Saturday, 23 November
When you are hiking, a zero day is a day of rest, no miles that day, so no dives today is my zero. As forecast, the wind picked up today. Slept in a little and went down to the beach. A few early morning divers came out of the water. I did see a few fish jump out of the water nearby. I wonder what was trying to eat them. After a leisurely breakfast, I spent the morning on the beach enjoying the sound of the sea and the sun. Aiman came by with our Night and Limited Visibility dive certification cards. Lunch was a beef shawarma, shaved beef with onions and peppers in a pita. Much better than yesterday’s cheeseburger. A friend asked me how the food was in Egypt, so here are some details.
The food has been good. The dive resort includes breakfast and dinner, buffet style. All for a reasonable price. Breakfast always has an egg station. My only problem there has been an occasional language barrier, my over easy eggs have sometimes come out as an omelette . There’s cheese, fruit, always tomatoes and cucumber. Pancakes everyday along with two other warm foods. Of course, coffee and juice.
Lunch is off a menu and seems to vary a bit, chicken and beef pita sandwiches were good, cheeseburger was so so. There are a couple of salads on the menu that have been pretty good and lunch is only about $5.
Dinner is a buffet with about six different salads, usually two meats and a couple of vegetables. Then about six desserts with some fruit. None of the desserts are as sweet as at home but still good. Usually a pasta bar also at dinner. Plenty to eat and it has all been good.
Only drinking bottled water, even for brushing my teeth. I had one early morning where my stomach was a little upset but a Pepto Bismol was all I took and felt good enough to dive later in the morning.
The afternoon was spent reading on the beach. It did get a little cool on the beach as the sun got low Time to meet Nicole for our before dinner coffee. Dinner is a little different than last week, there was duck in place of the turkey.
It is still breezy outside, so the plan for tomorrow is again flexible. Wind usually dies down overnight and picks up when the sun comes up. Sunrise is a little after six. Usually, we are on the beach by seven. We will look at the waves and see if someone can tell us how the visibility is. With the wind kicking up again tomorrow, the plan is either one morning dive or no dives. The forecast shows the winds calming Monday and Tuesday. We plan on morning and afternoon dives those days. Wednesday is a no dive day because you should not fly for twenty four hours after your last dive. The reduced pressure in an airplane has the potential to cause issues. On Thursday, I fly back to Munich before returning home on Sunday.
I love hearing all the details.