Egypt: Dahab (Day 2)
On our first full day in Dahab, everyone else went diving while my asthmatic little self slept in and chilled out in the sun by the pool, meeting everyone for lunch before taking a jeep north of Dahab to go snorkelling at the Blue Hole.
The Blue Hole was an awesome coral shelf right off the coastline, and we spent a few hours heads down and bums up, immersing ourselves in a whole other world. The tropical fish were unlike anything I have ever seen, the brightly coloured coral lit by the sparkling sunlight from above, and so many beautiful animals and underwater flora it was like watching a National Geographic program in 3D.The Red Sea was so salty it was a challenge to dive down, you couldn’t help but float, which was fine as some of the most stunning fish were right below the surface.
How funny, I thought, that only a few weeks ago I was lion spotting in the Masai Mara and here I am spotting lion fish on an underwater coral reef.
We reluctantly left a few hours later, the bright aqua water of the coral reef replaced by the rocky shores of Dahab, before lunch, a nap and another jeep ride back to the Blue Hole for our sunset camel ride out to a Beduin village further up the coast.
The camel ride was amazing, the sun hitting the enormous rocky cliffs to our left and the Red Sea to our right - no photos could have ever done it justice. We arrived at a deserted Beduin village and snorkelled along the coastline before feasting on traditional Beduin food (flat bread, hommus, tomatos and chicken/fish) around a campfire on the beach. Soon we were once again full and sleepy, and mounted our camels for the journey back to the Blue Hole with nothing but the full moon lighting our way.
We were all mostly silent on the way back, listening to the sea gently lapping at the shore and admiring the night sky, the shadows on the cliffs and the moonlit water. I don’t think I have ever experienced anything so beautiful - being first in the procession of camels it felt like I was discovering the world for the very first time, and I couldn’t help but shake my head in amazement, grateful just to be.
There are no photos, nor words powerful enough to describe it, only to say that there must be a God. Because the world is a very beautiful place. A very, very beautiful place.
-Sarah
Tags: Egypt, Travel
