Bubbles from the Blue

Eid Said!

divebunnie — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:30:00 GMT

"Eid Said, Eid Mubarak" or "Happy Eid" whichever you prefer.

So the holy month of Ramadan has come to an end, and my local friends and colleagues are in a celebratory mood. And this year I feel brings all the more cause for celebration... not only has Ramadan occurred during one of the hottest months of the year, making the whole fasting process (especially the lack of drinking during the day), all the more difficult to maintain, but this year, the whole country has been absorbed in a process of change. Who knows what that change will bring, but at the end of the day, whatever results, at least this will be what the Egyptian people have chosen for themselves, and not what has been chosen for them by some aged dictator under the pretext of democracy. Once Eid is finished, the country will start its process of electing a new government... their own government for the first time in over three decades.

For the last month, most of my Egyptian friends have been fasting during daylight hours. With Egypt being a fairly liberal country, and fasting not being compulsory, even those who are not fully taking part, many will have abstained from something, as a nod towards their religion of birth. Having said that, the majority of my colleagues are fasting, so have been working in these incredible temperatures having eaten their last meal, and drunk their last drink and smoked their last cigarette long before dawn, before morning prayers in fact, which tend to be done and dusted whilst the sky is still well and truly black. They will have fasted until the call for evening prayers as the sun drops behind the curtain of mountains sitting on our horizon. Which as I said, with temperatures climbing up easily to forty degrees centigrade most afternoons, is no mean feat. I am sure despite the fact that Ramadan of course brings people closer to God and each other, Eid this year will have brought everyone huge relief.

So Eid Mubarak to all my friends here, who once more are able to slake their thirst during the day as and when they need, and who will be enjoying the biggest celebration of the year for the next three days.

Nuweiba Chill

divebunnie — Sat, 21 May 2011 22:30:00 GMT

This week, we decided that a couple of days' chilling out on the beach, back to basics, in Nuweiba was on the cards. Well... it was my birthday, so rather than spending it working, as usual, we decided to turn it into a weekend getaway, and head out of town for a change.

Despite being such a tourist resort, Sharm really is quite isolated, with Dahab being the nearest town in one direction (a good hour's drive) and El Tor the nearest town in the other (again another hour's drive), with desert to the North, and sea to the South, it is rather like living on an island. Therefore, any trip to another town is quite an exciting event. The seven of us were in high spirits as we headed off on our little desert adventure.

We decided to leave early and make the most of our few days off, so the jeep was packed and we were on the road almost by our planned time of eight am. Ok... it was probably a touch more like nine by the time we had all collected everything, and each other, but we do live in Egypt, so a little lee way has to be given when it comes to time keeping on our days off.

We met up with our buddies in their car at the Sharm el Sheikh checkpoint, then head out into the desert for the first leg of our journey.

The Group... Minus Mia... playing photographer :D

I have already described the beauty of the desert in previous posts, however every time we meander through these dramatic mountains, starkly standing tall, against the brightest of azure blue skies, I am blown away. There is little or no rainfall here (aside from a couple of storms last winter.. the first proper storms in six years), so the peachy, pink rock really is quite bereft of moisture or greenery. Only in the valleys and wadis do we find the remains of vivid, green, desert shrubs together with the odd acacia tree still hanging in there, under the relentless sunshine hammering down on them. Their roots are no doubt plunging deep into the rocky soil, tapping on some elusive dribble of remaining dampness.

The Road Ahead:

A short stop in Dahab simply had to be taken, about halfway through our trip, with a short breakfast at the German Bakery, which was most appreciated. We supped on our coffees in the shady garden, whilst enjoying a selection of still warm croissants, cakes and patisseries, straight out of the oven. Delicious.

Once fed and watered, we were back on track, heading North again. We had another phase of driving through desert, wrapped in mountains, before suddenly, in a flash of turquoise we were returned to the coast. From here on, we were flanked with the sea to our right and mountains climbing up to our left. In the distance, across the water, in a haze of misty pink we could even see Saudi Arabia rising up on the opposite side of the gulf.

On arrival at Camp Bawaki, we all tumbled out of the cars and into the sunshine. Being slightly further North, and with that wonderful, Northerly breeze, we were greeted with a slightly more refreshing temperature than Sharm, so as soon as we were allocated to our cabins, we piled onto the beach for some fun. With a whole beach to ourselves, this is the reason we come to Nuweiba... our own beach, no music (unless we choose to provide it), no wall to wall sunloungers, no incessant animation teams calling out "volleyball" for their beach games.. just general peace and quiet with a few close friends. Hmmm I really am showing my age now aren't I?

It turns out Mia had wisely thought ahead, and just as I saw Katie inflating a giant rubber ring and thought "Ahh what a great idea, why didn't I think of that?" she produced a small package "An early birthday present". Yes you guessed,... it was a lilo. What a perfect gift. So my first half hour on the beach was spent turning blue in the face, as I rescue breathed and wrestled with the lilo until it was relatively buoyant. Time to collapse onto it and into the sea to recover.

So the rest of our morning was spent in and on the sea, enjoying the cool, but foolishly getting a teeny bit fried in the sunshine... oops. We should really know better by now.

Our next port of call was a secret restaurant built into the mountains called Castle Zaman. Created using ancient building methods, no concrete or steel used here, it is all wood and local stone. In fact it so blends into the mountain itself, that if you didn't know it was there, you could find yourself driving straight past, without even realising it existed.

Here they have created a small plunge pool as well, so we could chill out on their mini "beach" whilst our food was being slow roasted in the ovens. Huge joints of beef and turkey were surrounded by vegetables in earthenware pots, and slowly, slowly cooked for hours, before being presented to us sat at handmade wooden tables. For someone who was a vegetarian many years ago, I do admit that this was a touch carnivorous, however it was totally delicious.

The next day brought my actual birthday which began with a walk along the beach.

Footprints at Dawn:

On our return, we ate a traditional Egyptian breakfast of falafel, eggs, bread and bean foul (pronounced "fool") in the shady, beach "restaurant" of the camp. This was followed by much lounging on said beach and later, a delicious barbecue to which we had all contributed, having pre-prepared, seasoned and brought the food with us. Yes I know... more meat... and I will say, more wine. With Egypt not renowned for its wine making, we had brought some imported wine with us to celebrate, and boy was it worth it. I am not a particularly fussy wine drinker, however I do like my wines light and refreshing, so was most appreciative of our little box of imported Sauvignon Blanc... hmmm perfect on a hot and sunny afternoon.

Jim flies his supercool kite

With our weekender almost over, we snoozed, chilled on the beach and tried flying the super cool kite (I must admit I was far too chilled and far to engrossed in lilo racing with Jo by this stage to join in with the flying).

The next day, after a relaxed morning, chatting over breakfast, we took the road South once more, heading back through the desert mountains down to Sharm el Sheikh.

Day trip to Dahab

divebunnie — Wed, 11 May 2011 13:55:00 GMT

Living in Sharm el Sheikh, life can get surprisingly busy for your average dive guide, so we relish the chance of a little day trip up to the capital of chill... Dahab. Just over an hour's drive through the spectacular Sinai desert and we find a whole world of difference nestling between the mountains and the shore. Gone are Sharm's tourist spots of Starbucks and McDonalds, and in its place are the desert, a few beaches and small, local cafes and restaurants. I have friends who came here for a week or so, only to find themselves still there several months later.

From Sharm we quite regularly take our divers up here on day trips to enjoy a day's diving Dahab stylee.

It is an early start, we gather all our guests on the bus before seven am, and then head for the desert road where the peach coloured mountains jut up towards the sky. We meander between their feet, driving along a road that follows the wadi (a valley that becomes a small stream on the rare occasion that a rain storm hits). Small nubs of lime green stand out from the rosy rocks, where small waxy plants remain after last year's storms.

A short snooze later, and we are approaching the final police checkpoint... Dahab. Amazingly, we have not been stopped once en-route to our destination. This is the first trip I have made since the revolution and it is quite clear that the usual passport checks are now pretty much neglected. I guess that with an interim government and lack of power the police have chosen to sit back a touch. Whilst that may sound ominous, it should be remembered, that in most countries it is quite normal to be able to travel around without having to produce passport and explanations at random police check points along the way... so this could well be a good thing.

Our first stop is for breakfast at the German bakery. Set up some years ago by an expat, this has become a much appreciated venue in Dahab, with freshly baked bread, cakes and croissants, along with great coffee, it is a perfect place for our first meal of the day.

Once fed and watered, our first stop is at the Canyon dive site. Most of the diving in Dahab is from the shore, so our team have already unloaded the pick up truck that had followed us through the desert, onto bedoin rugs laid out on the sand. We set up our gear, and Hatem gives the dive briefing.

The wind is pretty high, so the entry is interesting. I watch the waves rolling in knowing we are in for a little fun. Luckily all our divers are pretty advanced, so unlikely to he phased too much. Although we do have a couple of unsteady ones as we first enter the water, there is nothing too drastic. As soon as we can, we pop our masks on, fins on and drop down under the swelly stuff on the surface.

Hmmm because the start of this dive is very shallow, we are still being swayed by the swell, rather like being on a rocking horse, we are pushed along the sand and then pulled back a touch. We gently fin through the hazy fog that is usually a lovely clear lagoon.

As we exit the lagoon, the visibility is completely transformed into the usual crystal clear, with deep, vibrant blue stretching into the distance. I can see hordes of the orange anthias swarming around a small pinnacle at the exit point, telling me that there is quite a lively current today... whoo nice one! This means that there will be plenty of fish milling around throughout our dive.

Off we swim, gradually descending deeper, little by little. I have my eyes, well and truly peeled for the small scorpion fish for which this site is famed. However they are so well disguised, it is almost impossible to see them, and today I guess I an just not that lucky, so we head straight for the canyon itself. As we are the first divers, there are no bubbles heralding the entrance, and we drop into a dark crack in the reef. As we drop down and our eyes adjust, beams of light from above cast patterns on the sand below, and a shoal of sweepers glint and flicker ahead of us.

We swim our way around the large bowl at the end of the canyon before making our way back along its length. The canyon then plunges away below us, ever narrowing ahead of us, and we start making our way back up and out via the same entrance via which we had entered.

Once on the outside again, we have a lovely coral plateau, and an eel garden. We also spot a small cluster of tiny pipe fish hanging around (literally... they appear strung up, hanging vertically, noses to the ground) and we see loads of lion fish before heading back towards the lagoon and our exit.

Back on shore, we pack our boxes and the pick up is loaded, before heading off for the Blue Hole. This dive has become famous, or should I say infamous, for its depth and sadly several accidents that have happened here in the past. In the Blue Hole itself, there is a tunnel at depth that leads out from the hole into open water. This tunnel, or "The Arch" as it is known, has lured many a diver to their demise. It starts at around thirty five metres and not only does it drop down another twenty metres along its length, it is also much longer than it appears, often resulting in divers becoming confused, narked and running out of air.

We are obviously not planning to undertake this particular dive. This is now purely for the elite few who enjoy what is known as technical diving, with extra tanks of air, different mixes of gas and a good heap of pretty intense training, the arch can be dived safely. We are planning to do the recreational version of this dive, where divers begin at the Bells and swim along the outer reef wall towards the Blue Hole, ending their dive inside the hole itself enjoying the corals in the shallows.

First things first however, it is time to relax and enjoy a mixed juice or cup of tea in the Aquamarine Restaurant adjacent to the Blue Hole itself. Time to greet a few familiar faces that I haven't seen for a few months too.

My turn to brief the dive, I explain our plan to our little group of divers, and off we head to get kitted up.

There is a small walk to "The Bells" a kind of mini version of the Blue Hole in which we are due to make our descent. It is not the most elegant of entrances, as we flop into a gap in the rocks, putting our fins on in the water. Wary of the foot I broke last year (not here I hasten to add), I choose not to sit on the rocks but step off instead. It works well, however probably not the most suitable entrance option for our guests who sit down and shuffle their way into the water.

One by one we drop down a crack in the reef, following the bubbles of the previous diver. Thankfully the crack is open to the blue, so anyone uncomfortable can simply allow themselves to drift out and follow the wall down. At the bottom is a small arch under which we can swim, leading out into glorious blueness ahead of us.

The bulk of the dive is spent swimming along this beautiful wall of coral, following its folds, gradually shallowing our dive off to preserve our air and prevent any other issues caused by staying down too deep for too long. We finally get to see some scorpion fish, woo hoo! First up was a tiny scorpion fish, not much bigger than a shell, followed by a huge one, ten times the size and bizarrely ten times as nervous as he scoots away from anyone getting even remotely close.

We have our mouths cleaned by friendly cleaner wrasse, our masks pecked by not so friendly clown fish, and generally have a great swim along until we reach the garden that heralds the edge of the Blue Hole itself. Covered in colourful corals, we take in its beauty before heading over the top and into the Blue Hole. Staying nice and shallow for the last part of our dive, we are treated to the sight of free divers practicing as they plunge down a rope buoyed at the surface. Amazing, we can barely see the bottom of their line, as they glide down on a single breath of air.

Back in the restaurant, it is time for a leisurely lunch before heading back down to Sharm. We sit and admire the view as hordes of free divers take to the water for their training. There is a string of floats all linked together, each float host to at least three divers. We carry on watching as, with a flick of the fins, one by one, each diver takes the plunge.

Our day ends with the ride back through the desert, back to Sharm.

Revolution!

divebunnie — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 19:21:00 GMT

So having lived in Egypt for a few years, we have been well aware of the reality of this "Democratic" government here. We have seen for ourselves the terrible poverty in which many people live, and discovered how whilst we were able to roam freely, Egyptians especially poor Egyptians, did not enjoy such freedoms. We have seen how friends who did a motorbike trip around the country had to carefully navigate police check points along the way to ensure that their Egyptian friends were not accused of illegally running tourist trips without lining the pockets of the relevant police. We have seen how our local dive guides collecting their guests, would encounter problems even entering the big, luxury hotels in order to meet the divers. We have witnessed a taxi driver getting smacked around the head for picking us up in the wrong place. All daily events that we eventually, and sadly found ourselves numbed to over the years.

So the recent events across the whole of the Middle East have been awe inspiring to say the least. To see the Egyptians rise up in such a peaceful, organised manner to tell their president that no, this is not a democratic society and that no they did not want him or his cronies as their leader, was a humbling experience.

Here in Sharm, we experienced none of the actual protests, we carried on business as normal in this bizarre bubble of peace and tranquility. And peaceful and tranquil it certainly was. We were already encountering a very quiet winter season anyway, so for this to kick off, we literally had about ten guests one day. And I work at one of the busiest dive centres in the hustle and bustle that is Sharm el Sheikh. It was unbelievable. The British were the only tourists remaining in town with all other nationalities being dragged back from the whole of Egypt by their governments. Thank God for our relatively reserved FCO guidelines, who only advised against travel to the affected parts of the country.

So we sat and watched the telly, as the events unfolded. Shamefully, I had stated that I didn't think that the Egyptians would follow Tunisia's lead. How little faith I had in the resilience and drive of the people here.

The 25th January heralded the first demonstrations, followed by incredible scenes as the protestors resisted violent retaliations from the police. We felt fearful when a few days later, the streets of Cairo and other towns became lawless, selfishly worried that maybe our little oasis of calm, would succumb and we would actually have to leave our home. On a personal level, I was hugely sad at this thought, however on a long term level for Egypt, I knew that this was an amazing period of change and that finally there might actually be a free and fair government here. This same night, having heard of a disturbance down in Old Sharm, there was one night where I went to sleep with a small bag by my bed containing money and passports... just in case. Thankfully it turned out that the disturbance was just a few people trying to panic buy in the supermarket and the Sharm el Sheikh rumour mill did the rest. They don't call it Drama Bay (Naama Bay) for nothing.

Well, we carried on in our strange world of peace and quiet for nearly three weeks, where the police still had power, people still went diving and money still changed hands, as the rest of the country fought for its freedom. Depressed, we sat and watched Mubarak's final speech (on the telly of course) as he declared he was not about to leave, was ready to die on this soil, and worried that he would make the army turn on the protestors, wiping them out of the way, and maintaining the status quo, after all that has happened.

Then, incredibly, we watched, elated as the announcement was made that Mubarak was stepping down. At first we were incredulous, after his speech the previous night, we were in no doubts as to his frame of mind, and we had heard so many rumours, we daren't actually believe this. But... no... it was true, he had gone. Unfortunately, apparently he had come to Sharm el Sheikh, however he was no longer in power. Gradually the realisation spread and we saw people start to clap and cheer, be it strangely muted. Maybe there was a certain amount of trepidation at what will replace the old regime.

The reality of events finally reached everyone in Sharm, people gathered in the streets to celebrate the event, waving flags outside the police station, cheering what can now be referred to as a revolution.

Hi there

divebunnie — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:31:00 GMT

Hi there, I guess I should introduce myself. Commonly known as DiveBunnie, my aim in life at the moment is to share my underwater world and encourage more women to join the sport. I am a scuba diving instructor and guide, who has been living in Sharm el Sheikh for the last six years, teaching students to dive and taking qualified divers on some fantastic dives in the area. Not a bad life I guess hehe... Bizarrely I used to be a professional dancer, so came from a world of Lights, Camera and Action into the wonderful world of the aquatic realm. I love contrasts.

I live on a cliff with my hubby and a cat, and we have a view to die for... we really should appreciate it more because you never know whether we can stay forever. Tomorrow I am heading to an area called Tiran to take a group of divers around the reefs up there. The diving is quite fantastic, although potentially challenging in this particular area due to the wealth of currents that can fly around these reefs. All good fun, though and it keeps us on our toes.