Blogs from Red Sea, Egypt, Africa - page 7

Monday Jan 31, 2011 Easy and carefree times at the Stella Di Mare resort, here in Sharm El Sheikh. Guests mill about, planning excursions, sunning pale white skin and gather in mass at buffets. Hard to believe that this peaceful oasis exists while the rest of the country is being torn apart by protests and heavy handed government reaction. Serenity, as the rest of the country's tension grows, like a branch being bent, closer and closer to the point of fracture. This face of benevolence is deliberate and self preserving. Truths are bent and lies are told (Everything in the country will be restored to normal in 2 days; There are no more protests in Cairo) so that tourists will stay and continue to spend their vacation money. Without them, the economy would collapse here. In ... read more

(13th Jan) Day 104 – Hurghada & Red Sea Up at 7am, for an 8:15am pick up to go snorkelling in the Red Sea, one of the highlights we’ve been looking forward to. Our taxi arrived and we took a crazy winding route to the marina, it took at least 15 mins. Because of the layout of the streets you can’t always turn left, so we had to make this huge detour just to get a couple of blocks down the road. Once there, we registered and got fitted out with fins, mask, snorkel and wetsuits then it was onto the boat and out to sea. The boat was really nice, it had the main deck, where you jumped into the water from, a saloon below deck and a sun roof, partly covered up top. There ... read more

Diving the Red Sea When I told people I was visiting the Middle East, some of them were genuinely concerned about my safety. I personally judge how safe something is with the “driving your car to work test”. Is it statistically more likely to kill you than driving to work in the U.S.? Flying commercial: safe. Flying in a Cessna: not safe. Skydiving: safe. Cave diving: not safe. Hiking in backwoods New Zealand: safe; scoring heroin in South Central Los Angeles: not safe. Well, that last one’s a little ridiculous, but it’s hard to come up with something else. Life is pretty damn safe! You may not think so from watching the news but dying from terrorism or random “I hate Americans” violence is no more likely than getting struck by lightning twice. So I certainly ... read more

Lundi le 1er novembre 2010, Notre nuit dans le super sleeping train a ete tres reposante pour Carlo, et un vrai calvaire pour moi. Que voulez-vous, je ne suis pas capable de dormir quand j entends des clings-clings de metal a tout bout de champs et quand je me fais bardasser de tous bords, tous cotes... Dire que c est Carl qui souffre du mal des transports... On arrive finalement au Caire avec... roulement de tambour, 2,5 heures de retard... pas trop mal quand on a un vol interieur a prendre 2 heures plus tard. On stresse un peu mais en sortant de la gare, on tombe immediatement sur un chauffeur de taxi qui nous offre, du premier coup, le prix juste pour une course a l aeroport. C est louche... On embarque et en moins ... read more

Yeah, we know we are weeks behind and the sun and sand of the Middle East are a distant memory, but we have some homework to catch up on, and like diligent little students that would make any teacher proud, we must complete our work before the school year ends. We wrapped up our stay in the Middle East with an extended stay on the Sinai Peninsula enjoying the sparkling blue water of the Red Sea. The volcanic eruption in Iceland provided us a convenient excuse to extend our stay for a week, but in fact, it was the abundant and colourful marine life that prevented us from leaving. After completing a dive course and exploring the waters of the Sinai, we headed to Alexandria to check out the library and then a few days in ... read more