TRIP REPORT: EGYPT AND THE RED SEA
I had surgery in January to repair a PFO/ASD, after which I had plenty of dry time to dream about diving and where to go next. As I played around with airline schedules, I found that I could fly First Class to Cairo on Lufthansa essentially for free using Star Alliance frequent flyer miles, and the only add-on would be about $150 for the flight on Egypt Air from Cairo to Hurghada. I also could get a great rate at the 5-star Marriott Cairo Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino, and the price of the liveaboard itself was an absolute steal.
The Flights
Recognizing that it was probably going to be awhile before I got to enjoy flying First Class again, I set out to take full advantage of the services. In summary, I have just one word: Wow! Lufthansa First Class was phenomenal. The furthest I've flown in the past in First Class prior to this was to Alaska and Hawaii, both on United. I've also flown Executive Economy on Singapore Airlines non-stop from New York to Singapore. Lufthansa outdid all of those flights by far.
Cairo and the Marriott
Arriving in Cairo's new Terminal 3, I quickly made my way through the airport having purchased my tourist visa ahead of time. Masked and gloved attendants stopped me for a quick photo and swine flu check before reaching the baggage area. I exchanged some dollars for Egyptian pounds and retrieved my bags. My guide for my three days in Cairo, Karen (Heart Of Egypt), was waiting for me just beyond security. From off the plane to out the door at the airport was probably a total of 25 minutes including a stop at the DFS.
The Marriott is a beautiful hotel. The lobby area is a former palace and most of the rooms are in two towers that were added afterward. The hotel just recently became a non-smoking hotel, which is unusual for Egypt and was a welcome change since so many people there smoke. There are several choices of restaurants, and Internet service is available at a charge throughout the hotel.
The Egyptian Museum
As we wandered through room after room of the Egyptian Museum I was glad to be accompanied by two guides. Karen herself is quite knowledgeable, but the local 'official' guide also provided a wealth of information. In our three hours at the museum, we covered the highlights including the Tut exhibit but I could see how people could easily spend a full week there and not see everything.
The Khan il-Khalili Bazaar
We wove our way through the labyrinth of passages and alleyways holding more than 900 shops. You can find just about anything here, from high-end custom made jewelry to gaudy souvenirs of pyramids (the latter often made in China). The vendors compete for your attention, with lines such as "100% discount today!
The Pyramids at Giza and Dahshur
Our tours included a stroll around the Giza plateau and a close look at the great pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, plus the Sphinx and the valley temple of Khafre. We also took a 45 minute camel excursion at the site. Driving south to Dahsur, we got a view of the Step Pyramid of Zoser at Sakkara, considered to be the first freestanding stone structure in the world and called "the beginning of architecture. Once at Dahshur we viewed the Black Pyramid, the Red Pyramid, and the Bent Pyramid and had the opportunity to climb inside the Red Pyramid to view the inner burial chamber.
Food in Cairo
Generally, I found the food to be tasty and well prepared. It was typical to have a variety of dips with bread followed by a variety of grilled meats. I tried fuul and tamiyya (both bean dishes) as well as koshari, a mix of pasta, rice, beans, lentils, fried onions and tomato sauce. I also tried stuffed grape leaves as well as rice-stuffed eggplant. The tomatoes and other fresh vegetables throughout the trip were excellent.
Egypt Air Cairo to Hurghada
I found domestic travel on Egyptair to be hassle-free and comfortable. I was able to take my rollaboard and backpack onboard with me. My bags all showed up with me and were easily collected and wheeled out the door to the crew waiting from Blue O Two.
The Boat
Having been on quite a few liveaboards all over the world I can honestly say the Blue Melody was one of the nicest I've ever been on. The boat was impeccably maintained. There were 10 double cabins below deck and two on the upper deck with double bunks. The double cabins below had single floor level bunks and were generally spacious although there is not much storage. More shelving in the hanging lockers would be helpful as there are no drawers other than a small drawer in the center console. The heads and showers in the double cabins were the largest I've seen on a liveaboard, with great showerheads and plenty of hot water. Towels are changed once per week, and by mid-week they definitely needed to be changed as they never seemed to completely dry out in the cabins. Each cabin has its own climate control. Terry cloth robes are provided for each diver for the week but there were no separate towels for the dive deck. The dive deck housed two heads/showers in addition to the showers on the rear diving platform, and there was a relatively small camera rinse tank. There was no rinse tank for gear, even at the end of the week. (Having read a recent report on bacteria in rinse tanks, maybe that's not a bad thing!) There was a relatively small camera table (there was never a mention of a "no drinks on the table rule so one was never applied), no compressed air and no camera towels. The salon was large and comfortable and there were two flat screen TVs with DVD players in separate locations. There was a large covered deck area with seating all around.
The Crew
Our guides, Karen and Dray, were informative and friendly and ran a well-organized operation. The captain, Mohammed, navigated us through rough weather quite nicely, and all of the deck hands were friendly and helpful. It seemed that they'd magically appear at just the time that a zipper needed to be zipped or a BC shoulder strap needed to be lifted. Everyone was invariably cheerful and pleasant.
Pickup at the airport was straightforward and easy, as was transfer to the boat in Hurghada. However, the same cannot be said for the return trip. On the last day, Friday, everyone was awakened for breakfast at 9:00 but then sat around Port Ghalib until almost 1:00 for the 3 hour long bus ride to Hurghada. As it was, it took more than the estimated 3 hours to arrive and we didn't get to the airport until 4:10 for our 4:30 flight.
The Food
There were made to order eggs each morning with additional sides offered buffet style (e.g., yogurt, cheese, tomatoes, meats, toast, and crepes). All meals were served buffet style, and there was an honor bar with beer and wine. (Boy, those Brits can put away the beer!) The salads and fresh vegetables were all terrific and many who don't normally eat a lot of veggies found themselves going for seconds. Breakfast was served after the first dive, lunch after the second dive, and dinner after the third dive and before the night dive. A few people had stomach issues throughout the week and the boat had an extensive supply of medicines for treatment.
The Diving
There were typically 3 dives per day, with a couple of night dives interspersed throughout the week. The wakeup call was at 6 am every morning. Nitrox was offered onboard at an extra fee for the week, running typically between 31-33%. Each diver had a bin below their tank for gear, and there was plenty of room at the charging station for those with cameras and strobes. The dives offered lots of colorful soft corals, with temperatures typically in the 80-degree range, making it comfortable for a 3mm full wetsuit most of the time. Sometimes the dives were from the main platform, and sometimes we were taken via zodiac to another part of the islands for drops. In either event, we typically would swim back to the Blue Melody at the end of the dives although it was always an option to inflate an SMB and head for the surface to wait for a zodiac pickup.
Day 1: The Aquarium: A pretty (and popular!) site just off Hurghada, we spent the first day at this site. There were two daytime dives and a night dive offered, with dinner at 7:00 and the night dive afterward at about 8:30. Depths were in the 40-50 foot range. We saw crocodile fish, large trigger fish, lionfish, a couple of anemone fish, and lots of soft coral; temperatures were around 80 degrees.
Day 2: Big Brother: The crossing to Big Brother was rough as expected, but the diving was very nice with little current below. Temperatures were still in the 80 degree range. Still no sign of bigger sea life but there were very pretty soft corals. By the second dive, the surface current had picked up a lot, making it challenging getting back to the boat, especially with a large camera. The zodiac was an option, but we preferred to avoid having to climb aboard if necessary.
Day 3: Big Brother / Small Brother: We did the first dive at Big Brother, starting in the north again, but not quite at the shipwreck we dove yesterday. (There was another larger wreck even further north, but we never made it up there due to rough seas.) After breakfast we moved to Small Brother, a site that offered more lovely gorgonian covered walls. Currents were moderate in places and temps continued in the 80-degree range. The marathon swims back to the boat continued, although zodiac rides began to look more appealing by this point! Still no sharks were spotted by us, but there were reports from others of a few sightings. Gangs of coronet fish who alternatively seemed curious and aggressive constantly accompanied us. We also saw large tuna, scorpion fish, and barracuda as well as massive schools of small fish pulsating with the currents.
Day 4: Small Brother: We were beginning to doubt we would see any sharks at all when we finally saw one reef shark in the distance on the first dive of the day. On the second dive we saw two more, one close enough for a couple of photos (not by me). We did three dives at Small Brother and then moved overnight to Elphistone, a trip of about 4.5 hours.
Day 5: Elphistone: Similar in formation to the Brothers, the reef is very pretty and full of fish life. We saw anemone fish, lionfish, barracuda, tuna, triggerfish, butterfly fish, parrot fish, Napoleon wrasse, and the usual cast of characters. The roving gangs of coronet fish didn't seem to be as thick. There were many more boats at Elphistone than we had seen out at the Brothers. Depths were typically in the 100 foot range and dive times around one hour. In the evening we moved into a bay for a night dive.
Day 6: Marsa Shouna: This site was in a protected bay and had a very pretty sloping reef in about 50 feet of water. The reef and sand bed were full of marine life and made for the best macro shooting of the week. There were gobies, pipefish, lionfish, anemone fish, eels, and an octopus. Since everyone's flights were late in the day on Friday, three dives were offered during the day, two of them at this site. Viz was mediocre but the reef was packed with lots of marine life making it an interesting dive.
Marsa Mubarrak: This was the last dive of the week and another bay dive, with lots of large lionfish and gobies with cleaner shrimp.
Day 7: We arrived back in port at Port Ghalib, a lovely if somewhat deserted feeling port town. There was a latte shop much like a Starbucks and a TGIF that offered free Internet access. Those on board had the choice of eating aboard or going on land (or both). Having dinner at the TGIF, it was easy to forget that we were somewhere in the middle of a far off desert in Egypt as we were greeted by waiters in the familiar garb from the U.S. chain.
Epilogue Medical Note
A word about PFO/ASD and DCS: Now that I have 30-35 dives including the ones in the Red Sea with my newly repaired heart, I feel I can say definitely that all of the symptoms I've experienced over the years after diving were related to my heart defects (patent foramen ovale, atrial septal aneurysm, and fenestrated atrial septal defect). Having the repair made was the best decision I've ever made in my life!
