2022 Egypt – Day Twelve – Snorkeling

Saturday, 23 April

Calm winds again today. It is nice to see the weather forecast be off. Forecast was for strong winds for the next week. It seems like they get the temperature right and you can forecast no rain with close to one hundred percent accuracy. Temperature went to the mid eighties. Not a cloud in the sky.

I met Nicole for breakfast and although she was feeling better, she still had a slight headache. We have found breakfast to be quite entertaining the last two mornings. There is a new chef at the omelet station. It appears he speaks no English and almost no German. I am not the only one who is sometimes surprised when my eggs are served. He sometimes leaves the pan on high heat when it is empty and there is the odor of something burning. Today he had one flip of the omelet where he missed catching most of it. Since the dining room is open there are sparrows that visit looking for scraps, he gives them a chance to feast. Yesterday he dropped an egg shell on the floor, slid off his shoe and with his sock, slid the shell into a corner. Our usual seating arrangement has me facing the omelet station. Tomorrow, we will switch seats so Nicole can enjoy the festivities.

At breakfast we decided on a walk this morning. We started off north which does not go too far before there is a fence blocking your way. We can go much further south. We headed south past the Coral Sun Beach resort which is several times larger than the Coral Beach Dive resort. Back south to see if the hermit crabs were out today. They were plentiful again, tiny ones and larger ones. On the way back we a piece of seaweed washed up which was covered with hundreds of hermit crabs. The tide was low enough to walk on some of the rocks at the water’s edge. The rock is a conglomerate made with many sharp edged pebbles. It looks like someone busted up poured concrete that contained crushed stone. This is different than the conglomerate in Pennsylvania which contain rounded pebbles. Looking at the rock on the shore helped me better understand why the mountains nearby seem to have a darker color than all the sand.

Lunch was a shared beef shawarma and garlic bread followed by a cappuccino. Lunch was charged to my room so I could pay off my debt collected from yesterday’s chess games. Today’s games of pool started with an even slate. Nicole won the first game, I won the second. I consider coming out even a little victory.

While playing chess one of the staff approached to speak to me about my covid test. I needed proof of vaccination to get into Egypt. I need a negative covid test the day before I return to the US. i am scheduled to get a taxi at ten on Tuesday to take me to Safaga for the rest. I expect it will be a unique experience.

Later we met at the beach for a little snorkeling. It is amazing how many fish are in five to ten feet of water near the shore. The coral starts growing less than ten yards out. I had planned to take some photos with my underwater camera but ran into technical difficulties. The need for reading glasses and the tiny LCD screen in the sunlight is my excuse. Next time I will set everything up before I go in the water so I only have to push one button to take a picture. Nicole was feeling better and went for a long ocean swim.

A couple of hours back at the room before dinner gives me a chance to start my daily post. Internet is weak at best and seems to come and go so updating can be quite a chore. This is where having cell service available and a good book to read come in handy. The resort is comfortable and relaxing but not to the standards we are used to in the US.

A short walk before dinner and it looked like a couple of boat lights on the sea. We could also see the lights off Safaga, the closest town, with it’s lighthouse blinking. The carving station tonight featured duck to go with the pasta bar and regular buffet. After dinner, a game of chess won by Nicole so I ended the day down one coffee.

A little fight with the wifi to get this posted, a crossword puzzle, a little reading and snooze time.

Neil Young – “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”

2022 Egypt Album

One Comment Add yours

  1. Diane says:

    Cute story about the new chef. It’s always fun to people watch.

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