Hurghada - Going Out

Moby Dick, Hurghada

My life is still continuing to be sociable, so I’ll stay with this theme for another blog.

Celebrations and get-togethers haven’t been limited to the confines of El Andalous or Sahl Hasheesh. Hurghada is just 30 minutes away by taxi (total return taxi costs around 180 LE these days, which by current exchange rates works out at about 8 GBP).

Three of us went out with the Lotus Ladies to a place that I’d been to before called Moby Dick. It’s known for good steaks and is on the Sheraton Road. There were about 16 of us, I think, and we had our own area upstairs with a balcony looking over the street. I didn’t take a steak since I had one before and I still think the best steaks are at the Heaven in the new marina or in Bus Stop in Sahl Hasheesh. Consequently, I opted for beef stroganoff instead, which wasn’t really like beef stroganoff at all (no cream, no brandy), but everything is always a bit of a gamble over here. However, it tasted pretty good all the same, and the meat was tender, which was the main thing. One of our group took the camel steak which looked really good, so if I go there again, I might try that. I have had camel steak once before and not really seen the point of it (I preferred the beef), but maybe it’s worth another shot in a different establishment.

Another place, quite some time ago now, that I went to with the Lotus Ladies was Grenada, which overlooks the sea. The staff was attentive and I remember the food as being quite good. I was told that it’s a great place to go for breakfast – at night, we didn’t really get the benefit of the sea views – so I’d like to try that some time (it would have to tie up with a day in Hurghada, I think, to make it worthwhile).

And then this last weekend Sandy threw a leaving party at the Caribbean bar in the Bella Vista hotel in Hurghada. It was a cool concept, as they allow you to bring your own meat and then they’ll cook it for you and bring it to your table for a service charge. Igor, a friend from Sunset Pearl, happens to be a chef and he knows a butcher in Hurghada, so he kindly offered to buy the meat and spice it. But you can also just buy off their menu there, which was reasonably priced. We bought drinks and a litre of a cocktail of your choice off the menu was only 79 LE (around 3.5 GBP). Kathryn and I shared “a large swimming pool” and “a large sucky”, ho, ho, ho.

Anyway, it was a super venue. There was a live singer from 9pm until midnight (although he went on for longer), so after stuffing myself silly with all the food, I tried to dance off a few calories over three hours. The location was overlooking the Red Sea, only in winter it’s too cold at night to be in the open air, so they’d covered it up; it would be a great place to go back to in the summer when you can look out directly onto the sea while you eat and dance.

One of the guests at our table was a young entrepreneur who was just setting up a similar concept in El Gouna, so it looks as if we may all be traipsing over there in mid-February. It’s a never-ending string of events just now!

El Andalous - Party Time!

A Get-Together in Bus Stop, Sahl Hasheesh

One thing I like about living in El Andalous is that everyone here is very sociable. In Switzerland, it’s quite hard to meet people because many of the Swiss keep themselves to themselves; I was fortunate that my last landlady in Switzerland was an exception (I must get back in touch!).

Anyway, I guess it’s a bit different over here because most are here on holiday with maybe a view to spending more time in Egypt once they reach retirement, and we’re a select group of people willing to take a risk on property in Egypt, which probably means we all have something in common.

Everyone says hello when they see you and I’ve mentioned before that I usually know a few people when I go to the beach. January has been exceptionally beautiful this year (sorry, I don’t mean to rub it in for those who are suffering from lots of snow!); unfortunately, I’ve been too busy to take full advantage.

However, I don’t know if it’s the weather, or the time of year, or just one of those phases, but we’ve had a sudden spate of parties. It all started off with a get-together in Bus Stop, the new restaurant / bar in Sahl Hasheesh. I would say about twenty of us turned up in the end; the place had probably never been so busy. Some people also came along from Sunset Pearl, which is another resort / block of flats just up the road. It was originally disguised as an owners’ meeting, but it turned out just to be a reason to socialize, eat, drink, play pool…

We have recently had a few new owners joining our ranks and one of them is a professional DJ. He was keen for us to have a party up on the rooftop and he promised to bring some equipment along. So, three days later, I spent Sunday afternoon partying on our roofop instead of snorkeling! Everybody brought along food and drink and we all shared. It started at 2pm, and at 6pm one of the other owners invited everyone to continue in their flat; I opted out at 10pm, but it was still going on by the time I left. She managed to produce vegetarian and meat chilli con carne at a moment’s notice; there’s no way my flat would either be tidy enough or with enough food in stock for me to be able to make such a spontaneous offer. Fortunately I wasn’t hungover the next day, although quite a few people were!

And then the following week it was Stephen’s birthday, so again a large group of people were invited round to celebrate. Food was stacked high, cocktails were flowing, and the chatter got louder as the evening went on. The Russian neighbours made a string of balloons and each balloon contained a “wish” for the year ahead for the birthday boy – it was something I’d never heard of before, but it was a lovely idea.

The best thing about parties over here is that we are all living in the same block, so going home means walking down the stairs and along the corridor. It couldn’t really be easier and it’s almost like we’re re-living student life again.

El Andalous - First Wetsuit

A Good Snorkeling Day

Although the sea here just now is warm enough to swim – my guess would be that it’s around 24 degrees centigrade – it’s a little cold for snorkeling and my arms get goose bumps if I’m not moving around at any speed. It had been suggested to me many times to get a wetsuit. I’ve been reluctant, because they look like a lot of effort to put on, but since I’ve been earning some money this year in Zurich, I thought maybe I’d buy one while I have the spare cash.

I’d decided that I wanted a wetsuit with short legs and long arms, since really it’s my arms that get cold. I looked around in Hurghada, but could only find full wetsuits or ones with short arms and short legs. So, I went to Miami with a mission in mind.

I can’t really say I enjoyed buying my wetsuit – it was all a bit embarrassing. The first one I tried on was too small (I thought it was my size, but I couldn’t get the zip done up). I got so flustered with trying to put it on, since I didn’t know how tight it was supposed to be, that I sweated quite a bit; in any case, I was in Miami with temperatures in the high 20s and then the wetsuit just made me feel hotter as I tried it on. And then I got more flustered because I was sweating and making the wetsuit wet, and that sweat in turn might just have been making me hotter still when trapped between the wetsuit and my skin. Or maybe it was menopause-related. Or a bit of everything. In any case, I felt embarrassed, but had to brave it out.

I had to ask for the next size up, which was the largest one they had in the store. Yikes. I didn’t think I was that big! The next one fitted and I felt obliged to buy it after sweating all over their first one, even though I looked like a beached whale in it. Every little bulge is visible; I’m not that lithe, perfect-body sportswoman that you always see on TV when you see people wearing wetsuits. Surely it’s impossible for any normal person to look good in a wetsuit? I’d really not appreciated that before. The one I was trying on was light blue, so maybe that also doesn’t hide your faults as well as black. Well, that’s my excuse.

I have managed to try it out a couple of times already. I was impressed with the long tape attached to the zip, so that you can pull the zip up at the back yourself.

I’d been away from Egypt for a while, so it is hard to judge how well it insulated me (I got a 2mm wetsuit). It doesn’t really save you much from the shock of getting in (I was reading up online about wetsuits and some people were saying they urinated in their wetsuits because the pee is nice and warm!!).

The first time I used it, it had been a full moon and the waves were really choppy, so it felt as if water was constantly sloshing into my wetsuit and I wasn’t too sure if I’d got it on correctly. Actually, if I were prone to feeling seasick, I think I’d have felt nauseous. As I was carried back and forth by the pull of the sea, there was a really bizarre optical illusion that made it look as if the entire coral reef was lurching backwards and forwards (but it must have been me, obviously) as if it were one huge shove-penny slot machine.

The sand was also swirling everywhere and when I got back, I could barely see two inches in front of me – the coral reef would suddenly appear in front of my face as I tried to find it so that I could get my bearings as to where to get out (there’s a bit where there’s a gap in the reef where I can get in and out). It was quite scary and I was careful never to get too close to the reef.

The second time it was calm. Because I knew what to expect with the wetsuit, I wasn’t so aware of water circulating around, but I felt colder, possibly because I was more relaxed. I think if I didn’t have the wetsuit, it would probably have been too cold for me to snorkel; I was at my warmest when I just floated rather than when I moved; I guess because the movement makes new water come in.

However it’s much, much easier getting out of the water with a wetsuit. It’s horrible when there’s wind as it’s just so cold when you walk back onto the land. There are often times where I am reluctant to swim, just because I know I will be really cold when I come out. With the wetsuit, I’m no longer a shivering wreck!

More on the Cruise

Coconut Beach, Barbados

I thought I’d use up just one more blog on my cruise since it was my first major holiday for quite a while.

I was quite curious to see what they’d do for Christmas on the cruise. Christmas day was scheduled to be at St Kitts and I’d heard several people say that the signature event of caviar in the surf was not to be missed. I did an open-topped train tour of the island in the morning (with rum cocktails included!); apparently they had three scheduled for Christmas day and since each one was about three hours long, that was a long day for those working. But I guess they have to take the tourists while they are around.

The caviar in the surf event was quite bizarre – the cruise staff came in by speedboat and dropped fully-clothed into the sea with a surfboard full of champagne and caviar. Everyone waded up and got their fill of champagne and as much caviar as they wished. The water was warm, maybe 27 degrees. They also set up a barbecue on the beach for lunch (including lobster, although I thought the chicken was more interesting…). It was a lot of work for the staff but a lot of fun for everyone, I hope.

There was turkey in the evening, but it was a fine dining turkey rather than your traditional roast with stuffing, brussel sprouts, gravy, pigs in blankets, and roast potatoes. Probably due to a discussion we’d had on board a few evenings earlier, where we were talking about snowballs (the drink - remember them?), they also offered everyone some egg nogg. The chief purser was hosting my table that evening.

We got two small presents with one on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas Day (thus satisfying the Europeans and the UK folk), so that was a nice touch. Decorations were added to the ship each day and on Christmas Eve they brought out gingerbread replicas of famous world landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa adorned with a multitude of sweets and cakes that you could help yourself to.

I attended two nature talks but due to the hurricanes, the dolphins and whales did not make an appearance this year; normally they would have been in the bay at St Kitts, but they weren’t around and much of the coral had been damaged. My nature highlights were seeing all the pigeons in Parque de Palomas in Puerto Rico and the pelicans at Nevis. The pelicans were incredible as they dived down vertically like bombs into the sea, often just beside tourists swimming or talking in the water. I’d never seen that before and I could have watched them endlessly.

There was, of course, evidence still of hurricane damage with fallen trees and electricity lines drooping. It was the first time our ship had stopped in Puerto Rico since the hurricane. The town looked brightly painted, so maybe we even saw some of it at its best if it had been newly restored. On some islands, it was clear that they were desperate for some trade and even now I regret not buying a dress from one woman.

I hadn’t really been prepared for different islands to have different currencies: some had Euros, some had US dollars, some had Eastern Caribbean dollars. I’ll add a few more photos this time, just for posterity!

Three Pelicans: Flying, Swimming, Landing

Carbet Falls, Guadaloupe

Hurricane Damage, Illes des Saintes

Tsunami Evacuation Route, Nevis

Puerto Rico

Leaning Tower of Pisa in Gingerbread on the Ship's Stage

Puerto Rico Number Plate

El Andalous - Back!

A Toast to 2018! Me and Santa in the sea at Carambola beach, St Kitts

I just arrived back on New Year’s Eve, having come back from Barbados via Miami and Zurich. Some of the beaches in the Caribbean are really idyllic, although actually many of them aren’t so good for swimming as the waves are pretty impressive (and dangerous!).

After ten days of fine dining, I’m actually getting to the stage where I’m dying just to have some simple food for a change. I’ve eaten too much and it’s all starting to tell! However, I really enjoyed the cruise – I was invited to join a table of invited guests each night to dine with one of the crew, which was a great option, and my view from the cabin was always five-star by default (how can you go wrong with a constant, unobstructed sea view?).

I really liked both Barbados and Miami – in fact, I’m wondering if I could come over for a couple of months and work from Miami instead of Zurich for a little while. I’m not sure how practical that would be or even whether I’d want to spoil my experience by doing work at the same time, but it’s good to have a little dream now and again.

Sahl Hasheesh is gearing up for a big party to see the new year in, so maybe I’ll post some photos of that next week. Meanwhile, I’m going to start off the new year with a KFC in the evening of 1st Jan, so that already bodes well for the year ahead.

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2018 laced with pleasant surprises just to keep it interesting! Thanks for reading.