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| Watch Your Step! Baby Ray on El Andalous Beach |
I thought I’d write this blog while I’m all enthusiastic.
It doesn’t feel like February here with the sun every day; the temperature is pretty much ideal (but not so warm in the shade and chilly outside in the evenings; in this respect, the weather is better later on!). Yesterday, somehow, was particularly good. The sun shone, the temperature was pleasant (I would guess maybe 26 degrees in the sun?), and we had hardly any wind.
The sea lapped gently onto the beach and it was all very peaceful. In the distance, over at one of the other beaches, I saw what seemed like a sudden flurry of waves, one after the other. It looked really strange on the quiet sea, but I knew that it was a whole shoal of fish, jumping in and out of the water in unison. I love it when I see that. I always think the fish must be really happy if they are jumping about, but that’s probably completely wrong!
Anne was there and told me that there was some good coral out by the boat moored in the middle of the bay, so I did a longer swim and diverted myself towards the boat (and almost got tangled up in the mooring rope). I’m not sure I got the right spot, actually, but at least it was a bit different from my normal route. I wear goggles when I swim now, partly so that I can look at the fish and the coral, partly because I don't like it if the sea splashes up into my eyes, and partly so that I can see better as I’m swimming back to shore.
I’ve actually emailed Sahl Hasheesh to suggest they organise some swimming challenges (eg, 1.4km, 2.6km, 26km, as they have in Zurich). I thought they could do this once every week and would be something for the tourists to try out for a bit of fun (and me, of course).
The water temperature just now isn’t so bad, and this is supposed to be the coldest time of year. It’s a little cold when you first plunge right in, but by the time you finish, you can appreciate how warm the water actually is.
You have to be a bit careful when you come out – not only because of rocks etc, but also due to the sea life. The corals are quite close to shore, so you need to swim far enough in that you don’t stand on them (for your sake and theirs!); and then you need to beware of the fish. One day, I spotted something blue on the sand in front of me as I was wading to shore and then realised it was a baby ray (pictured - the picture looks better larger!). It was there again yesterday, further down the shore.
This time, as I was paddling back through the water to my sunbed, I spotted this amazing stripy fish with many fins waving about all over the place hovering just by me. Again, I almost missed it, because it blended in so well with the sand and seaweed. I got back to my chair and explained excitedly to Anne about what I’d seen and she explained that it was a Lion Fish – very poisonous! Jeff then said he’d been stung by one once (not in Egypt) and had to go to hospital.
Unknown to me, I’d actually seen its fins before, waving up out of the water at sunset (Lion Fish tend to be nocturnal, apparently), and had wondered what it was that lurked below. It’s freaked me out a bit; they won’t attack unless you threaten them, but it underlines the importance of looking where you’re going, as it would have been easy to just brush by it.
Wayne then shouted over to us that he’d seen an octopus further along the shore (by the rocky bit where I don’t swim), so the group of us walked over to have a look at that. Vanessa exited the water shortly after and said she’d just had the best snorkelling ever as she’d had a large ray just near her.We'd also seen it racing away from the octopus.
This is what is so nice about being here – you may do the same thing each day, but every day it’s different! Yesterday, however, was pretty exceptional. Usually, I may see one interesting thing if I’m lucky, but yesterday all the marine life seemed to have come out to enjoy the sun!
The sea lapped gently onto the beach and it was all very peaceful. In the distance, over at one of the other beaches, I saw what seemed like a sudden flurry of waves, one after the other. It looked really strange on the quiet sea, but I knew that it was a whole shoal of fish, jumping in and out of the water in unison. I love it when I see that. I always think the fish must be really happy if they are jumping about, but that’s probably completely wrong!
Anne was there and told me that there was some good coral out by the boat moored in the middle of the bay, so I did a longer swim and diverted myself towards the boat (and almost got tangled up in the mooring rope). I’m not sure I got the right spot, actually, but at least it was a bit different from my normal route. I wear goggles when I swim now, partly so that I can look at the fish and the coral, partly because I don't like it if the sea splashes up into my eyes, and partly so that I can see better as I’m swimming back to shore.
I’ve actually emailed Sahl Hasheesh to suggest they organise some swimming challenges (eg, 1.4km, 2.6km, 26km, as they have in Zurich). I thought they could do this once every week and would be something for the tourists to try out for a bit of fun (and me, of course).
The water temperature just now isn’t so bad, and this is supposed to be the coldest time of year. It’s a little cold when you first plunge right in, but by the time you finish, you can appreciate how warm the water actually is.
You have to be a bit careful when you come out – not only because of rocks etc, but also due to the sea life. The corals are quite close to shore, so you need to swim far enough in that you don’t stand on them (for your sake and theirs!); and then you need to beware of the fish. One day, I spotted something blue on the sand in front of me as I was wading to shore and then realised it was a baby ray (pictured - the picture looks better larger!). It was there again yesterday, further down the shore.
This time, as I was paddling back through the water to my sunbed, I spotted this amazing stripy fish with many fins waving about all over the place hovering just by me. Again, I almost missed it, because it blended in so well with the sand and seaweed. I got back to my chair and explained excitedly to Anne about what I’d seen and she explained that it was a Lion Fish – very poisonous! Jeff then said he’d been stung by one once (not in Egypt) and had to go to hospital.
Unknown to me, I’d actually seen its fins before, waving up out of the water at sunset (Lion Fish tend to be nocturnal, apparently), and had wondered what it was that lurked below. It’s freaked me out a bit; they won’t attack unless you threaten them, but it underlines the importance of looking where you’re going, as it would have been easy to just brush by it.
Wayne then shouted over to us that he’d seen an octopus further along the shore (by the rocky bit where I don’t swim), so the group of us walked over to have a look at that. Vanessa exited the water shortly after and said she’d just had the best snorkelling ever as she’d had a large ray just near her.We'd also seen it racing away from the octopus.
This is what is so nice about being here – you may do the same thing each day, but every day it’s different! Yesterday, however, was pretty exceptional. Usually, I may see one interesting thing if I’m lucky, but yesterday all the marine life seemed to have come out to enjoy the sun!
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