My very own Desert Party

What a party! I have for the past month raving on about a desert experience, not the glamourous or tacky style. But a decent under the stars, visible shape of the mountains by moonlight, the cool breeze in the night and indigenous people. Guess what...I got that experience ten times.

I was overwhelmed with emotion as the boys from the dive centre threw themselves into action creating not only amazing food barbecuing the meat, chopping the salads, chopping up wood to sustain the big bonfire to keep us all warm and their usual warm banter and laughter.

The guests such as Anne and Barry from Reading, England were happy to dance ballroom in the moonlight around the bonfire, thorougly entertaining us with their gusto for life! Anne with her usual caustic sense of humour and Barry's deep chuckle ever ready to accompany a funny thought or comment! Superb people.

A group of us decided to sing 'Que sera sera' a song most defining of the moment we were in, because who knows, whatever will be will be!

The boys switched on their cars and plugged in their mobiles to generate the great sounds of arabic music which grabbed our attention and made us all want to dance..albeit we veered off the dance floor soon as the boys showed us up with their teasingly seducing belly hip movements..Phuah!

Rustic, authentic and filled with genuine warmth, laughter, dance and gusto! I have to personally thank Steve and Claire for really organising this experience for me. What I appreciate the most is their genuine ability to relate to the customs of the place and work around it!

Its rare and wonderful.

Search for the Dugong

We went in search for the Dugong in Abu Dabab knowing that it took some people 13 visits before they got to see the Dugong. But we made a search through the sea grass and beautiful clear water searching for our friend the Dugong.

Instead we saw six turtles amazingly with feeders on their back cleaning them as they hung around eating the grass on the sea bed. I was in my element watching and taking photos and apparently I got really close to them and they must have seriously thought I was barmy and unfrightening. Thankfully!
However, as I was chasing the Guitar fish to take a photo of it as it writhed around the bottom of the sea bed it made an instant U-turn on me and I swear it looked at me as if I was pestering it...I mean a beautiful creature like that has to be observed but when it springs back with a bit of personality and gusto you feel quite perturbed in an instant!

Needless to say, I slinked back and made sure my buddy was aware too! Sad to say I did not see the Dugong! BOO HOO......next time!

Regina and Peter the Arrival

I would like to introduce you to my favourite people out in Al-Quseir. Arrived two weeks ago as the new Dive Instructors and their efficiousness, enthusiasm, commercial direction and most of all their humour was a welcome! In their first days they had organised the world and welcomed me into their fold. We had movie nights, dinners, thumb games, dancing and lots of laughter.

Peter, who used to be a Vet but I had this really strong feeling he was an accountant. If I was Peter, I would have been rich, his meticulous attention to detail simply impressed me. A thoughtful, kind, astute individual who certainly received tips from his customers because of his excellent service! Wonderful!

What can I say about his great fiance Regina, a corporate talent and first impressions a force not to be reckoned with her direct approach and 'everyone can do anything presence' attitude, in space of ten minutes she just infects you from the moment go! We certainly had some great moments celebrating my reputation as the Bonzai Dugong and finding lost equipment on 30 metres down the sea! Pretty cool!

Miss you guys!

Cookie and the Fish

Hey ho, despite suffering from sea sickness now and again I certainly have an eye for fishing! There I was with Ahmed aka 'Cookie', not because he is a bit la la well not most of the time but he is the cook of the boat! Both Ahmed and I were on the zodiac looking for the divers to reach surface amongst the choppy, wavy sea and with dismay I could see something really shiny, almost plastic like bopping on the surface, my heart sank thinking its a damned big fat plastic bag. Possibly dumped by a big ship or something and I frantically shout at Cookie to veer towards the plastic thing as it bops up and down the waves. Obligingly, we steer towards this plastic looking thing only to realise its the biggest fish I have seen in a while and it was half chopped of most certainly by a shark or something. (oh boy I got excited big time by the mere chance of it being a shark) Cookie ever excited, grabs hold of the big fish as you can see and launches into the zodiac. I let out a customary scream because it wouldn't be normal otherwise and had a laugh afterwards. Now i know what fishermen must feel like after a night out on a boat, elated at finding such a prize! Woweee, this fish was donated to the crew who were desperate to cook it because they stated it was 'FRESH'.

Francois and his marriage proposal

Francois is actually philipe and he is an undersea videographer! He moved into our flat to capture the amazing dive sites we have in our midst. When he moved in too the flat I called him Francois and it stuck, to the others he was Frenchie! Well I liked this kookie chap who decided to devote his life to travel a nd help businesses promote themselves through his amazing videography skills. Now Francois, has been going out with his lovely lady in Paris for a while now and they spent a holiday on the nile where he courted a crocodile who bit his finger. His reasoning was that the crocodiles in Brazil were friendlier..(Go figure as americans would say). Anyhow, in our conversation together it happens that he lost his courage to ask his lady to marry him. I asked him how was he expecting to recover the dutch in him, he said he would ask via an email instead. I offered a variety of ways like proposing underwater and capturing it on video? I realise that frightened him even more and lo behold he sends an email asking her to marry him. Her response was 'we shall have a big party'. I guess that was a yes. I tell everyone the email story wondering why he would choose this medium only to realise as he reminds me that it was me who agreed with him! I realise the power of words or my words are a bit too strong!

A fab addition to our life in Al-Quseir.

Private Serfis in Al Quseir

Some people would think diving is a relaxing sport and I would agree but the travel to some places do tire you out, but i have to say the deep slumber really has been providing me with some immense dreams!!

On one such occasion, I and the dive team were shattered after a heavy diving day (amongst the colourful fish, waves in the water..get the picture) and I am craving fish..bizarre but true. I did think to myself when I walk in the countryside, I don't exactly crave eating the cows or lamb? Anyway, we went to the best fish restaurant in town called 'Firdaus' and its superb for Al-Quseir. After learning the Thumb game with Regina, Peter and Philipe we decide to head home, tired, exhausted and wondering if we will find Khalid and his crew hanging around the roads in their cars, happy to give us a lift. However, we meander down the road and look for a 'serfis' a minibus type taxi, dolmush, collectible whatever you would like to call it! I flag the Serfis and all of us walk into it and look around to find we are the only passengers which is lovely.

I explain where we want to go and the driver keeps asking me "where', now i know my arabic is conversational at the minimum but its not much fun responding to someone who keeps asking me 'Where' until my lightning like brainwave hits me and tells me he is asking where I am from!!! With a sigh of relief and desperation to head home I tell him and he gives me his salty pumpkin seed bag and everyone is happy.

We become happier when the driver ignores all other passengers who are trying to flag down his taxi and drives us all the way home as long as I continue to chat to him! How grateful we are for this man's generosity and kindness. A typical thing to happen in Al-Quseir. Certainly left us happy for the night!

Trying out the Night Dive

Oh my word, I eventually gave in and did a night dive! My word its a different world down there and i did freak a bit but gave my fears a rest! Steve, the owner of Pharaoh Dive Centre led us into the sea with our torches and wild imagination. He loves night dives and I can see why, it was like being in some cave and when shining a torch you could see different type of animals to the day clutching onto their piece of coral. It was magical and mysterious often scaring you in the process, well me! I later heard from the group behind me that they saw cuttle fish floating past them, I wondered to myself what colour fear was?

Having done the night dive I can honestly say I will do it again because the floating around the sea in the dark is special and adds a different dimension to it all! The seasoned diver couple who came with us Dave and Dawn were novices on the night dives like me and loved the whole experience, mainly to the expertise of Steve. Thankfully I did not need to hold his fin in fear more or less follow it. The thing with diving is, the experienced or excellent divers float and flap their fins a little, something I am trying to copy! Experience!

Life is good another fear conquered!

Trouble!!

This is trouble! If you see big powerful German men walking towards you shouting 'Have you seen the Dugong' just shout yes otherwise they will turn into sharks and bite you!

Have You Seen the DUGONG!

Has anyone seen the dugong? Everytime we came out of our dive, Dirk would cry out in sheer humour 'Has anyone seen the dugong' and I could not help but laugh when he would shout this out because it would follow with a rip roar of laughter and hearty hand slaps to the thigh! It was comical to watch and funnier to hear him talk about his albino dugong, this being the reason why it was not to be seen on the trip! The Dugong is a sea cow and its huge! I have not seen it but when I first arrived there was a rabid discussions on the sighting of the Dugong and pictures followed. I however can only say I saw the albino dugong boo hoo.

Dirk and Michael often used me as their football in the sea one would grab hold of me and turn me around and the other would sound his horn which sounded dreadful in the sea! Oh what fun both of them had whilst I was perplexed and again once again in giggles. Michael once used his bubbles to float me up a bit further and then dragged me down, I am so glad I have some competence. I guess Michaels favourite part is when I look behind me and he is signalling Shark, I look ahead wondering where is it and feel someone grabbing my leg and trying to bite me..I look down and its Michael pretending to be the shark! HO HO HO HO! I was to say the least thinking how on earth can I get him back! The man is a colossus so I was outdone on that part of life! On land, it got funnier for them, they would be speaking to each other and then I would find a bottle of iced water being tipped down my suit, howls and screams later, they would return only for the Egyptian staff to come and protect me! How they laughed at the antics of the day often indulging themselves into a song, laughter and banter at my expense but in a caring way!

Its been lots of fun!

Stefan the mighty fish!

Hello all,

Its been a while since I last blogged in and so much fun has passed since then. I wanted to attach a video by Stefan from Germany who at some point was my buddy underwater. What fun we had whilst Stefan was around and he was kind enough to allow me to show some of his pictures and videos. One particular moment with Stefan was when I infringed upon his Deep Dive course that he was specialising in, we were down at 30m doing all these fabulous excercises and I carried a full bottle of water down to the bottom, only to find in my amazement that the water had disappeared from the bottle...i look up and see Stefan, showing his white slate saying 'WOW, its magic(something like that) I just howled (yep you canlaugh underwater but only you can hear it). Stefan's humour often popped in at the right moments, stoical and reserved. I bet Michael our Instructor had some challenging moments to impress Stefan. In particular on this occasion, we were diving towards our exit on a billowing gale like moment, I was hanging off the safety rope because I could not fight against the tide and Stefan came along to help me dive further. I then remember looking up and Michael signalling that I stay where I am. I thought what a wonderful opportunity to try and capture some images of these lovely fish since I believed we were at some safety stop. I look around at a plethora of fish around us, desperate to take photos and wondering where they have all come from and keep popping my head up to look at Michael and Stefan standing there. Its not until we come out of the sea high and dry that I realise where all the fish came from because dear stefan was vomiting in his regulator whilst we were waiting. Now I know what attracts these little fish! Thank you Stefan for some photo opportunities, for rescuing me whilst you were feeling ill and poor stefan as well. Many more fun moments with Stefan have occurred, he loved housereef so much often asking for a buddy to come along(I was overlooked..hee hee..not really)

In fact another funny moment was when Stefan saw a Turtle, how I laughed, all I saw was his fins just flapping so fast as he ran after this turtle to capture it in his camera. His buddy was left behind and I was being told off by my Instructor who thought i was his buddy! Its amazing how you can communicate down under with some signs! I was told never to do what Stefan did..secretly i found it really funny and stefan realised instantly what position he was in and immediately came back to the fold! A funny picture experience indeed!

I is a Peak Performance Bouyant Diver

Oh yeah, the desire to dive after being ill for a few days certainly did help my posture whilst re-entering the water and diving. I was so happy! I could dive without feeling the panic and enjoy it immensely. I realllly love it even more so than before. Its addictive and I am so proud of myself for getting over my fear of the water and its inhabitants. I love the dark caverns and the twisty caves its makes me feel so explorative and excited its wonderful. I am working towards my advanced diving certificate and I have passed two of the modules I have done especially the peak performance bouyancy. I can do the buddha poses, navigate myself to the nearest rock(one thing at a time :) )...Oh what pleasures we have had today. My flatmate and great Diving Instructor Tomas has the excellency to speak underwater which when floating by looks strange and then you think ahhh how is he breathing...then he pops out a bubble from his mouth. I often end up laughing more out of fear I guess. Arghghghghghgh...but how..

I saw an octopus today and we wanted to see if it will play around with us but it did not want to and just kept bringing his little tentacle out, poking it around as a kind gesture for the diving tourists. Man its incredibly alive out there!

Clean the Beach Day

Ah so today the weather was realllly hot and we had chosen to clean the beach especially when the rubbish was just layering the landscape like a rubbish dump. You often see women in hibayas and children floating in the sea and 'sunbathing' amongst the rubbish dump! THE RUBBISH DUMP. The Beach has so much potential to be a great place to sit and enjoy the view of the ravishing sea and its tortoise shaped rock but the overwhelming rubbish just spoils the hard work and effort everyone ploughs into the beach. However, education is the key and it will happen if organisations here make a concerted effort to educate not only the people but the staff of hotels, councils, shops etc Its got to be a national campaign. What made me laugh the other day was the fact that three could be Eastern Europeans noted by their accents, were sunbathing amongst the rubbish, they looked so silly and were red as lobsters it was a funny sight. I couldn't help it and shouted out to them 'hey where's the suntan lotion'...I got a big GRUFF back!

I have to applaud Michael and Christina who on their last day of holiday before they return to Germany volunteered to help us clean the beach. They worked tirelessly and with lots of humour helping to clean 3km worth of beach and it was glaringly hot. We even swept up the dead goat and nappies on the beach. Troopers. They explained that they wanted to show their commitment since their daughter in Germany is a Greenie. I was impressed and immensely grateful. Christina has been really supportive in my fear of jumping off the boat often chanting my name ' huma, huma, huma'..It warms the cockles of my heart!

Friday-Guma!
Well I woke up after having a flu for a day and staying in bed. I did feel a little sorry for myself until I looked out of my window and saw the sea, the sun and felt the warmth in my flat. It was great! What a lifestyle when you have good weather. The breeze is constantly flowing here and it thankfully does not get unbearable in this city. Antiquated it may look but it certainly is very habitable and most of all hospitable unlike cairo!
The boys at the dive centre are always pushing me to pray especially on Fridays (meaning being a gathering). One of them was saying if you pray today your flu will go..cough splutter and then a though t pings through me and I say YES. The boys then suddenly throw themselves into a panic and say oh well you will need a hibaya (cloak and hat..not cloak and dagger). It seriously took them ten minutes faffing around what to do whilst the call to prayer was still blaring out its message. I then took matters in my hand and began the ablutions before prayer, they then started to tell me I can do it at the mosque. I know if its a five star rated Mosque like Ommayed Mosque in Syria its got great watering places but a tiny in the middle of nowhere place, the mosque is likely to be not to my liking! So I insisted to do my ablutions at the dive centre with the shower running. After taking a second to do it, I point out to the boys I am ready and Gibreel my fave Bedouin driver as arranged for a pickup of hibaya at his house which is next to the mosque. We go full speed to the mosque and drop off the guys and I then pop over to the house of Gibreels and meet his mum and sisters. It was truly quite a moment meeting Gibreels mum, she looked so similar to him and then his shy sisters came forward smiling and laughing and giving me my hibaya, I got a scary moment at one point when they were wrapping the headress around my head and attaching tacking pins so close to my face that one even pinpricked me! Off to the mosque I go fully dressed (wish I had pictures but I think I would have been late and to be honest I felt a bit embarrassed, idon't know why). I entered the small entrance for the women and walked up a flight of stairs into the womens room. Now the Khutba (sermon) was going on, I have not prayed in a gathering for years so have forgotten the routine. The women were milling around listening to the khutba and I then ask a woman, what I should do and she said Pray (no shit sherlock) so off I go and pray as she directed me to pray. I then finish and look around thinking whatelse I should do and decide to walk out and wait for the boys. I meet khalid our centre manager who loves the way I am traditionally dressed as an Arab lady and I point out to him he is late. It turns out that he has come at the right time and I have done my prayers wrong! So I run up and join the queue of women and children and begin to pray. How embarrassed am I..to forget to pray in a collective gathering. There were kids of the age of 5 praying so well next to me bar one who waas so fidgety she would look up and down. I got it wrong!!! I can't believe myself. Mortifying!
I went to return my hibabya, and lo behold I had a major bedouin feast before my eyes and everyone waiting for me. It was a great surprise ndeed, since the other boys were waiting outside and witnessed us eating they left us in a rush and told us to walk home! Gibreel could not invite the boys because he had two younger sisters unmarried and it would bring shame to his family if the boys came into eat as well. I really like Gibreel, in fact he was the guy who came to meet me at Hurghada airport and does not speak a word of English hence he was subjected to my squawking Arabic. A further embarrassing moment was I thought it would be nice for him to hear my lovely Arabic music whilst driving to Al-Quseir, mine is a hotpotch of rai and dance music. The Itouch has a tiny sound output and he was so polite he just listened. I then as time went on heard his own music and cringed at my attempt to entertain him on our journey! Our friendship has grown since then and I notice that his Arabic is a bit different to the other guys or the use of words and I am sure its Bedouin.. His ancestors were from Sudan and his father at some point use to fish in the sea with his mother who had a chance to see some beautiful fish in her time. The other girls had no idea what is hidden under the sea and when I showed them they were incredibly astonished at the beauty of the place. A really touching family.
PS. My other gaff has often occurred when I am cold. I thought I was saying 'I am cold', in fact I have been saying 'I am a post office'..two weeks on I discover this gaffe! What fun they must have, they are impressed with my words but I sense a kind of fatigue in me when it comes to the third hour of speaking Arabic. I can't do it anymore, I prefer they speak and I just listen and reply in English. Visualizing the structure of sentences and not to mention the Alpahabet becomes a distant but weak memory. Yet, I managed to work on an Arabic document for Khalid which I have to say he was impressed with himself. So easy typing Arabic words on a computer rather than writing it!