeurs Tec ... read more
January 22nd 2012
Friday 20thJanuary, 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 ... read more
January 17th 2012
I arrived at Nuweiba port at about 7.30 a.m. after a freezing cold, sleepless ferry journey. I managed to get some Egyptian money, Visa and went looking for a bus to Dahab. Unfortunately I realised that it had gone at 6.30 and there wasnt another one until 10.30. After 2 nights with very little sleep I eventually agreed to get a taxi for 100 LE. As soon as I got to Dahab, I found Penguin Village and pretty much slept for the day and night, getting some food and arranging my diving for the next day. I started the PADI Open Water Diving Course the next day and finished it 2 days later. Having got the Certificate, I decided to do 2 of the Advanced dives in the Canyon and the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole ... read more
December 10th 2011
Just got home from what seems like one long day….or several short days all bunched together. My body still isn’t sure what time it is. It all started Friday morning when Josh and I set off for Mt. Sinai. We were picked up by our driver and Yiyi – my new favorite tour guide in all of Egypt. This man knows everything about Egypt. Seriously. We drove 6 or so hours into the desert with 2 short pit stops where we found prices more than quadrupled for a bottle of water or can of soda. When rest stops have you trapped in the desert I guess they can charge whatever they want. Plus, I do understand it takes more work to get the supplies out there. The drive was still worth it because we got to ... read more
December 1st 2011
Décembre déjà... je me rappelle il y a un an, l'hiver était sur nous, rude et neigeux, alors pour se réconforter pendant ma recherche d'emploi (qui allait aboutir quelques jours après), je passais de nombreuses soirées sur le village de Noël (quand c'était possible de "descendre" en ville avec le verglas), puis j'étudiais pour passer mon permis bateau, et finalement je rêvais de passer l'hiver au chaud et au soleil! Ben l'hiver en égypte, c'est définitivement mieux qu'en Belgique (quoique je pense que vous avez un bel automne cette année), mais pas suffisant pour que j'aie chaud (je ne sais pas peut-être je devrais passer six mois en inde, six mois à Dahab, comme un ami le fait). C'est sûr qu'il fait toujours 20°+ en journée, mais le soir entre 10 et 15°C, avec le vent, ... read more
November 13th 2011
This is only going to be a short entry but i feel it is a necessary one. It would be a little disrespectful not to note Remembrance Day in this blog, especially as i managed to commemorate in such a unique way this year. About 15minutes before the sun rose on Friday, I remembered that it was the 11th and therefore Remembrance Day. And it was then, at 5.30am, sitting at the summit of Mount Sinai, listening to an american choir sing 'Hallelujah', the first rays of sun escaping over the horizon to warm our icy extremities and flood the valleys spread below us with light, that i chose to do my minute's silence. Despite it being a spot famous for religious pilgrimage, i couldn't quite declare the moment spiritual. There were a lot of people ... read more
