The Breaking of The Fellowship

As the saying goes 'All good things must come to an end', and so they have. Last night Elina, Janina and myself returned from our 3 day trip to Jordan; and this morning, after breakfast, bade farewell to Jason and Rob, as they set off for Jordan, and we leave for Cairo tonight, not to return to Dahab.

However; before I get ahead of myself, I must backtrack over the past few days to recollect the happenings, which I will now organise under nice easy-to-read headings..

Here we go:

Shark attack! (or not... as the case may be)

I believe it was Tuesday. I'd slept in late, and decided to put on a pair of shorts and tank top and take to the sea! Oh yes... the Red Sea was too inviting, and as long as I didn't have to be around everyone, I would have some fun swimming in its clear waters. My trusted pal Elina and I walked along the shore, but came across Janina and Jordo. Jordo was off for a massage (a bit 'gey', mebbe?). The girls and I took to walking further along the shoreline, until humans were scarce (for my benefit, really), and then made ourselves at home on the sand. Elina said she'd watch our things while Janina and I paddled out into the sea.

The water was shallow, and we were having to walk quite a distance to even get water up to our waists. I was griping, as we were walking on coral and therefore had to keep our flip-flops on, and I (having terrible co-ordination, and being a wuss) kept tripping. 'Janina, you know what? I really can't be arsed. I'll leave it for another day', but Janina wouldn't hear of it, and yelled at me to keep on walking. The water was turqoise, but not far ahead it was a deep blue, which meant there was a significant change in depth. I made some joke about sharks, then turned around to make sure Elina was still guarding our things. I heard some shouting, and saw a man on the shore, waving manically at us and beckoning us to come back! Bizarre.

'Hey - Check this guy out. What do you think he wants?' I yelled over to Janina, who turned to look and yelled back 'What's his problem??!'

'Dunno, dude, but I reckon we should find out' (by now I was remembering stories in the paper about people who'd tried to warn others about sharks/tsunamis, etc. so finding out what he wanted would probably be a positive thing)

Janina and I turned and walked some steps back. Now the call was clear 'Shark!' 'SHARK!'

What the...?!??!?!?

Then I heard 'COME BACK! SHARKS HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO SWIM IN THOSE WATERS! DON'T SWIM THERE!'

Sheesh. Bloody typical. I choose to swim, and I choose a spot that has sharks. Typical.

Needless to say, we rather swiftly made our way to the shore, got our things and headed back up the coast to a different spot, where I did indeed swim, but not for long, instead opting for a sun-lounger and fresh strawberry juice.

Quadding in the Sinai Desert

Quads - also known as 'Dune Buggies' I believe. The guys had been going on about renting them since way before we'd got to Egypt. I hadn't thought I'd bother, but hearing them go on and on about hiring them, I changed my mind and decided to go along. We had wanted to go several days, but for different reasons - food poisoning, people being elsewhere, etc - hadn't. So... I'd been pretty much talked into it by the guys, even though I'm sure I'd warned them that I a) have no co-ordination whatsoever... or if I do, it's lurking somewhere that I don't know about, and b) I don't drive, and probably wouldn't trust myself behind the wheel of a moving vehical as I have no concentration, and am absent-minded. However, I believe everyone conveniently forgot about these things, and so there were 7 of us seated in a single-file line on these huge machines, wearing helmets. Wouldn't you know it - I was on the first one! Great stuff.

The guide came over to me to make sure I was ok being in the lead (especially seeing as I'd not quite grasped the concept of gear-change, and how to actually start the quad). 'Erm, yeah, sure' I said, trying to muster some confidence, but more worried about looking like a wuss if I decided to change places with anyone.

'Ok, then start your engine and follow my lead'

I'm not quite sure how it happened. Surely staying in a straight line when you drive would be an easy accomplishment. However, engine was go! Breaks were off! and... *WHAM*

Hello Brick Wall.

Yes. That is correct. My first reaction was to swerve to my right and crash head-on into a wall. Not quite sure what my reasoning behind that was.

*ahem*

I could hear the laughter from my so-called 'friends' (ok, ok, I was laughing hard, too) echoing through-out Dahab, as I tried to straighten my helmet with any remaining composure, and discuss with the guide the possibility of me continuing to drive.

He wasn't convinced. Finally, I managed to assure him that I was ok, and that I would competent enough to drive.

Er... did I say 'competent'? We took to the road (the others already far ahead) and I was nearly crashed into by 2 cars, on separate occasions, but refused to give up. 'This could be dangerous'

'I'm ok, I promise I'll be fine. I just need to get comfortable'

Yeah, yeah, whatever.

I felt like I was in kindergarten class, while the others were miles ahead, and racing, I had some poor guy on a motorbike in front of me, signalling when I was to slow down, and when to look both ways, etc. Embarrassing, yes, but I perservered, as the desert landscapes were breathtaking, and the Red Sea glistened on my side. I gained confidence, but ideally I would need a few hours to be completely confident. After a good 40 minutes of being off the road, we drove though some mountains, an I found myself in a beautiful oasis, where the others were sitting in a bedouin tent, drinking Coca Cola from glass bottles, fresh from the ice-box (very authentic, eh?). Of course I was teased like hell, but ended up sitting with them, drinking in the beauty of our surroundings.

The journey back was less eventful as the one there, as I was more confident, but still didn't race the others, and lagged behind enjoying the view.

What a wonderful day.

(An accont of my trip to Jordan will follow shortly)