I am all for trying new things and Yes!!! after wanting to try out for a long time I did try snorkeling and in a new city of course.
Sharm-El-Sheikh is a coastal city in between the desert of the Sinai and the Red Sea and it was by far the most memorable. I tried new things, met new people, partied at Naama Bay, watched belle dancers, went window shopping 😯 , met a couple of admirers 😉 and as always, roamed the city.
Tiran Island used to be a part of Sharm-El-Sheik in Egypt but the Egyptian government recently declared that Tiran falls within the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia so technically, I can add Saudi Arabia to the list of countries I have visited 😀
My Couchsurfing friend George helped with my hotel and tour bookings before I got to sharm so everything was pretty stress free. I got picked up at my hotel early enough on my dive day and we headed to the harbor. We were given instructions at the quay on safety and a head count was done with our names taken down so that we do not lose anyone. We sailed on Queen 3 and off we went.
The weather was cold and I was a bit shivery. I was pretty much alone, not because I couldn’t make friends but because no one around spoke English. Apart from the tour guide and photographer I could not find anyone else who spoke English. There were mostly Ukrainians, Russians and Egyptians on the cruise and save for minor gestures, we really could not keep up conversation.
After about 30 minutes into our sail, we were called around by the guides and given another round of underwater safety instructions and tips.
After a couple of hours of staying on my own and being bored. A water guide finally found me someone who could speak little English. Jonathan who is from Belgium was also on a solo trip in Sharm and spoke conversational English, there were little hassles here and there but we got along quite nicely.
We finally got to our diving and snorkeling destination and before I could blink I had already seen others jump out to go for a swim before our water sporting activities, I mean I can swim but bursting out in the middle of the ocean was way beyond me. My thoughts were, what if there are sharks, what if I had a muscle strain. I basically watched and it did feel awkward as I was left alone with the children and the elderly.
When it was time for snorkeling, little me slid down, with help from a guide, I was able to have my snorkeling done. Snorkeling unlike scuba diving which I did here requires quite a bit of swimming skills but it was great non the less. The coral reef, star and gold fishes and other under water creatures were really beautiful and I’d totally love to do it again.
After, we had lunch and I socialized a bit in sign language.
I was the only black person on the cruise and although it felt weird I was occasionally asked for pictures, but I willingly obliged.
I had so much fun and I would really love to try Snorkeling again, maybe even here in Lagos. I also hope to better my swimming skills and if you are a pro, I would really love to learn from you.
12 Comments
Am good at swimming. Master of waters.
You are a travel blogger learn more international lauguages. Nice one tho, keep it up ma’am
Lol…Ha ha ha…Like its easy to learn a new language, I am taking French classes though its on Duolingo 😀
This is so cool! Yes, to trying out new things! Were you all given the safety instructions in multiple languages? I envy all you people that can swim. Hopefully, I’ll join your league soon. Been taking classes.
Yes, we were all given instructions in languages we understood and they were really nice unlike the tour guide when I was hiking Mt. Sinai which i would be blogging about soon.
Good and happy to know about the city through you dear… Keep it up, bigger and higher you I pray ….
Thanks for reading Hammed
Great Adventure… Adventure Na Universior (ANU) lol….. don’t ask me, wait n c…
LMAO…The new meaning to my name though 😀
Amazing , love your passion of globe trotting and exploring the unknown place in an adenterous way …. love you Hun .
Cheers …. Dr Batth
Thanks Dr. Words like this motivate me to do more.
Totally loving this. Can’t swim though.
They say music is a universal language, so times like this, I wonder how it would have worked. ?
Thanks Ayo…Lmao! I doubt it would have in terms of communication.