Bye Bye Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

Bye Bye Sinai Peninsula

The winds finally quiet down and we had a beautiful day to snorkel before we left the Sinai Peninsula. The coral canyon in the Red Sea, 50 feet from our hut with corals and fish of all sizes, was very good siting for me. I went into the water with Marie who showed me the way to her favorite spots. Khaled showed up at the camp later, and Peter joined him. The best part is that we had the whole sea and beach to ourselves and I am still impressed on how clear the Red Sea is. I have never seen waters so clear.

We are very happy to have met some very nice people here: Khaled, an Egyptian/Canadian we met at the Little Prince Cafe, owned by Fuad and Marie. We also met a young Egytian couple, Hossam and Neerhan who are leasing Bossa Nova Camp about 7 miles north of where we are staying. It was really fun to hang out with all of them. We even had a Bossa Nova evening at their camp one night. Hossam, also a musician, played his collection of music to us and I played what I had on my itouch to them.

At first, the lack of tourists in Nuweiba was nice, but now, it appears that we are the only ones left in the area and it is starting to feel too weird. The last charter planes left a couple of days ago from Sharm-el-Sheik with the people who arrived before the troubles started in Cairo January 25th. All taxi drivers in town seem to know about our business as one today out of the blue asked if we needed a ride tomorrow (when we are expected to leave) and also knew we went to Ein Hodra a few days ago. It is very strange to be the only ones around in a long stretch of hotels, beach camps and restaurants.

After considering the news about the protests in Cairo, we decided to take the plunge and leave tomorrow, in time to spend my birthday there. Khaled wants to visit his father, so we will join, as he will drive, taking the Taba route, near the border with Jordan and Israel, then going through the Suez. We have heard that security is very strict in the area and we may have to wait for two hours or more to cross through the tunnel near the Suez. But things are moving in the right direction as Mubarak just resigned a few hours ago.

We are excited to see what is happening in Cairo and I hope we will have lots to celebrate there , including my birthday.