Blogs from Red Sea, Egypt, Africa - page 6

EGYPT Ever since the first protests and eventual toppling of the Egyptian government, there has been some question as to whether we would actually be making our port calls in Egypt. But eventually Regent decided to go ahead with our visit albeit somewhat modified. We were very happy about this especially for the passengers who had never visited this historic land. Our first stop in Egypt was at the port of Safaga. Just as we got there a ferry arrived from Saudi Arabia. It looked like every Saudi in Egypt was returning from their pilgrimage to Mecca. These modern day Bedouins had their mattresses, bikes, toys, bags, doors, dressers all piled in a heap. I have never seen such a jumble come off a ship. All the while the burqa clad Saudi women with their kids ... read more

Although one of the most popular dive destination in the world, the Red Sea off the Egyptian coast was somehow still on my “special” wish list, the one that implies that the site be temporarily deserted by tourists. So, I had been patiently waiting for the right occasion & with the events that took place in Egypt, it was somehow now or never! Guess it would be the case still for a little while so for the one of you who simply cannot handle diving with more divers than fish and who had until now put the Red Sea on the side for this precise reason, this is simply the perfect time. From what I could read, Sharm El Sheikh seemed to be the option when it comes to day trip diving: lots of diversity, some ... read more

Sharm el Sheikh! Departing and Arriving I have finally began the second part of my planned travels! I love diving and have been fascinated by Egypt since I was a small child so why not put the two together and venture into the great desert-y lands of Sharm! The day of my flight started well, as we did most of the travelling the day before and stayed over night in a travel-lodge (this is how I want to start ALL my trips now! Far less panic that you'll miss the plane!) and I got to the airport on time. I also bought diving gear with me so was restricted to 32kg, 'God thats loads' you may say, well my dive stuff weight 14.4kg (to be precise!) and that left me with..mm..17.6kg which was EXACTLY how ... read more

Dear Friends, Today, early in the morning, we arrived at the entrance of the Suez Canal. The weather is great, the temperature very nice and the sights are beautiful again. For us it is the second time that we are passing the Suez Canal, but the experience is still super. To learn more about the Suez Canal you can read the article below. Thanks to Wikipedia The Suez Canal (Arabic: قناة السويس‎ Qanāt al-Sūwais), also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation around Africa. The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city ... read more

Day 9 Hung over from the late night on before and waking up at 5:30 for a 6 hour bus ride to Mt Sinai is not the best way to start the day when you will be hiking a mountain but it is Mt. Sinai and so I had little choice but get over the fact I couldn't sleep on the bus and wasn't feeling well. Luckily there is an option to take a camel up the first leg of the hike taking about 1.5 hours on camel we got close to the 750 steps of repentance once there we were on our own, I am not too ashamed to admit I was not the most fit person in our group and needed to take a few breaks while climbing the 35 stories worth of uneven ... read more