Saturday, 16 April

I slept well last night but was awake at 5:30. Sunshine, no clouds and no wind today. It turned into my warmest day so far, about 90.

Coffee and a new experience at breakfast. Today I ordered an omelet at the egg station. I have not had much luck ordering over easy fried eggs. The cook understands only Arabic and some German. As I watched, he made two fried eggs. When I saw what he was doing, I asked him to flip them. Two fried eggs over hard were brought to the table. Sort of funny that after resigning myself to omelets – I get fried eggs. All the food is good so I have no complaints.

The Coral Garden Dive Center is on the Red Sea in Egypt, about 15 miles from the closest town. It is a small hotel with 34 rooms that caters to German divers. The employees all speak Arabic and some German. Very little English.

After breakfast, Nicole challenged me to a game of chess. There is a garden sized chess set and a pool table for recreation. Being the gentleman, I let her win – but not really. I hope to be able to avenge my loss with a win at the pool table later in the week.

After lounging on the beach and having to go into the water to cool off, we decided on an afternoon dive in search of an elusive seahorse in a grassy area. We suited up and headed to the “garage” for our first stop. Then it was off to find the grassy area a little further out in the bay. We ended up circling the bay and finding the south reef. I wish I could say that was the plan but visibility was a little limited and we never did find the grass to search for the seahorse. There were lots of fish on the south reef as we headed back. I guess we save the seahorse for another day.

It seems the large group of teens were on a boat dive today, so it did not seem like as many divers in the water. It never gets crowded.

After a hot shower it was time for some coffee and a bite. The garlic bread and Egyptian bread (pita) were both good to hold us off until dinner. The dinner buffet opens at seven each evening. It has cooled off a bit again tonight.

Yens came by a little while ago to let me know he was going to do a night dive for his fifth dive of the day. Just hearing that exhausts me. I would also worry about decompression time but if most of the dive was shallow, it would not be a problem. Diving is a little strenuous but getting into and out of a wet suit five times could wear you out. Saw him after dinner and he has spent seven hours under water today!

The carving station at dinner was roasted duck tonight. Along with the salads, there was rice, beans, fried fish and eggplant finished off with the dessert table. Watched The Power of the Dog movie, not the usual western.

Only plan for tomorrow is breakfast. Vacation is good,

One of the things I find interesting here is that everything seems to be made in Egypt, not China. Plates and cups – made in Egypt; silverware – made in Egypt; tee shirts – made in Egypt. Not sure why everything back home seems to be made in China.

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

2022 Egypt Album