TRAVEL THERE: IT DOESN’T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS
Have you ever been worn out from having fun? That’s how I felt on my third morning in Sharm. I don’t consider myself a beach person. I can’t just climb aboard a chaise lounge and soak in the sun. It’s great for about 20 minutes and then I’m ready to move on. I’d had visions of sitting on the beach dying of boredom, but so far there hadn’t been a chance for that to happen. It wouldn’t happen on this day either.
All Aboard
Pick up time was 9 AM Egyptian time. We were going boating, but I had no idea exactly what that might mean. To my delight, we boarded a yacht. To my further delight it was a private yacht, so our family had the whole boat to ourselves. I couldn’t imagine how much it must cost, but on this trip that was all between my nephew Ayman and my husband Bill. I was just enjoying it all.
The scenery was gorgeous, which was a real treat, but the time with family was even more precious. I see my husband’s relatives in fits and starts. We spend a few days together and then go our separate ways. The kids have to get used to me all over again every time and then about the time they think they like me, the visit is over. By the time I see them again, they’ve forgotten who I am. While the situation is not as pronounced with the adults, there is so much to catch up on that we never get very far past superficial conversations about current events in their lives. This trip gave us enough time to get past all that and have really wonderful conversations about their lives.
Our boat skimmed smoothly through the sea. I thought we were going to an island and had packed accordingly, but instead our destination was a popular diving/snorkeling site. I had anticipated putting on my swimsuit and strolling along the shore of the island – perhaps going even deeper in the water, but there was no way I was going to hop into the water when I couldn’t touch the bottom. You see, I’m not a great swimmer. There was a time I passed all the swimming and life-saving tests, but after a summer of teaching at the local pool, I quit spending so much time in the water. Bill’s family all love the water and they don’t understand, but they finally learned I’m not abstaining to get their attention and I’m very happy to observe them having fun.
In the water they went, like the near fishes they are and a good time was had by all. Their time in the water seemed very short. There was kicking and screaming, diving and splashing, and then they were done.
We motored away from the swimming spot and soon it was time for lunch and what a lunch – one of the best meals of the whole trip. The trip back to dock was quieter than the first leg of the trip, but what a sweet time it was. All of us gravitated to the bow section and sat together on cushions. No one said much, but there wasn’t much that needed to be said.
Then suddenly everyone was up. A school of dolphins had adopted us into their family. It wasn’t just a short sighting, they traveled with us a long time. Even the crew remarked on the amount of time the dolphins chose to race through the sea beside us. Then the dock came into sight and we began to gather our things. We disembarked and went back to the hotel. But this was Egypt, so even though all of us were worn out from a day on the sea, plans were already being made for the evenings activities. I’ll leave you with some photos of the return trip, but come back next week and enjoy the next events on our busy visit to Sharm.
jane sadek 