- Diving -
Thistlegorm shipwreck and Ras Mohammed
Last summer I dove the Thistlegorm shipwreck in the Red Sea, sunk during WW2 only a couple years after it was built, and cracked cleanly down the middle so its frame and contents are well-preserved: canons, huge guns (despite it being a cargo ship), rooms full of motorcycles and trucks, and a bathroom for the captain. I'd never before dived a wreck (except a WWII plane in 1-meter visibility, and I spent the dive cross-eyed watching floating Mediterranean sand grains more than anything else) and this time I was blown away. The water was crystal clear and bright, the ship expansive but shallow. We encircled it during two dives, running our hands across the rails of the deck, sitting on the motorcycles, swimming in and out small square doorways, squeezing through holes in the roof, and making finger streaks in the dirt of truck windshields.
On the third dive of the day we went to Ras Mohammed, a reef that is a national preserve (a blessed upgrade from some of the ravaged reefs here in Egypt). We saw a few of those shocking giant moray eels with their freaky eyes and beefy snake-like bodies...those things are too huge to be real. There was also a mini shipwreck of spilled toilets that some fish and coral had inhabited.
Hurghada reefs
Since the shootings on the Israeli-Egyptian border last summer, Mathieu and his colleagues have been banned from driving to the Sinai Peninsula, so we spent the end-of-Ramadan holiday scuba diving on the Red Sea's southwestern coast instead. It was a shoddy experience - two dives (and a meal) out at sea on a yacht all day for only about $30 USD.
In the first dive, maybe 10 minutes in, Mathieu suddenly squeezed my hand and when I faced him, he pointed directly over my shoulder. With a creeping feeling, not knowing if there were sharks in this dive site, I spun around to face at least 10 dolphins, 4 of which were lined up next to one another and facing us - just staring at us, motionless.
They were, and I really cannot express this sufficiently, ENORMOUS. So surprisingly BIG. I jumped out of my skin and rushed behind Mathieu, squeezing his arm and trying to slow my breathing back down. It took a few seconds to calm down and get my bearings, to take in their wide staring faces and the grace with which the others swam up and down in arches above and behind them. Feeling slightly recovered, I started to swim forward toward the ones zipping around my friend Lindsey, and within a few more seconds they were all gone. Just like that. Since then I keep replaying it in my head, trying to believe it happened.
The other dives weren't so eventful, but we did see an octopus, a giant moray eel, a smaller white-silver eel, some big fish and pretty soft corals. We didn't figure out the shark dives until the last day, when we were told they can mostly be seen around 4 am, and even then it's a 50% chance of seeing one on a dive. Maybe next time.
- Consulting -
I've been enjoying the ups and downs of my work at an environmental consulting company (as "up" as a desk job can get, anyway). I traveled to Nablus, Palestine to prepare for a project, which I later compiled the bid for and our company won the assignment: an environmental and social impact assessment for the Gaza Solid Waste Management Project (establishing new landfills and waste transfer systems).
My hosts (our Palestinian partner firm) were incredibly welcoming and gave me a full three days of touring old cities and beautiful mountains and valleys, in addition to the educational trips to gather data on the West Bank's solid waste management. (I had planned to go to Gaza, but the border was shut last minute.)
I loved Nablus, the city where I stayed, with its pretty white limestone buildings on the hills. The entry and exit through the Israeli airport was incredible stressful, though I finally felt relieved when it turned out the airport security was holding me in the back interrogation room simply because my bra showed traces of explosive materials; then I just laughed at the ridiculousness of it and went along with the standard procedure (got strip searched, changed my clothes, checked my carry-on bags, then ran to my gate barely in time to board the plane).
- Traveling -
Hiking the Monasteries
One October weekend, 6 friends and I set out into the desert near the northern Red Sea coast. With our sleeping bags, food and water on our backs, we made the 36 kilometer trek through the mountains between two Christian monasteries, conquering the rocky ups and downs for 17 hours and not seeing a single soul - a blissful break from the screaming city.
It was gorgeous and peaceful, though there were some tense moments, with the combination of steep cliffs and brutal winds. I did get a bit worked up watching the sun retreat as the GPS directed us in unfamiliar directions (Mathieu and Alex had done the trip before, but the GPS was having a mind of its own). Relief came when we realized we were farther along than expected, and we could stop at sunset and spend the night in a small canyon. The winds raged all night so we squeezed progressively tighter. All the stars and the quiet and fresh air and lack of other people was a refreshing break from the city. The morning sky and sparkling clouds were blinding, floating at equal heights to us as we walked the cliff edges. After more drops and valleys and climbs, we made the final decent to the monasteries with a stunning view of the bright blue coast stretched out in front of us.
Safari in Masai Mara, Kenya (Birthday surprise from Mathieu!)
Amsterdam - reunion with Mathieu's family for the Eid holiday
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