Dahab--day four

We decided to dive instead of climbing Mt. Sinai Thursday night because we were told by a girl who had climbed it a couple of days ago that the monastery was closed on Friday. We decided to do one dive in the morning and rest in the afternoon then climb Friday night so we could see the monastery on Sat.
We walked over to the dive shop without Mark, who decided he needed more relaxation in his vacation. Joe had gone over earlier and told them we were going to be diving with them again, and that he was going to do two dives (he decided to maximize diving and give up Mt. Sinai) and the others were going to do one dive (so they wouldn't be too tired to climb Mt. Sinai). So when we arrived, all our gear was ready and our dive master, Anne from Switzerland, was waiting.

She suggested that we go to a spot North of Dahab in a marine sanctuary where Kim and Brie could relax while Joe did his second dive. But she said that they were bringing along a second tank for Kim and Brie, "just in case". We agreed.

The first spot was called Moray Gardens, because it is common to see moray eels there. We loaded up all the SCUBA gear into the back of a small pickup truck and climbed into the back of a very old ratty jeep and took off. We were stopped at three checkpoints along the way by the Tourism & Antiquities Police. At the major checkpoint, they needed to see our dive master's certification card. The ride was on sand, dirt, rocks and a little pavement--very bumpy! The engine oil light would come on whenever we would slow down, speed up, turn right, turn left, go downhill, or go uphill! Joe urged them to get some oil (where in the middle of the desert?!?!?) and add it before our trip back.

It's so striking with the blue, teal water of the Red Sea on one side and stark desert leading up to craggy mountains on the other. We stopped at a great casual thatched roof restaurant on the sand in front of the entry, put on our gear, and walked into the water.

Within minutes, we were euphoric. It was like swimming inside a fabulous aquarium!

After the first dive, Kim and Brie decided to skip Mt. Sinai also, and dive a second time (after a relaxing lunch of felafel, hummus and foul. Our second dive was 5 minute jeep ride away, Om Sid. The jeep was nowhere to be seen, so we rode in the back of the pickup truck, amongst the SCUBA gear. We would get airborne from time to time, even though the driver was driving slowly and carefully. But, no one fell out :-)

We saw a couple of grey moray eels, lots of lion fish, a split-tail ray, a crocodile fish, a cleaner shrimp, wrasse of all different colors, sizes and shapes, unicorn fish, grouper, puffer fish (including one really cute one who was sleeping), clown fish, pipe fish, angelfish, sergeant fish (who swam out to greet us even before we put our fins on), scorpionfish, etc., etc. We saw a couple of octopi, including one large one who swam through the water while we were watching him. He landed on a rock of different color than the one where he started, and re-camouflaged himself perfectly within seconds--amazing! We saw some giant clams whose insides looked like the large octopus--an interesting brown pattern with a huge siphon.

The variety of coral was amazing. We particularly liked the table coral, which looks like a tree wherein all the branches are horizontal at the same height, providing a "table" look. There were always interesting fish lurking below, in the "shade".

Our consensus was that the Red Sea rivals the Great Barrier Reef and is a "must dive" location for all SCUBA divers.

The jeep was waiting for us when we returned to the restaurant to get our stuff and pay our lunch bill. So we crossed our fingers, hopped in, and made it back to the hotel without incident.

We reunited with Mark and had our afternoon swim and beer :). We all agreed to skip the climb up Mt Sinai--Joe has a weird, very tender blister and large bruise on the bottom of one foot and Brie has a tender toe--plus we learned that we had misinformation and the monastery is closed Saturday, not Friday.

We opted for a leisurely dinner out at a nice seafood restaurant, Sea Bride, and a bit of bargaining with the shop keepers. Another great day in Dahab-really like this place!

The Food

In response to a comment/question from Chris, Joe writes:

Aah--the food. Here are Joe's thoughts...

Egypt is a very poor country without particularly good sanitation (also lots of trash, bad smog, etc.). Kim & Joe have been very careful (read "paranoid") about our eating: only bottled water to drink, brush teeth, etc. They have avoided all fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, because of contamination risk on the skin (and some people say inside from water used in irrigation as well, but we're skeptical of that.). There are a lot of flies, so it's difficult (actually, impossible) to avoid eating food that flies have been on (Yuch!). In Dahab, they have also given up meat, after seeing how it is stored & transported (and how it smells).

Brie & Mark have "3rd world stomachs" that are acclimated to all the Egyptian bugs, so they are eating everything, but using bottled water.

Kim ate 1/2 teaspoon of some fresh watermelon juice that Brie ordered, and has had mild stomach problems for several days since... Everyone else is ok. Perhaps it wasn't the watermelon juice, but that's the only difference between what Kim ate and what Joe ate in the 24 hrs. immediately preceding the onset of her difficulties.

So, back to your real question about the food. It resembles other food from the general area: hummus, tahini, felafel, baba ganoush, kabobs, etc. The felafel are made with fava beans or white beans, not chick peas, and are generally very good. We've eaten lots of vegetarian pizza. In general, it has been good, but not great. There have been some very good soft cheeses like feta. The foul (smashed beans) that they eat at breakfast are sometimes good, especially if you dump in the accoutrements such as yogurt and various spices. It seems that the more smashed the beans, the better it tastes.

Kim & Joe have resorted to eating some "grocery store meals" of factory-packed food to minimize contact with flies & storage/handling problems.

The beer has generally been like generic American beer (we've only been drinking Egyptian & Jordanian beer), but we found a couple that stand out. Petra beer was excellent--very flavorful. At 10%, we knew that we had had a beer :-). We just drank Luxor beer last night, which was also good--unfiltered, with a very nice flavor.

Perhaps we're being overly cautious, but I don't think so. If you have a strong digestive system with acquired immunity to 3rd world bugs, you can probably follow in Brie's & Mark's footsteps and enjoy the local food.

Dahab--day three

We went to the dive shop, Desert Divers, right after breakfast and signed up for our dives. Because we have not been diving for a few years, we needed to do a scuba tune-up starting with a several-page quiz to ensure that we remembered what we needed to know. We did a great job remembering almost everything except our dive tables. After a quick review, we remembered and were able to do our multiple-dive calculations. We met our instructor, Ineka, a young Australian woman who has stopped in Dahab for two months on a solo one-year around-the-world trip after graduation from her university. She has been an instructor for 2 1/2 years and was very competent.

The first dive was mostly practicing skills: removing, replacing and clearing regulator and mask, etc. We did explore the reef called Lighthouse, which was fantastic. It is so great to be able to hover right in front of fish or other critters without worrying about having to surface to breathe in case of a problem.

We had a light lunch, then headed back for our afternoon dive, which was at a place called Islands. It is a series of coral islands and pools all interconnected. We had to swim through a short cave to get started. We saw great coral and life here also, including a crocodile fish, a large octopus, several dozen medium-size barracuda, and lots of assorted colorful reef fish. Joe had equipment difficulties (a leaking buoyancy control device), so he had trouble with buoyancy control and his air ran out early and he finished the dive sharing the air with the dive leader, Nimby, an Egyptian. Fortunately, it didn't interfere with the enjoyment of the dive for Joe or anyone else. We actually had 3 dive masters with us, Nimby who knew the area well, Ineka who hadn't been diving there before and Tor, a British girl who dove with Ineka in Australia and was visiting her for 2 weeks--we were well covered and they were a fun group

We really like the Desert Divers shop and recommend it to anyone else who comes here. It is one of the several shops recommended in our guide book: Lonely Planet.

Now we're trying to decide whether to climb Mt. Sinai tonight instead of sleeping (which probably means no more diving), or skipping it and doing a couple more dives tomorrow... We walked around town a bit and went to dinner at a really good Italian restaurant then browsed the shops, dodging the hassles from the guys in front of the restaurants wanting us to eat there. Weird job they have, but they seem in good humor and laugh a lot as they talk to the tourists.

Dahab--day two

Our hotel didn't serve coffee until 8:00am, and the manager said that no other place in town is open for coffee until later than that, so we slept in.

We then spent most of the morning with the logistics of switching hotels. We're now in a regular hotel that is cleaner, friendlier, and has a nice pool. It is called the Red Sea Relax. It feels much better :-)

We rented mask, fins & snorkels and went snorkeling in the early afternoon. The coral reef is home to a huge number of great fish! We saw lots of species we had never seen before, as well as some favorites. It's a very easy shore entry from our hotel's beach, then you're on the reef almost immediately. There are dozens of dive shops and the sea is swarming with divers.

We're now planning the rest of our stay here: when to go SCUBA diving, when to climb Mt. Sinai, etc.

We wandered about town & selected a dive shop, then wandered about town & selected a restaurant, then ate a light meal and got back to the hotel at 11:30pm. Late for us!

Dahab--day one

We took a taxi from Petra to the Amman airport (we called the same driver who took us to Petra), caught a plane to Sharm El Sheikh, which is on the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula: a site of world class diving, but very touristy. From the air, the reefs looked incredible! They are huge--we could have been flying over the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

We chose to stay in Dahab, which is an hour's drive northeast up the gulf, and is also a great diving spot, but is very low key. A driver from our "hotel" met us at the airport and took us to Dahab. The driver was jerking his head all around while driving: Kim thought he was falling asleep & Joe thought he was on speed. Kim asked Brie to engage him in conversation: turns out Joe was right (pure speculation)...

We made it safely to Dahab. Hooray.

Our "hotel" is a converted house of Sheikh Salem. It is right on the beach, with a great view. It is, however, very rustic, not very sanitary or secure, and the managers (owners?) haven't learned anything about treating customers well. We walked around town, exploring other options, and decided to switch in the morning.

There is a constant breeze and the temps range from the mid-80's at night to the upper 90's during the day. In the shade it is very comfortable with the breeze. It was 15 degrees warmer here last week.

Right across the gulf is Saudia Arabia, clearly visible in the attached photo.

Comments

Thanks to Carl and Elliot for your comments. Comments or questions from anyone else?

Thanks.

Preview--Dahab (out of order)

We're planning to end our trip in Dahab, relaxing on the beach, snorkeling & SCUBA diving. Check out these webcams.

http://www.dahab-info.com/webcams/