It's my first trip to somewhere where the daily temperature is 39 ! Even the sea was 29 and only a degree colder a hundred feet further down. Molly had been before, but nothing could prepare me for 'living in a hairdryer' for a week.
We stayed at Sharm, located where the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba meet. The resort was actually OK, although not the five star advertised. It was mainly German and Russian tourists, so there was very little orderly queueing for anything, all the sun loungers were draped in towels by first-light and physical prowess and speed was an definite advantage at meal times.
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(This part of) Egypt is not quite finished - in a 'Spanish' sort-of-way. The construction is functional, almost opulent and very white and the gardens are lovely but where it all stops, the piles of left-over crap start. Most unlike Palm Springs / Palm Desert, where superior attention to detail prevails and all is green; but, where the sprinklers stop, a proper desert takes over. Barren, beautiful and TIDY. Ok, I'm done preaching.
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The local passion is football, the local pass-time is sitting around smoking and the economy generally works on the basis that you have to tip in order to get good service. It's different.
We arrived late and were a bit shell-shocked the next day as we joined the scrum for breakfast. Glad to get out in the fresh air we set to exploring and soon stumbled into the Millennium Divers shop. A general enquiry about the Advanced Open Water Course turned into a frantic grab for the kit and, within half an hour, Molly and I were on a check dive off the house reef. Five minutes after the dive, I was signed up for the course and Molly had two days booked on the same boat - what happened to putting our feet up ? Perhaps we can do that later.
This was the wonderful view over the next two days, anchored in the Strait of Tiran, and an even more wonderful panorama was about to unfold beneath the surface. My previous underwater experience was limited to 8.4m down in Leybourne Lakes in Kent in the Autumn, temperature 11 degrees and visibility 5m ! My check dive the previous day was down to 20m and here I was starting the AOWD course and would be down to 30m, with visibility of 30m and water at 29 degrees - with a load of Germans and Russians who don't queue !
I wasn't prepared for how much wildlife there was down there. It was literally like swimming in an aquarium. In-between the drift dives along the reefs (Thomas, Woodhouse, Jackson and Laguna) I did the deep water dive, the boat dive - including an excellent re-entry drill in a strong current and force five, and the navigation excercise(s). I revised, sat the assessment tests and slotted in a couple of sport dives with Molly. Showky the instructor was a good lad and I leaned a lot. I can't help thinking I leaned as much from Molly, who was a great help throughout, held my hand, told me off, looked after me - as usual.
It was a great thrill to be part of this and the highlight was to be able to take part in another recreational activity with Molly. After the two days in the boat, I then did the final 'Night' dive and got my badge ! I have the same qualification as Molly now, I am just 100 dives and ten year's experience behind her - no doubt she will continue to look after me :-)
I saw too many species to document but special mention to the Hawksbill Turtle we bumped into. Just after the bumbling German knocked my fin off, Showky spotted this metre long beauty, face down in the coral having his lunch. He grabbed me and our combined three-fin-effort got us the 10m against the current to a point where we could hang on long enough to watch this fella for half a minute or so. Showky estimated he was about forty years old.
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We shoe-horned four days of doing very little in after all that, but snorkelled on several of them. On the first trip, we turned to see a five foot Moray swimming quite close to us and watched him as he slithered away - goose bumps formed on every bit of my exposed flesh, Molly's fingernails digging into my forearm, both of us gurning.
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The final noteble 'spot', while snorkelling, was this beauty.
About two metres of prime Leopard Shark cruising by on the edge of the 'blue' about 20 metres below us. Oddly neither of us had the same apprehensive reaction to the shark - we just lay there on the surface, holding hands, in awe of this wonderful creature as it lazily swam by minding his own business.
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Would we go back ? Damn right we would.
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Now, where are my bikes ? I have missed you all so much ....
