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Published: September 9th 2013
Red sea 1 June 2003
100 camels, not for me, but a friend of ours was offered this for his wife who has the most beautiful blue eyes.
Diving, diving, diving! The previous year (2002) we met friends at Malongane, Mozambique. They wanted to get a group of people together for a trip to the Red Sea for a live aboard diving holiday. They even travelled from Durban to Johannesburg to show us videos and photos to tempt and persuade us, but of course we didn't need much encouragement. How could we resist? It is known as one of the top places to dive in the world - a place that any diver should dive at least once in their lives. With all the unrest in Egypt at the moment I am glad we went when we did.
At the airport we met all the people in our group for the first time so we set forth to introduce ourselves. We flew to Cairo then headed straight for Sharm el Sheik where we were transferred to the boat. On leaving the airport building we were engulfed by the heat.
Once again we left in our wintry season to a destination where it was summer and we were better prepared this time, but this was heat like we have never experienced before. When we arrived at the quay where the boat was moored we couldn't believe the rows upon rows of boats tied up next to each other. Which one was ours and how were we going to find it? We had read in the in-flight magazine that at any given time there were about 4000 divers diving per day in the Red Sea - now we understood why! We went on board and all scrambled for a cabin. The next scramble was to find a spot to stow our dive gear aft of the boat where it would stay for the time that we were on the boat, about a week.
As we sailed out of the bay we saw beautiful clear water contrasted with such rugged, arid landscape. A couple of hours later we did our first dive to test our gear, buoyancy and all the other paraphernalia then we headed out to sea, where we moored near dive sites or
the odd bay at night. This was so different to the tropical destinations we had been to previously and far busier.
Our daily schedule on the boat started with a bell clanging, and a lilted 'br..eee...fing' calling us for our first dive of the day, showing a diagram where we were going to dive, explaining what kind of a dive it would be and then kitting up and going for our first splash of the day. After the dive we would have breakfast then relax, filling in our dive log books and chatting about the dive, while moving on to another dive site. No sooner had we stopped, we would go for a second dive, following the same procedure. Time for lunch after the second dive, more chatting, relaxing etc. Late afternoon we would have our third dive of the day and if you had enough diving you could change for dinner, have a couple of drinks and unwind some more. Those that were keen could go for a night dive if there was one.
Of course the diving was wonderful with so much to see,
so many wreck dives, wall dives, drift dives, just about any kind of dive you wished. Such abundant sea life, considering the contrasting arid landscape. There was no shortage of dives, with three to four dives a day. I have never seen so many divers or boats in my life before. Those that weren't diving were snorkelling around the shallower areas. Those that weren't doing either were having a continuous party on board the boats. While we weren't diving we got to know everyone in our group and made some wonderful friends, had a catnap or two, as diving can actually be quite tiring or maybe it was that warm Egyptian sun and the movement of the boat lulling you to sleep. At some dive sites we had to be geared up, ready and waiting to jump off the boat as it passed the dive site, because we were given allocated times to dive, before the next group would jump in. The same procedure in reverse when we had to get back on board.
The boat itself was relatively comfy apart from the lack of air-conditioning, which we thought we would
have but was non existent. While we moved, there was a slight breeze, but the minute we stopped we felt the heat and our cabins were extremely hot. One or two entrepreneurs in our group decided to create their own air conditioning and came up with an idea to put cardboard in the port hole to direct some air into the cabins which made a slight difference, even that little bit was worth it because it was scorching! The food was great, with plenty of snacks in between meals and as much water and cold drinks, tea and coffee that we liked. What was different with this live aboard compared to our others, was that we stayed on the boat all the time apart from when we went into the water to dive, swim or snorkel. We only touched land again after a week when we went back to Sharm el Sheik.
Sharm el Sheik The last night on the boat we were moored at the quay where we first boarded the boat. We had dinner on board, cooked grudgingly by the staff who probably wanted to go home earlier rather than take care
of us, because it was not up to their usual standard and I am convinced I ate a piece of fish that was not so fresh anymore. After dinner we went through to Sharm el Sheik. At first glance we were quite surprised at all the sparkling glitz and glamour and glimmering lights all over the town. We walked passed numerous stalls where we were continuously confronted by shop assistants trying to lure us into their shops to buy something. This was where our friend was offered a generous amount of camels for his wife, because she had such beautiful blue eyes. Needless to say he decided to keep her instead of trade her in - wise move! Sleeping in the harbour was not the best place as we were constantly disturbed by people on the other boats around us.
Dahab The next morning we headed for Dahab, which was about an hour away, north of Sharm el Sheik. More arid landscape along the way with rugged mountains.
Remember that fish I ate the last night on board the boat? It was slowly but surely making its presence known.
After settling in our hotel we were going to do a dive at the Blue hole - a very well known spectacular dive. We all clambered in to a Jeep and our driver drove us to the Blue hole site, but having great fun swerving from side to side as their seemed to be no real road. That motion plus the heat on top of my 'Tutan's trots' tummy was just too much and I couldn't face a dive. By that stage I was so dehydrated and felt utterly miserable. What a let down to miss such a great dive! Someone gave me a rehydrate sachet which I drank while everyone else went to dive and then I forced myself to at least snorkel while our divers finished the dive. Glad I did, because it was worth it, even the little bit I could see from above. After the dive Paul went to a local pharmacy and told them about my situation. They knew exactly what to give me, as many tourists end up with a dicey tummy - not very reassuring, is it! After the medicine took effect I recuperated quickly, fortunately, and could enjoy the rest of our
trip.
Another dive we did was at Eel garden. The trick was to settle ourselves on the sand and wait quietly. Then one by one the almost transparent whitish eels would pop out of the sand, but if you moved they would quickly withdraw and disappear into the sand, not to be seen again. Gorgeous and so special to watch! There certainly is an abundance of sea life in the Red Sea and quite astounding how quickly it can get deep get right next to the edge of the water, where you cannot see the bottom at all, just deep blue.
When we weren't diving we would walk up and down the promenade shopping or looking for a restaurant to eat at. This was mostly at night because it was so hot. The average daily temperature was over 40 degrees C! Even the camels and goats sought refuge from the blazing sun by trying to make themselves small in a narrow patch of shade from a short wall. The seating areas of the restaurants were right next to the sea, while the cooking areas were on
the other side of the promenade or road. We were warned that some of the restaurants had a dubious reputation, not always selling fresh food, so we tried to avoid them. I didn’t want a repeat of a few days ago. But we were continuously harassed and confronted with a menu stuck under our noses demanding we should eat at their restaurant because they had the best food. Likewise with the shops, most of them selling similar goods, everyone wanted us to enter their shop and purchase something. One or two assistants seemed to be quite rude and brash if we didn’t want to enter their shop and buy. After a few days of this we were getting rather tired of sidestepping the constant cajoling. Paul needed to go to the bank while I headed back to the hotel to wait for him there. Once again Paul was confronted but I managed to avoid most of them. No flies on Paul, he decided to tell them a little white lie, saying that he was looking for his wife (he knew perfectly well where she was!) and thus they would leave him alone. After he had gone to the bank and
was making his way back to the hotel, he heard feet pounding, someone running towards him, shouting sir, sir...! He turned around and the gentleman said: Sir, we found your wife - she has gone back to the hotel! She is safe, don’t worry! A bit embarrassed for causing such consternation, Paul thanked the man and returned to the hotel to tell me what had happened. It just shows how concerned they really were for our welfare and how quickly they communicated amongst each other. After that we just had to buy something from that vendor's shop who chased after Paul!
Walking in the hot desert sun Of course we had to head inland to see more of the Sinai desert as well, which was another highlight of the trip. In the morning we hiked through the coloured canyon and in the afternoon we hiked through the white canyon. Spectacular colours, walking through the coloured canyon that is apparently below sea level. After the long walk we were all parched even though we carried water with us, that was by that stage more than luke warm, felt closer to the temperature needed for making
Bikini fish
Those little dots are snorkelers a good cuppa tea. Lo and behold, there was a little lean to, selling ice cold bottles of coca cola and fanta, you know the ones, with the drops of condensation running down the bottle, that just mesmerise you when you are hot and thirsty and you just have to drink? By that stage we all had tomato coloured faces because we were so hot from the walk. Ok, maybe I was the only one with a red face, but we were definitely all very hot and grateful for that ice cold drink. We drove to Dolphin bay, had lunch there, drove deeper into the desert to look at amazing formations of rocks, then watched pita bread being baked in a traditional manner at an oasis. After that we proceeded to walk in the white canyon. We were exhausted already, but we were inspired enough to continue walking and were glad we did. Needless to say that night we all slept well.
Cairo The last couple of days we spent in Cairo. Paul and I did a 'marathon' in the museum, because we wanted to see as much as possible of the
history of Egypt as we could in a short space of time. The museum itself is not actually that big but we went into every single nook and cranny to look at all the artefacts or replicas which were quite fascinating. We managed to walk through most of it and afterwards suffered from information overload! Still interesting though!!
Crossing roads in Cairo can be quite daunting. We were never sure whether we would survive because there was so much traffic and no where to cross, except perhaps at a traffic light, but not many of those either, till someone told us we just had to put our hand up and the drivers would automatically slow down so you could cross the road. It still didn't feel any safer but the cars seemed to slow down for us and we survived, so it must have worked. I don't think anyone sleeps in Cairo at night, because the traffic doesn't stop, with continuous hooting throughout the night. We thought South African drivers did strange things, but their way of driving was interesting to watch from our balcony as they seemed to have worked out a
system where the traffic came to a standstill, allowing approaching vehicles to do a u-turn to go in the direction they came from in the first place. It didn't make sense to us at all, but they obviously knew what they were doing.
No trip to Cairo is complete without seeing the pyramids and the Sphinx. How they were built is still a mystery to me, especially when you see the interlocking of certain blocks.
My only regret is that I didn't have the opportunity to sail down the Nile, but what we saw throughout the rest of the trip was well worth it and made up for that tiny shortfall.
There are more photos on the next page
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
What a fantastic trip...
it is so sad that Egypt is unsafe to visit today. But it has its ups and downs. I remember we wanted to take our kids there before leaving Europe in 1995, but tourists were being shot then, so we didn't go. Hopefully someday, there will be peace.