A Sandy Simon Update

Hey Kids,

I hope all is well in the world of you guys. I can only say that if the weather has been poor in Blighty, I've probably been getting wetter over here - no, it's not raining in Egypt (ho, ho, ho), I've been doing my PADI Open Water & Advanced Scuba Diving courses.

It's pretty amazing. The water here is warm and clear, the fish & coral abundant, varied and colourful. For anyone who hasn't scuba dived before it's a little akin to very chilled flying through an alien world. The fish go about their business with very little concern for your intruding ways, living out a million dramas. Little Nemo fish buzz about in groups, being bullied by the faster punk versions with go faster streaks. Occassionally a Lion fish dreadnought floats in, fin spines bristling, munching anything that brushes against its deadly venom. Luminescent parrot fish zoom past straight up, a grin on their face, whilst striped butterfly fishes nibble at the tiny jelly fish that float past.

Our instructor is a great big mexican (Primo) with a good sense of humour, which definitely helps. Getting through the Open Water is actually quite tough as there's loads of reading to do and quite a lot of skills to master. I've been doing this along with an Ozzie called Troy and a Canadian called Angel. She had quite a lot of trouble at the beginning because she's carrying a lot of, um, buoyancy, but she seems to have mastered it now. It does take a bit to get the hang og maintaining the right level, but once you ace it it's amazing. The first time we did a proper dive round a reef when we were in control it was amazing.

Since then we've been to some amazing places. We've toured amazing coral labyrinths, stumbling across a huge school of Barracudda, and been to an incredible fissure in the sea bed called the Canyon. It's so clear you feel like you're slowly falling into this great crack in the earth, and then you travel along it into this great chamber called the Fishbowl, full of hundreds of fish. I'm not sure if it was the nitrogen narcosis, but when I came out of another opening, I was surprised at how close the sky was, forgetting that I was still underwater! We're going back there tonight to do a night dive. It's a full moon, so we may not have to use our torches, just rely on that and the luminescence of the plankton down there.

We've also been out to the infamous Blue Hole, a massive hole that descends 130m into the reef. You drop into it and swim underneath the lip, then out over a coral saddle and into the big blue. As we were cruising around we saw some beautiful, rich, rich red Sea Anemone. They have little fish that live in them and attract bigger fish over to eat them. The Sea Anemone stings the big fish and they both eat it! The Sea Anemone is so pretty though, an undulating lava-lamp of redness flowing over the reef.

Anyway, enough about my undersea adventures. It is really nice down there though, you just feel comfortable and right, especially when you get quite deep. That might be the nitrogen again, though!

Dahab itself is lovely, set against ranges of mountains behind you, and looking out over shimmering Saudi Arabia. The beach front is fairly touristy, but all the hassle is done with a smile and a joke - Egyptians tend to have a great sense of humour. As time has gone on we've found all the cheaper Egyptian eats on the back streets, where the goats roam, and it's well good. The seafood is amazing as well, had lovely Red Snapper, Grouper, Shrimps, White Snapper, etc.

The weather is impeccable - there was one day in which there were a fw clouds, but they soon cleared off. It's always in the twenties - the midday sun is hot but I'm normally underwater.

In a couple of days I leave to head up and get the ferry to Jordan. I'm going to visit Petra, and do some treks and scrambling in the desert, living with some Bedouin and riding some camels (hoping to catch some Camel races too!).

Let me know how life continues. Keep smiling and taking care of yourselves and each other.

A sandy bucketful of love to one and all,