Red Sea Expedition: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

In light of the terrorist attack of 9/11/01, I would imagine travel to the Middle East will be difficult (illadvised) and American citizens are being warned about foreign travel. Perhaps this is no longer a viable dive destination for Americans.

The Good

On Land—The antiquities are astonishing and I can highly recommend spending several days in Luxor viewing the tombs and temples. Definitely the highlight of our trip. We enjoyed the company of Gamal, an Egyptologist who guided us through the sites and read the glyphs on the walls. Truly an awesome sight to see these carvings and paintings in such good shape after 3,000-5,000 years. Spending two days in the Cairo area was probably enough, although you could spend two days in the Cairo Museum itself and not see everything. We spent about 3 hours there and covered the highlights. Could have stayed longer, but at some point you just get into sensory overload with all that there is to see and learn. Take 400 speed film or higher for photographing the dark tombs and museum displays. Plan on spending some time viewing the King Tutankhamen exhibit. If we ever go back (and that is a big IF) we’d do a Nile Cruise. Looked like fun and a good way to see all the areas from the comfort of a small cruise vessel. The exchange rate is favorable now, with the US $ worth about 4 Egyptian pounds. A T-shirt with your name embroidered in a cartouche was $12 US. Dinner was under $15 US and breakfast is included in most hotel room prices, $85-170 US a night.

Underwater—The Brothers Islands was the best diving we had in the Red Sea. We enjoyed good viz, both strong and no-current dives, luscious colorful soft coral-covered walls, shipwrecks, and abundant fish life. Managed to get quite a few good images from this trip which is always my goal, but not always achieved! The wide-angle photographic opportunities are limitless here, so much so that almost no macro film was shot in the two days we were diving Big and Little Brother islands. Pelagic sightings are common; a couple folks saw sharks here. Several other dive sites such as Tobia pinnacles and Panorama Reef were good diving, just not as many colorful soft corals. Lots of fish, hard corals in good shape from about 60 feet up, and lots of lionfish, clownfish, and turtles.

The Bad

On Land—The poverty, the monotone brown landscape, high prices to visit the tombs and an extra photography fee if you take a camera into the site. Tourism is their main economy and they milk it for all it’s worth. Local “guides” will follow you around in the tombs and point to things on the wall then expect a “tip.” “Baksheesh” is the order of the day everywhere, even if a guide accompanies you. Take a pocket full of 1 pound bills (about 25 cents) to hand out.

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