Stacey’s Mini-Extravaganza to the Middle East

The Canyon

 The divers are supposed to enter the water in the light blue section…I didn’t see anyone accomplish this feat because of the wind and currents.

As I mentioned yesterday, Red Sea diving got bagged for nasal congestion which is actually OK as far as underwater pictures go as they are often best taken when snorkeling and nearer to the surface for light. The snorkeling right in Dahab is predictably mediocre but a few sites just outside of Dahab are really nice. On my first snorkeling adventure I headed out to the popular dive sites (that are also great for snorkeling) of the Canyon and the Blue Hole. The Canyon was a bit of a drag as the weather was horrendous and the currents strong. I didn’t even try to snorkel here after I watched about 20 divers get in the water and then get sucked down the beach where they got right back out again.

The Blue Hole

 I wasn’t sure if this guy was the stinging kind or not…you can’t quite tell but he was lavender-colored.

 Clam

 Long, skinny fish

 Divers below me

 Next, we headed to the Blue Hole which fortunately enjoys a more protected position than the Canyon plus the winds were starting to die down a bit so we were able to snorkel here.  The Blue Hole is a very famous and very dangerous dive site if one chooses to dive recklesslessly.  The hole is more than 250 feet deep (recreational diving stops at 100 feet) and at about 180 there is an arch that leads to the other side of the hole.  It’s very tricky and very dangerous and even extremely experienced divers have died here.  In fact, there are many plaques and memorials affixed to a cliff near the site with the names of people who have perished at this site.  Of course it is possible to dive the Blue Hole safely by not attempting the arch and merely going straight down the wall of the hole to your maximum safe depth.  Most of the first pictures you see are from the Blue Hole.

The second snorkeling trip was to Moray Gardens and the Three Pools.  Thankfully the weather had calmed considerably by the end of the week and the snorkeling was a dream here.  I got caught in several schools of fish which was fun and saw lots of other great tropical fish and healthy coral.  The latter set of photos you see are mostly from my adventure at the Three Pools.

I’m fairly light on content and heavy on photos today so I’ll call it quits for now.  St. Katherine’s Monastery is tomorrow and then I’m headed to Jordan for Petra and the desert among other, no doubt, fantastic locales.  Type to you soon!

 Reflection of the waves on the sand at the bottom

Sea slug

A view of Dahab

Examples of seating in restaurants by the water

Sunbeds and pillows

After a very busy and hectic first week in Egypt, I was ready for a break.  And when one wants to just chill out and relax in Egypt, they had to Dahab on the Sinai coast of the Red Sea.  Dahab (meaning “gold” in Arabic) is an old Bedouin village that was originally known for its  laxness with regards to marijuana and super-cheap accommodations and food.  The rules have tightened on the weed and much of the old laid-back nature has been replaced with progress.  The dusty path along the water has been paved and many of the old Bedouin style pillow-seating on the ground has been replaced with proper tables.  The prices have gone up and things are much more developed.  Still, it’s a great place to come and do nothing and is a very active SCUBA diving area with pretty well maintained reefs.

More sunbeds

And at night…

My favorite: Friends Cafe

Restaurants along the water

It’s been a bit of a mixed bag for me here in Dahab.  The plan for me was to hang out in Dahab for a week and do some diving before heading to Jordan at the end of this week.  You know what they say about the best-laid plans?  As it turns out I am currently afflicted with a raging sinus infection that unfortunately precludes me from doing any diving.  I am blaming this directly on the pollution of Cairo.  Further, the weather here has been a little challenging in that there have been hurricane force winds which make the conditions for both diving and snorkeling rather difficult.  I have been able to get out on the reef and do some snorkeling but not as much as I would’ve liked.

Some local kids trying to catch some fish

Another famed thing to do in Dahab is to climb Mt. Sinai (where Moses allegedly received the Ten Commandments) near St. Katherine’s monastery and watch either the sunrise or the sunset.  Most people who do this do the sunrise as it’s more spectactular…they are picked up from their hotel at 11 pm, bused to the mountain where they climb for 3 hours and then wait at the top of a very cold mountain (about 8000 feet) for the sunrise…and come down afterwards to visit the monastery.  Those who know me well know that I am not a night person and the thought of hiking up a mountain in the middle of the night appeals to me not at all so I signed up for the day hike even if the views weren’t going to be so spectacular.  Unfortunately it is pretty quiet in Dahab at the moment and most tours need at least two people to go…since I am but one person I have to wait for two other people to sign up before it’s determined I can go.  Annoyingly, the two other people who signed up for the hike canceled at the last minute so I didn’t get to do it and only got to see the monastery.  I considered switching to the night hike but they weren’t going that night since the monastery is closed on Fridays and suddenly I was rapidly running out of days.

So, no diving, no hiking, minimal snorkeling.  Things have not been going as well as they could here in Dahab.  And to add insult to injury I ripped a really lovely quarter-size hole in the butt of my swimsuit bottom at the Blue Hole snorkeling site.  Fortunately it was just through the first layer of fabric but still.  And then my underwater camera quit working.  I took all of these things as signs that I needed to get the hell out of Dahab so am leaving a day earlier than planned and am headed to Jordan on Sunday morning.  Despite the mishaps, I did enjoy myself and have had plenty of time to just sit around drinking karkade (cold hibiscus tea) and fresh lemonade, eat some sea-critters, catch up on my reading and blog posts and chat with the locals but it is now time for me to move on.

I’ve got a couple of posts coming up from Dahab:  some underwater shots taken before the camera hit the skids and some shots of the St. Katherine’s monastery so stay tuned for those.  This post has a few pictures of the restaurants lining the coast in Dahab so you can get a feel for what they look like and it’s about time for some food pics so I have included those here as well.  Two more posts from Egypt and then we’re in Jordan.  Wish me luck on my border crossing on Sunday.

If you don’t like cats I would advise you to stay out of Egypt as they are everywhere.  This little minx stepped on my keyboard and managed to shut off my mouse touchpad which took me a full 10 minutes to figure out how to fix.

Chicken shawarma and grilled vegetables

The two best drinks in Egypt: karkade (cold hibiscus tea) and fresh lemonade

Shrimps portuguese

The “salad” course varies by day and by restaurant.  Usually there’s hummus, some vegetable (this is shredded carrot) and another dip of some variety

Egyptian breakfast: on the left is fuul (fava beans boiled with onions, spices, etc.), on the right is scrambled eggs with red and green peppers, the bottom is feta mixed with tomato

The fish I selected for dinner…

…what it looked like once it was cooked.

Bedouin chicken