House Guests

For the last three weeks friends from Boyne City, John and Sue McCahan, have been visiting. They took a Nile Cruise from Luxor to Asswan and a side trip to Abu Simbel. Monday my daughter arrived, with a family friend, Rick, in the wee hours of the morning, for a week visit during her spring school break. Later in the day my cousin, Catherine and her husband arrived for the week. Now I have a housefull of friends and family. What fun! John and Sue are leaving soon to continue their travels for another three weeks in Turkey. Liz and Rick, Catherine and Bill will be here in Cairo for the week, with, hopefully, a side trip to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings.

This is my daughter standing along the Nile on the Corniche in downtown Cairo.

Here is Rick with John McCahan in baseball cap standing behind. No pictures of my cousin and her husband yet. Today they were off to discover the Egyptian museum.

Sadat Memorial

In Cairo there is a memorial to the late President Anwar Sadat who was assinated in 1981, by Islamist extremeists who were upset with him for signing a peace treaty with Israel for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize. The peace treaty with Israel was very unpoular in the Arab world, and caused considerable controversy. This is the memorial as it appears from the street.

Sadat is buried at the tomb of the unknown in Cairo across the street from the viewing stands where he was assinated. It is a very special memorial here in Cairo.

I have been by this site at all hours of the day and night and there is always someone here.

This is the viewing platform where Sadat was standing when assinated. The security would not let me go up onto the stand to have my picture taken. This was as far as I could go.

This gives you a better view of the viewing stand across the street from the memorial. It is a very quiet and solemn place. I had to hand in my passport to be allowed to visit the memorial. The Egyptians are very concerned that someone might desscrate this memorial and by handing in my passport I could be traced.

It was an interesting place to visit.

Dahab

Dahab is a delightful Egyptian resort town on the Gulf of Aqaba, that, along with Sharm el Sheik, is renoun for its coral reefs and dive centers. It is preferrable to Sharm-el-Sheik for snorkelers because the coral reefs are accessible from shore, making snorkeling much easier. However it is not as upscale as Sharm. Dive centers abound here and in Sharm that will take the intrepid farther offshore and to deeper and more splendid coral. Sharm is only 60 kilometers away, and busses run regularily between the two towns.

The Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez, are the two bodies of water off the Red Sea that frame the Sinai Peninsula. From your beach lounge chair you can look across the gulf and see Saudi Arabia. At this point the Gulf of Aqaba is not very wide.

Most hotels are along the shoreline, so Dahab spreads out along the Gulf , but only a few blocks inland. The mountains come close to the sea here and one of the activities available is to rent an open, 4-wheel- dune buggy and go for an excursion into the canyons nearby. There is a well known blue hole here in Dahab that is a must see on everyone's snorkel/dive list. This picture may not give you much of an impression, but when you are in the water, snorkeling over the hole, it is very impressive. You can see the difference in color in the picture. The darker blue is the hole.

This hole is heavily dived because of its close proximity and easy access from shore. Th best time to snorkel/dive here is in the early morning before the hords of dive tourists arrive. I came here about 9:00 a.m. There were a few others, but by noon it was chock-a-block with swimmers andI had to be careful because not everyone is as good a swimmer as I. They did not look where they were going and ran into people. So I left just after the crowds ascended transported from the various resorts.

A blue hole, as I understand it, is a more or less circular area with steep sheer sides that could extend down hundreds of feet. The coral growing/ clinging to the sides and the fish and other acquatic life is spectacular to see. It is much like diving--in my case snorkeling--in an open acquarium. I only swam over the top of the hole, but I could see divers below me and their bubbles would ascend.

I didn't have an underwater camera so I borrowed these pictures from the internet to show you how impressive the coral and fish are. This is just like what I saw as I snorkeled around the blue hole and another area called Eel gardens. Yes, I did see some eels.

The entire area is showing signs of stress on the coral reefs. I think Egypt is in the process of trying to do something to protect these reefs, but is moving slowly. To this end just offshore from Sharm there is an underwater national park recently established. The dive community is very concerned about the abuses to the coral by some tourist groups and is attempting to self-regulate so as to protect their livelihood.

This entire coast is world famous for its diving and attracts millions of tourists. All that activity has to take a toll on the environment. Never the less, it was a wonderful way to spend a long weekend and I am glad I found the place. Next time I plan to stay longer--whenever that might be??!

Back writing

Hello there,
I have not been writing lately. Quite frankly, I have been lazy and just not done this blog as should have. So now I am back at it and will post right away. So sorry to all who follow me for the delay.

Soccer Champs--a celebration extraordinaire

CELEBRATION

Here are soccer fans Larry Nilsson, left, and my husband, Jack, on the right. They are watching the first play-off soccer match between Algeria and Egypt, for the African Cup of Nations Championship.

Fans painted these two and got them in the spirit of the game. Egypt played Algeria this game. Algeria and Egypt enjoy a heated rivalry, often resulting in one or the other's embassador being recalled. To say that spirits ran high would be an understatement!

Fans were in rare form. They brought their own noise makers and high spirits.

Egypt scored! (Can you tell??) They won!! On to the African Cup of Nations championship game against Ghana!!!

EGYPT WINS THE AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! The streets were packed with fans celebrating .

Fans improvised flares using aerosol cans of automotive starting fluid and lighters.

Television camers were there to record the festivities. There was singing in the streets, dancing in the intersections, lots of flag waving and general good fun as fans celebrated this phenomenal win. No one believed that Egypt could pull this off, yet all were hopeful. And when it finally came to pass, they were estatic.

Jack and I noticed that the crowds were very civil, even polite. There were no cars set on fire, no vandalism, no rowdy drunken brawls. People were out to celebrate Egypt's Championship. They were not out to destroy their city. For six hours the fans had a wonderful time. Yes, they left lots of litter in the streets, but that was all. And yes, there was noise all night long, so sleep came very late, or early, depending on your point of view. But Egypt had something to celebrate and celebrate they did! And so did we.

Ain Soukhna on the Gulf of Suez

Last weekend we went to Ain Soukhna, a resort area on the Gulf of Suez, which is part of the Red Sea. We stayed at the Palmera Resort, an older, but pleasant all inclusive resort. Friday was a beautiful, sunny, windless day. Jack captured this picture on our way to breakfast. Not a ripple on the swimming pool.

We sat on the beach along with all the other Egyptians at the resort for a little rest and relaxation. I began knitting a sweater, and Jack read. It was a very pleasant day. In the evening we went into a pavillion area after dinner to watch Egypt win a very important soccer match that was part of a play-off series for the African Cup of Nations.

Everybody was out enjoying the balmy, delightful weather. Kids were swimming as their parents watched.
But it was not to last.

During the night the weather changed from the balmy and beautiful, to stormy. The waves kicked up and built. The next day was dull and blustry. It was a 180 degree difference from the day before. There would be no lounging on the beach this day. The beach was underwater.

After the storm we walked down to the sea front to see what damage had been done by the high wind and waves. We found these. GRENADES! (or whatever they are called) Washed up on the shore.

At the height of the storm the water came well up the beach and did damage to the resort's beach area.

You can see how high the water came. This storm was the day after the full moon when the tides are at the highest for the month. Combine high tides with wind and you have the makings for damage to the seafront and beach erosion.

These pictures do not do justice to the amount of water coming up the beach or the height of the waves. We suspected that at the height of the storm the waves averaged about 5 feet as they came onto the shore, and the winds built to about 30-35 mph., gusting to, maybe, 40 mph. It was enough to move you backwards when you stood still.

It was a wild storm, that the locals said happens about once a year. It was fun to be there and see how churned up the sea can get. It reminded me of my summers on Lake Michigan when the waves crashed ashore like that and you went out afterwards beachcombing. No bombs, though.

Shisha Smoking

This is a hooka. It is a water pipe that is used for smoking shisha. Shisha smoking is a favorite pastime all over Cairo. There are shisha places everywhere. Many restaurants offer shisha for after-meal relaxing.

The tobacco is placed in a clay cup at the top of the pipe, then covered with aluminum foil punched with holes. Hot charcoal is placed on top of this -- just a few very hot pieces. When you draw on the pipe it lowers the pressure in the water chamber and the hot tobacco smoke is then cooled as it passes through the water, then through the long pipe to the mouthpiece. (You purchase a new mouthpiece each time--they are cheap.) The attendant comes around periodically to renew the hot charcoal.

There are many flavors of tobacco commonly used here. The one I smell the most often as I walk by, is the apple flavored, but there is mint, and watermelon, among others.

These men are enjoying shisha after their meal. You can see lots of shisha pipes if you look carefully.

Shisha pipes are for sale. Almost nobody smokes shisha at home when it is so easy and cheap to smoke in a shisha place. These pipes are not very hardy so they need replacing often. They are glass and they break. The tubes and pipes wear out.

One of the small charcoal fires going in a pan on the street getting ready for use in the shisha pipe.

An attendant bringing around the shisha to customers. You can see the few bits of charcoal in the top. See the little clay pot the tobacco goes in and the charcoal on top. This charcoal has cooled a bit, and needs renewing.

Shisha is not for men only. Women enjoy shisha as well. Often in restaurants you see couples smoking shisha, as well as groups of women smoking.

I haven't tried it yet. I quit smoking over 20 years ago and just can't bring myself to try this stuff. It isn't something that appeals to me. But millions of Cairenes love it.