Starting with an early flight at 5 AM is not ideal... it meant I needed to travel the evening before, so I left home at around 10PM to take the last possible connection to Schiphol that day.
Arriving just after midnight I noticed how most shops and bars were closed with the exception of the standard hamburger "restaurant". Check-in was not open yet... I had to wait at least 2 hours until I could drop off my bags. I just found a quiet place at the airport and dozed for a bit.
Then finally I could check in... having a bit of bureaucratic nonsense with the Martinair Overweight/Divegear policy meant that I needed to check in my overweight bag at a different counter... that should open at 02:30... but did not open until 3. I figured I needed to wait anyway so I was not really worried, only a little frustrated as I had not really had any sleep. Then finally all was settled, emptied my waterbottle went thru the final check before boarding, refilled my bottle and got on the plane.
On the Martinair flight I could not really sleep either, a baby in the row before me and some noisy guys behind me (I got to know them quite well, later on) meant I remained awake for the first hour or so. After that I managed to doze a bit again.
We arrived during day time, which was new to me. I got to see desert, Nile and Luxor from the air. Great. We landed 10 minutes ahead of schedule or so, also good.
Showing posts with label red sea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label red sea. Show all posts
02 May 2011
14 February 2011
Egypt?
I was planning on a trip to Egypt, end of March, but now I am not so sure it will take place.
The plans were for a Liveaboard with 3 day extension to be shore diving.
Updating blog later this week, as the developments in Egypt hopefully get a bit more firm.
My current worries:
- negative Travel advise by the Dutch government
- no real feeling what my travel agent is going to arrange for me...
- hearing good and bad stories on the tourist/dive areas
The travel agency does not really help either, by only stating that it keeps the plans as is. (and in the national news they also announced that despite the travel advice they will still send tourists to Egypt, resuming at Feb 20.)
update 20-2:
Great... things seem to get more stable now. The negative travel advise has been changed in a caution for the Red Sea area. That is one thing, but now all flights and schedules are messed up and need to be rearranged. The MY Rosetta, I hoped to sail on, is now sailing from Marsa Alam again, instead of Hurgharda. The Sunday flight seems to be an option again... so I can do my 3 day stay at the Ecolodge. I'll post my planning in next post, but at least I am more confident I actually will be in Egypt and more or less doing what I planned.
The plans were for a Liveaboard with 3 day extension to be shore diving.
Updating blog later this week, as the developments in Egypt hopefully get a bit more firm.
My current worries:
- negative Travel advise by the Dutch government
- no real feeling what my travel agent is going to arrange for me...
- hearing good and bad stories on the tourist/dive areas
The travel agency does not really help either, by only stating that it keeps the plans as is. (and in the national news they also announced that despite the travel advice they will still send tourists to Egypt, resuming at Feb 20.)
update 20-2:
Great... things seem to get more stable now. The negative travel advise has been changed in a caution for the Red Sea area. That is one thing, but now all flights and schedules are messed up and need to be rearranged. The MY Rosetta, I hoped to sail on, is now sailing from Marsa Alam again, instead of Hurgharda. The Sunday flight seems to be an option again... so I can do my 3 day stay at the Ecolodge. I'll post my planning in next post, but at least I am more confident I actually will be in Egypt and more or less doing what I planned.
11 June 2008
liveaboard
You just might want to start at the bottom... first blogs are there ...
Arriving on the MV St(r)arlight One, somewhere after midnight again... shoes off, having a welcoming drink, and then to bed. The good news: there are enough huts onboard for everyone to have their own. (The bad news would off course be that the group was all male... so there would not be any fun reason to share a hut, anyway.)
We would leave port around 5:00 in the morning, as soon as it was light enough to do so. First dive of this liveaboard was to the Salem express, a ferry that sank some 17 years ago, after hitting a reef. Quite a ghostly, eerie location to be diving, if you know this wreck still contains human remains and personal belongings... some 600 people never got out of this ship alive. Still, the wreck looks nice and is a challenging dive. When we surfaced again, we had some other boats next to us, one of which had divers bringing flowers to the wreck. This is still a grave.
Next dives: at Abu el Kifhen, joined up with my buddy Tamer to do an easy dive with the reef on our left, 100 bar turn around, 60 minutes divetime. We had a good dive, spotted a resting turtle, posed for the camera with it and moved on... returned with a good story and had a good dive.
--- story is to continue but:
I managed to get the photo's online:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27408834@N05/
I will be working on editing the video, but at least I have already managed to get the hammerhead online:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZQuPF4enLA
Have a look. Comment, and await the next blogs...
Arriving on the MV St(r)arlight One, somewhere after midnight again... shoes off, having a welcoming drink, and then to bed. The good news: there are enough huts onboard for everyone to have their own. (The bad news would off course be that the group was all male... so there would not be any fun reason to share a hut, anyway.)
We would leave port around 5:00 in the morning, as soon as it was light enough to do so. First dive of this liveaboard was to the Salem express, a ferry that sank some 17 years ago, after hitting a reef. Quite a ghostly, eerie location to be diving, if you know this wreck still contains human remains and personal belongings... some 600 people never got out of this ship alive. Still, the wreck looks nice and is a challenging dive. When we surfaced again, we had some other boats next to us, one of which had divers bringing flowers to the wreck. This is still a grave.
Next dives: at Abu el Kifhen, joined up with my buddy Tamer to do an easy dive with the reef on our left, 100 bar turn around, 60 minutes divetime. We had a good dive, spotted a resting turtle, posed for the camera with it and moved on... returned with a good story and had a good dive.
--- story is to continue but:
I managed to get the photo's online:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27408834@N05/
I will be working on editing the video, but at least I have already managed to get the hammerhead online:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZQuPF4enLA
Have a look. Comment, and await the next blogs...
Hello World 2 -- from Egypt
OK, so I created a blog... not to be doing what the new internet hords are doing, not to keep up with the newest hypes or to be an exhibitionist... I have done this just to be able to share my latest things with you.
Last Friday I returned from Egypt where I spent a bit more than a week on diving, enjoying the sun, and generally being lazy. (which off course is a natural thing for me.) I have had a real good time!
Travel to Egypt went as planned and smooth, we left at 14:25, just a bit late but no worries. Arrival in Hurgharda was 9ish... so on time, but then the real travel started, moving from the airport to my first accomodation somewhere below Marsa Alam a good 3 hours drive, I was told ... later to be discovering that these are Egyptian hours... so I arrived well after midnight at my camp. My suitcase and me were hastily moved to the hut that was prepared for me (mental note: get a new diving bag, I have known for ages suitcases do not work for my kind of traveling.)
... I had barely touched down on my bed when the generator was stopped, and the only small light in the hut was extinghuished. (A thing I would grow accustomed to, over the next view days anyway.)
Lights on (because I did not switch them off) at 5:15. I dozed for a couple of hours and then got out of bed at around 8:00... time to start preparing for the first dive. Today I was supposed to do 2 dives on the location. First for some carefull first lunch and then got my gear ready.
First dive was at 10:08 hrs on Torfa Mekki, somewhere on the house reef of this location. A dive from the Zodiac. It was a good first dive, we did not see many special things but the water was warm, the dive gear had survived the trip intact and I still knew how to dive.
Second dive went just as good... but 3rd dive that day was the best: a nice night dive, starting at the beach of the diving center. We had to hurry a bit, I was diving with my buddy/divemaster/guide, we were alone, but there was a large group of French divers preparing as well...
Second day: better, still .. To Elphinstone; up at 4:15; sleepwalking to the boat... waking up again around 8:00 for some breakfast and preparing for the dive. This was a bit more challenging, deeper, with current etc. but still, one of the good locations to be diving. (compared to my local training pool/puddle in Holland)
We did not spot much of the sharks etc, that are supposed to be here... but I guess we just were not lucky. We had this guy do a swim by, though.
When we returned to shore, I got the message from Henry, that I was supposed to leave... I had 30 minutes to get packed, so I could join Henry and the others to join in the bus... Instead of leaving from Marsa Alam, the boat was still mored at Hurgharda.. we had to go there by bus.
next blog...: links to my photos; Arriving in Hurgharda and leaving port ... to go on safari/liveaboard.
Last Friday I returned from Egypt where I spent a bit more than a week on diving, enjoying the sun, and generally being lazy. (which off course is a natural thing for me.) I have had a real good time!
Travel to Egypt went as planned and smooth, we left at 14:25, just a bit late but no worries. Arrival in Hurgharda was 9ish... so on time, but then the real travel started, moving from the airport to my first accomodation somewhere below Marsa Alam a good 3 hours drive, I was told ... later to be discovering that these are Egyptian hours... so I arrived well after midnight at my camp. My suitcase and me were hastily moved to the hut that was prepared for me (mental note: get a new diving bag, I have known for ages suitcases do not work for my kind of traveling.)
... I had barely touched down on my bed when the generator was stopped, and the only small light in the hut was extinghuished. (A thing I would grow accustomed to, over the next view days anyway.)
Lights on (because I did not switch them off) at 5:15. I dozed for a couple of hours and then got out of bed at around 8:00... time to start preparing for the first dive. Today I was supposed to do 2 dives on the location. First for some carefull first lunch and then got my gear ready.
First dive was at 10:08 hrs on Torfa Mekki, somewhere on the house reef of this location. A dive from the Zodiac. It was a good first dive, we did not see many special things but the water was warm, the dive gear had survived the trip intact and I still knew how to dive.
Second dive went just as good... but 3rd dive that day was the best: a nice night dive, starting at the beach of the diving center. We had to hurry a bit, I was diving with my buddy/divemaster/guide, we were alone, but there was a large group of French divers preparing as well...
Second day: better, still .. To Elphinstone; up at 4:15; sleepwalking to the boat... waking up again around 8:00 for some breakfast and preparing for the dive. This was a bit more challenging, deeper, with current etc. but still, one of the good locations to be diving. (compared to my local training pool/puddle in Holland)
We did not spot much of the sharks etc, that are supposed to be here... but I guess we just were not lucky. We had this guy do a swim by, though.
When we returned to shore, I got the message from Henry, that I was supposed to leave... I had 30 minutes to get packed, so I could join Henry and the others to join in the bus... Instead of leaving from Marsa Alam, the boat was still mored at Hurgharda.. we had to go there by bus.
next blog...: links to my photos; Arriving in Hurgharda and leaving port ... to go on safari/liveaboard.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)