First, we are happy to report that we have successfully (and yes Mom, safely) completed our Open Water Diver certification....which means we are free to dive which we did. We did our first official, non-course, fun dive at a site named "The Islands" - it was great! It is called the islands due to the layout of the underwater coral islands just offshore. The entry was through a small, shallow tunnel - very cool! The fish (school of yellow tail baracuda, a pair of lion fish to name a few) and coral in ful bloom did not disappoint - to see fish swimming above you is neat. It is so nice to swim and not have to worry about coming up for air (at least not for 55 minutes ;D). Beautiful......
One day - just to experience the dryness of Sinai, we booked a trip into the desert to visit some canyons (Double Canyon and White Canyon). The Double has incredibly smooth walls, some of which are very close together - it was fun to inch through them. The White was incredibly white and ended a short distance from an oasis - which was a welcome sight after the trekking by foot in the sun.
Dahab is not only a great place to scuba dive but the snorkeling is excellent too! So back to the water for a day of snorkeling. We tried three different places - amazing - there was one area where you could easily float about a meter above the coral viewing the pink, purple, green, yellow, and orange coral while schools of silver fish and blue fusiliers pass by as if suspended in midair (the water is so amazingly clear). So many fish: blue spotted ray, purple jellyfish....
Okay, a visit to the Sinai peninsula would not be complete without a climb to the summit of Mount Sinai which would be the grande finale of our visit. Before our ascent, we visited the famous St. Katrine's monastery. We were only permitted to view the exterior of the small chapel and walk around the surrounding grounds just inside the wall and what is believed to be the burning bush where God spoke to Moses concerning His plan for him to lead the Isrealites out of Egypt 3000 years ago.
For our climb, we chose a start time of 12:30 in the afternoon with a descent just after sunset. In our group was a retired German couple who had been traveling for 14 months and a mother, sister and daughter team of 6 on vacation from France. The climb up was not too bad at all, until you near the summit when it becomes much steeper then you can really feel your heart, lungs and legs working hard!! We knew it would be worth it.
There was a short stop just before the top called Elijah's basin - this is elieved to be the place where God passed by in a whisper as Elijah covered his face!
The summit was quite chilly you know...it being an altitude of 2300 meters and all. Thankfully, the local Bedouin people are very enterprising and blankets can be rented for about $2 CDN. Lori says thank you very much - although it was hard to part with just before descent :D The blanket coupled with hot chocolate and our snacks was perfect and much appreciated.
The rugged mountains and the startling blue sky are inspiring and to watch the sun set to go and bring its warmth to another part of the world (wasn't doing much for us at the time anyway... bbrrrr) is something to see. I am sure many have breathed in this view and others like it - its an awesome feeling.
Trying to graspe that God met with Moses here about 3000 years ago is mind boggling - its kinda hard to sit there with that view and not think of God at any rate.
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