Hi all,

About 3 months without e-mailing you but I’m still in Africa! Like a lot of people I got the Dahab mania! I’m here since about 2 mounths now. Made my first dive ever and deceided to get all the way to divemaster. The only problems, my visa for Jordan and Syria will probably expired before I get there. I was also supposed to meet a friend in Turkey for new year but also jeopardize…

But before I got to Dahab I crossed the mighty Sudan! Houuuu! I was amazing, the only dark side was my stupid 7 days visa that I couldn’t even extend! Stupid bureaucratie, anyway. I really enjoy Sudan and I hope I’ll be able to go again to properly visit the country. Let’s say tourism is not very develloped there and I had the WORSTE ride in all Africa between Dongola and Aswan. Ok, I had pretty bad ride in Madagascar, Northern Mozambique, Zambia, Ethiopia, Northern Kenya, etc but that one… I was On the top of a lory in the middle of the desert. They told me we would get there at 10, we left at 9 in the morning so I expected 10 pm. We actualy got there at 10 am the next day. So far so good, we all love our African Time! But at some point in the night the lory was empty and extremly bouncy, I was unable to stay up even holding with 2 hands and my ass was sore from sitting on a metal box and bouncing 10 cm high every 6 secondes! I was praying for it to stop. I was trying to imagine myself somewhere else, on the beach, looking at girls in bikini while drinking a freezing beer! Or just to be in a bed, even in the least confortable one I’ve been in in Africa. At some point the truck finaly stoped. And we slept just there, in the middle of the desert. I was motion sick or more accuratly stationnary sick so I had a very hard time to sleep. The next morning they filled the lory and I found a nice and comfi spot on a carpet tied to the side of the lory. I was so happy! After that ride from hell I decided to get myself a bit of comfort in the boat to Egypt and took a 1st class ticket! Air con and my own bed! :) What a chage!

I then travelled in Egypt all the way to Cairo, seeing the most impressive things built by humans that are still standing. I also met loads of very nice ppl but it was quite strange to see so many tourists after North Kenya, Ethiopia and particularly Sudan! After applying for a new passport I got to Dahab and like so many before cought the Dahabmania! That was too mounths ago and I’m still here. What started as a little rest of 2 or 3 weeks to learn how to dive and gather my energy before changing countinent transformed into getting my divemaster certification and been offered to work here when it’s over by 3 different dive shop. I don’t think I’ll work when my course gonna be over because I need my own gear and I can’t see how on earth I can travel with diving gear.

Dahab is quite a nice place to leave anyway, it never rains (last time was 3 or 4 years ago!) it’s cheap, relatively clean, a little bit of night life very sunny and one of the best place to dive. What else can you ask for?

This is probably my last e-mail from Africa, so if you would like to receive the stories from Middle-East please tell me so I can add you to the new list. :)