Category Archives for Egypt
We’ve spent many happy weeks in Dahab. And, whether your taste runs to Sharm el Sheikh holidays or bumming around in Dahab, the Sinai is a seriously under-rated destination for family travel. Sharm is more famous as a family-friendly destination, but there are plenty of things for kids to do in Dahab, particularly during late [...]
Welcome to Israel!
Baggy of eye and saggy of face, I drag myself out of bed, still feeling the impact of farewell drinks the night before, and gear myself to begin the godawful process that is getting my spawn out of bed, and packing. Our possessions seem to have multiplied, like replicating amoebas, into every nook and cranny [...]
Kittens, Egypt
As we gear up to move on from Egypt, a country that alternates between inducing utter rage and intense affection, I thought I’d get around to bringing you that picture post I’ve been promising you. You cannot get away from cats in Egypt. They breed like, well, like rabbits, I guess, with kittens at every [...]
It’s Just a Tummy Bug, Right?
I’m not quite sure why going to the doctor is such a big deal for me. Part of it, I guess, is a product of only having one child, and those embarrassing trips to casualty with a mildly snotty infant, and weary doctors uttering the immortal phrase, “Is it your FIRST baby?” (Yes, of course [...]
My Son Is The Wrong Shape To Dive
“Take him into the shower,” says the dive guy. It is not easy to find kids dive gear in Dahab and we’re onto the third wetsuit of the day for Z, who is on the long, thin side for his age, and, at approximately 30 kilos (65 pounds), on the light side for a diver. [...]
If there’s one thing that’s typical of a Dahab evening, it’s this. Sitting on cushions, looking out over the Red Sea… At least one cat under the low table… A cold beer on it… And the mountains of Saudi glowing pink with heat across a millpond sea. I finally took the step of upgrading from [...]
Jellyfish Soup
When you’re loading camels up with scuba tanks, you know you’re off on an adventure. Enough of an adventure, in fact, to overcome my longstanding aversion to camels, first developed in the Mauritanian Sahara where their Chewbacca howls and the Satanic buzzing of the pestilence of flies that follow in their stinking, growling, flatulent woke [...]
French Conversation
The resort beach at the far end of town has some rather fine windsurfing on offer, and I figured that, with the water relatively warm and the wind relatively low, here would be a good place for Z to learn.. So, of course, did Z. Until he got there, obviously. “WOW!” says Z. “Banana boats! [...]
I was going to start this post by badmouthing my babyfather, always a classy move online, for putting Z on the world’s most antisocial flight, EVAH. The time change between London and Egypt is two hours. The flight time is approximately five hours. Z is firmly nocturnal, and likes nothing better than to spend his [...]
House-Hunting in Dahab
This is my third time looking for a house to rent in a foreign country, and I’m beginning to feel quite fluent in it. Plus, what with the politics, the kidnappings and the general chaos in Egypt at the moment, it’s not as though Dahab rentals are going to be thin on the ground. But [...]
