Blogs from Sinai, Egypt, Africa - page 5

After the desert tour, I received the news that I'd been dreading - the rumours were true, and the weekly ferry to Sudan on 15 November had been canclled. I had two options, I could either head straight to Aswan now, just making the replacement ferry on the 11 Nov. Or I could hold back and catch the ferry on 22 Nov. Not being decisive at the best of times, I struggled with the decision. Either rush to Sudan, for more time in Ethiopia? Or take things easy in Egypt for a few more days. In the end, Sudan seemed too far away, and too big a leap to jump into. I was feeling lazy. I was enjoying the coffee and dominoes in Cairo. I still had Sinai, temples and fellucas to see in Egypt. And ... read more

Endlich ist es soweit. Abflug nach Ägypten... es kann losgehen. Alles ist gepackt und ich habe es geschafft mit Tauchtasche und Kleider das max Gewicht von 20Kg nicht zu überschreiten, der neuen Ausrüstung sei Dank :-) Die komplette 1. Stufe nehme ich im Handgepäck mit. Am Abend um 21:05 startete das Boarding und um 21:40 erfolgte der Take Off. Ohne nennenswerter Hüpfer (Turbulenzen) landeten unser Flug um 01:45 in Sharm el Sheikh. Die Einreiseabwicklung (Visa und Immigration) dauerte nicht lange. (Die Geldwechselstube wäre offen gewesen, von dem her brauche ich das nächste Mal keinen teuren Visa Voucher über das Reisebüro zu beziehen. Nun musste ich nur noch meine Tauchtasche finden und dann ab auf den Bus. Das Gepäck kam nicht wie angeschrieben auf dem korrekten Baggage Claim, aber irgendwann sah ich dann die Tasche auf dem ... read more

The time finally came round, Erica and I set off on our adventure to south Sinai. We met Maggie for the first time, at Gatwick airport. On arrival we would join others for a unique experience, to learn some drumming and dancing of the Bedouin culture we were visiting, entitled Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp. At Sharm El Sheikh Airport, we didn’t suppose that many from the aircraft were en route to encounter an adventure quite like ours. Arriving at sun set, the two hour taxi journey took us to our destination of Rock Sea camp, and so it was completely dark when we got there. Oh where did I pack that torch? Home made pizza for dinner, and finally choosing our hut at Star side, before falling into exhausted sleep. It wasn’t until sun ... read more

I'll start this entry off by warning that there is no way that my writing skills or these photos will do the Red Sea justice. If you have any interest in marine life, the Red Sea is absoultely unbeatable. From Luxor, we flew into Cairo, and then caught a long overnight bus to Sharm el-Sheik. Along the bus ride, we passed through a tunnel that went under the Suez Canal, which was kind of neat. Unfortunately we never got to see the canal, but it was still cool being under it. We got into Sharm, which is at the very southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, late in the afternoon and then took a bus into town. Sharm is a big tourist destination for wealthy travelers from around the word, so it was difficult to find ... read more

Today was mostly a travel day. We departed Cairo and journeyed to st. Katherine which is in the middle of the Sinai peninsula. We passed through a tunnel going under the suez canal which is essentially the connection between the continent of africa and asia. Politically though its still a part of africa but its not on the same continental shelf ( our guide was adamant that sinai is a part of egypt not asia!) The sinai peninsula was occupied not too long ago by israel  ( in the 1970s Israel signed sinai over to Egypt through the camp David treaty) and even to this day they are wanting to take it back. In the desert I saw monuments of tanks and israeli monuments. We stopped at a rest stop along the way and it was ... read more