A Day in Dahab

Ahhhhh. This morning I woke up at 6am to do some sunrise yoga on top of the cafe next to my "camp" (guest house). Afterwards I changed while my friend We'il who works at Dolphin Camp made me Egyptian pancakes with bananas and honey and I drank Bedouin tea. Then I was off for an hour horseback ride along the beach to a gorgeous lagoon, racing the guide Mohammed (My mare was named Madonna - fitting isn't it?).

After the morning ride I had to jump into my bikini to make it in time for my morning scuba dive at a place called Blue Hole. To get there, we take a jeep along a winding, dirt road between the red desert mountains and the blue-green Red Sea waters, passing through two security checkpoints (which I found out have been set up throughout Egypt by the government as a means of employing some of the numerous unemployed men). Along the way I stopped counting at 450 the camels in huge groups ly8ing down, some standing, others in a long line walking - all ready and waiting for the massive 100+ tourist groups coming from the Ritzy Sharm-El-Sheik Resort area an hour south of Dahab.

By 11am I was descending straight down through a jagged coral hole to the vast "blue hole." At 35 meters deep (110ft) I suddenly felt giddy and realized I was saying "Wheee!" to myself as I rolled in horizontal 360 degree turns...when I realized I was narced from the depth (nothing like a little oxygen deprivation and utter weightlessness to really enjoy oneself). On the coral we spotted a huge (2 foot diameter head) octopus who was madly flashing from white to black to blue-gray in an attempt to hide from us. Unfortunately out dive had to end about 15 minutes short (only 32 minutes long) soon after as a man with me was unable to equalize his ears, and 34e had to make an emergency ascent. Nonetheless, it was a great dive, made all the more so by the fact that it was given to me for free due to the shorted time and emergency ascent, Woot!. (However, I must admit that I find both the coral and the fish here extremely lacking when compared to all of my dives in Thailand and the Philippines - I didn't realized how spoiled I had been starting in those locations).

I decided to break from an afternoon dive and instead spent the afternoon sunning and swimming, eating Greek salad, drinking a pineapple-orange lassi, and smoking apple sheesha as I read a book.

Tonight there are parties at the two clubs, so I'll be dancing the night away and playing some pool with new friends I've made from Quebec and London, as well as my dive masters.

As you can imagine, for most of the people I've met here, a day in Dahab quickly becomes a week and then months with such a relaxed atmosphere, great food, gorgeous beach and generous locals.

What else: The cats! Everywhere else I have traveled in the world mangy, homeless dogs are the norm. But here the place is crawling with gorgeous Egyptian cats - tall, long-legged with long pointy ears. (There are definitely a fair share of dogs as well). Both the cats and dogs are well-cared for compared to everywhere else I've been, and if you are not an animal lover - or at least capable of accepting five cats at your feet under the dinner table - then maybe Egypt is not for you.

So far everyone has been very kind and helpful here, especially when I was making my way via buses from Cairo here. The men love to try and woo you into their restaurants and shops, but it has yet to ever make me feel uncomfortable in the way it did in Jamaica and other places I've been.

The scenery is absolutely spectacular. From the Peninsula, I look across the channel to the desert mountains of Saudi Arabia, and at night the lone city over there sparkles while the crescent moon rises above it. Behind the ocean front on the back side of the hotels, camps, shops and restaurants of Dahab lie stunning jagged desert mountains. the beach front is filled with large huts and giant parasols housing restaurants and cafes with sleep-inducing floor cushions surrounding a low table. Evenings are spent enjoying the desert breeze over tea and sheesha and good company, before heading to one of the clubs for some dancing or pool.

Apparently this is not the high season for tourists here in Dahab - that comes next month when the weather cools down a bit. But the mix here is good : single travelers such as myself, European and Egyptian families with their children, ex-pats working the diving schools, and amorous couples. It's truly one of those places with something for everyone.

So far Dahab has been a much needed "detox" for me after Kumasi as a place to really lie back and allow my thoughts to wander and coalesce over the past three months in Ghana. I already miss it a great deal - both the country itself and the people I became so close with. And my mind is constantly whirring over the data we collected and how I can use it to best improve maternal mortality in Ghana and elsewhere. I find myself constantly starting to speak Twi instead of Arabic or English. And I already miss red red and palava sauce.

Travel always reminds me that life is so good, makes me realize how fortunate I am, and challenges me to constantly broaden my world view and become a better person.