Ras Mohammad, National Park (Part II of III)

My epic Sharm El-Shaik trilogy continues, although this entry details my day trip to Ras Mohammed, a National Park that encompasses the Southern part of the Sinai Peninsula and the surrounding sea. It is 480 square kilometres in size and hosts a multitude of wild and plant life, both in and out of the water. My primary concern was the sea life, as I took a boat/snorkelling tour of the peninsula. As soon as I got in the water, I could see why this is a world renowned dive spot - it made the most exotic fish tanks look like those glass bowls with single goldfish in them. But I am getting ahead of myself, let me start again at my beginnings (Thanks, Kipling).

Aqua Vision, our faithful vessel

I arranged the trip through my hotel, and I was picked up promptly at 8:30, out front. I was nursing a rather large hangover (see Part III of this series), and the buffet was just starting to kick. Luckily we had a half hour wait at the tourist harbour, and with the aid of a large bottle of water, I was good to go. I also took the chance to rent a snorkel and mask. The group I went out with on the trip wasn't very talkative, but maybe it was the visible effects of the before mentioned hangover that deterred them. They were also all couples, so according to some people (no names mentioned), they don't need to socialise anymore. The weather was sunny and clear when we set out, and I used the opportunity to make up some sleep, and work on my tan.

The 1st snorkelling spot, the thing in the middle is a diving buoy

After a short safety briefing (5 fish to look out for, I later found one of them). We cruised for about half an hour until we got to the first snorkelling reef. There were several other boats around, so I gathered it was quite a popular spot. In line with the rules of the National Park, I wasn't allowed to swim over the reef, but there was plenty to see on its sides. For the uninitiated, coral reefs are similar to tree trunks, in that only the outer layer of coral is alive. The bulk of the reef is made up of the skeletons of the dead coral. The top layer attracts all manner of kelp, sea urchins and fish. I really enjoyed cruising along, and then diving down whenever I spotted something interesting. The fish were incredible too, most of them were brightly coloured, to blend in with the reef.
The first reef I visited was 5m high, and a couple of square kilometres across. The half hour I had was no where enough time to fully explore the reef, but alas, we had plants to see.

The cunning dolphin, posing for a photo

The Aqua Vision then set off for the next spot, just around the point of the Sinai Peninsula. While we were cruising along, dolphins were spotted off the port bow (I've always wanted to use that expression). Being the intelligent buggers that they are, they soon hitched a ride on the ships wake, and presented all aboard with a great photo opportunity. Apparently they are quite comfortable around boats, in fact, humans in general, and they seem to be having fun all the time. Basically that makes them smarter than most humans.

The 2nd Snorkelling spot, the change in colours indicate different salinities

The next reef we stopped was near to a lagoon, which had lots of Mangroves growing on its shore. A mangrove is a species of plant that can survive off salt water, using a built-in filtration system. The fish were slightly bigger (some amazing big flat ones, angel fish, I think), attracted by the leaves from the mangroves. After another too short snorkel, we set off back towards the harbour, since our final snorkelling spot was near to it. On the way back we had lunch, which was an interesting challenge, since there was a bit of a swell. Luckily my hangover had long since been banished, and everything stayed in its right place.

The cliff that bordered the final snorkelling spot

The final snorkelling spot was outside the National Park, and it has suffered as a result (lot less fish and plants). It also seems to be a popular practise spot for scuba divers, and was quite crowded with them. We stayed here a bit longer than the other spots, and so I got a good chance to swim around the reef. The reef was also fairly close to shore, and I could see the holiday houses on top of the cliff, just a few metres from the beach. If anything it was a powerful reminder of why it is important for governments to protect nature, as this reef was in the process of dying.

A salty sea cat, hanging around the harbour, preying on unsuspecting rat tourist

With the sun on the wane (about 3:00pm), we made the short trip back to harbour. I really enjoyed the cruise: the reefs were amazing and a boat trip on a sunny day is always nice. I got sun burnt too, something I haven't managed in about a year (ahem, university). All in all, a grand day out.

Coming Soon: Egyptian Nightlife (part III), I should finish this tonight.

A Shoppers Guide to Egypt: Paying 20% of the asked for price.

Sharm El-Shaik, an Egyptian Seaside Resort (Part I of III)

The Beach Boardwalk, Naama Bay

I'm sorry for a week long lack of blogging, but I was finishing up some work (3D modelling, damn vector calculus), and then I was jetting off to Sharm El-Shaik, a renowned holiday spot. I was there from early on Saturday to late yesterday (Tuesday) and I must say that I had a very good time, lots of thanks to Ismail for sending me. My activities however can be summarised quite succinctly: beach, lying in the sun, drinking and watching BBC in varying degrees of anxiety(it was covering the Polokwane conference).

Palm trees next to crystal clear sea

More specifically I was staying in Naama Bay, a sort of tourism orientated enclave, to the North of Sharm El-Shaik. Sharm El-Shaik itself is on the Sinai Peninsula, the little bit of land that separates Africa from Asia. As I mentioned above, it is a popular tourist destination (Europeans and Russians mainly) and is a world famous diving spot. The mountainous interior of the Sinai peninsula is home to the Bedouin people (nomadic desert dwellers, well they used to be) and Sharm serves as a gateway to the peninsula. A point of interest is that the Bedouin were the inspiration for Frank Herbert's Fremen people in the Dune Science Fiction series. I did meet a few of them (a lot work around the resorts and beaches), but I couldn't tell them apart from the other Egyptians straight away(this could be a failing on my part), usually it came up when I asked them where they were from.

More of the beach front, one of the many seaside bars (a potentially dangerous combination)

I arrived early on Saturday morning (I took the 5 o'clock from Cairo, arrived in Sharm International at 6 o'clock). The sunrise was quite spectacular, rising over desert mountains. I appreciate all sunrises I see, considering that 6 o'clock approximates to my personal midnight. I got to my hotel, Hotel Karamare, a very nice resort with some unfortunate decoration, and had a power nap after watching some BBC(my hotel in Cairo only gets CNN). Upon waking I hit the hotel breakfast, which unfortunately for the hotel's profit margins, was a buffet. Once full of every conceivable type of breakfast, I went for a stroll around town, town being the seafront part of Naama Bay.

Something of a cross between a pigeon and a starling, chilling in a beachside cafe

Naama Bay is both unique and generic: it is full of souvenir shops (all called 'book stores' for some reasons, the only writing in sight is on the postcards), and really, I must admit that most of the souvenirs are awful (as in crimes against taste awful); the scenery however is amazing: palm trees, desert mountains, crystal sea and try as it might, the people trying to sell crap just can't do anything about that. The atmosphere of the town is also nice, extremely relaxed, lots of cafes and people sitting around doing nothing. In particular the beachside bars and restaurants managed to hit the right note, and definitely were a positive.

The shore of Sharm, as seen from the other side

After my wanderings around town, I lay on the hotel beach and swam in the warm sea. Being the Red Sea (now I only need to swim in the Arctic and Antarctic seas), it is quite warm although it seem a bit saltier than what I was used to(I was probably imaging this). That night, after another exercise in profit margin shrinking at the buffet, I decided to take the nightlife by storm. But that is another story.

Coming Soon: Egyptian Nightlife (Part II of III), Cairo cafes, Sharm El-Shaik clubs, Seesa, funky house music and Russians, all the gory details.
Rus Mohammed (Part III of III), I snorkel around one of Egypt's only Nature Reserves, home to colourful reefs and mangroves, plants that live off salt water.