Sharm El Sheikh

Back from my hols :( but in time for Christmas...just about. Lets start from the beginning...

Tue 14th Dec, Kirsty (my cousin) and I packed up and headed for Sharm El Sheikh...amidst all the "OMG..what about the sharks?" and "Your not wise...will you be goin in the water?" we didn't care and couldn't wait. Apart from the extremely uncomfy aeroplane seats with leg room just fit for midgets and children, we got there in one piece... and I have to say, it took me a bit by surprise. Leaving the airport (I gots more stamps in my passport :D), we drove into what could only seem like the desert. Nothing for miles...a few half built building here and there but that was about it. Then, every so often there where these "checkpoints" along the road, where men huddled behind cardboard or tin "walls" with guns while others peered in the vehicle and either stopped then or waved them on. Turns out, this is a regular thing in Sharm, as there was more than a few. There where also other people huddled in little buildings with no lights or electric peering at everything that went past...all I could think at the time was "OMG".... then we finally seen signs of civilisation and began to leave people at their hotels, all of which looked really nice. Then came ours, the Sunrise Island Garden Resort. It was an amazing hotel! Staff where extremely friendly and couldn't do enough to help. The place was spotless and our rooms where perfect. I don't remember there being any faults with the place whatsoever :D.

So once we where settled, we had our welcome meeting about the location, where stuff was and what there was to do. We books an adventure safari (keep reading) and got down to what was most important...relaxing by the pool! Being Christmas, the hotel was all kitted out with decorations and Christmas music, which felt different than your normal summer holiday, but was nice. So the next few days was all about relaxing, and exploring what was around us. Leaving the hotel proved a bit annoying, as taxi drivers seemed desperate for business, or just annoying. They drove up and down, peeping at people walking to get in! I also noticed that many Egyptian men are driven by sex and are continuously horny and are not very subtle! They eye women up and down and would say stuff like "Sexy", "Gorgeous", "I'm single (whilst grinding their hips)" or just moan sexually when they look at you! Its like they are permanently on heat! Other, more professional men such as those working in hotels, bars, restaurants and in the airports, couldn't do enough to help, and would jump through hoops backwards if they thought it would help. They go out of their way to make you feel welcome and couldn't be more nice! More of the others should learn from them! Not very many women work, however. It is a very male dominated country. But I still loved it.

So word was that snorkelling was back on. So we headed to the beach for the day to see the nice tropical fishies. Snorkelling I have to say was the highlight of my holiday...especially in Dahab. In the water we got (in Sharks Bay, where the attacks happened :O ) and low and behold, after some fuss from a woman pointing in the water, we had to stay quiet and barely move. There was a shark! In went the divers and along came the boats. It was far enough out for us to snorkel, so I headed on. And it was amazing. So many different fish, from butterfly fish, hawkfish and surgeonfish to wrasse and angelfish! A marine scientists paradise! Then it got cold so we decided to leave.

Next was the adventure safari. What a day, apart from the asshole tour guide, but.... Got picked up and went flying through the desert like mad eejits in the back of a 4x4 jeep...if I lived there, I would do it every day for the fun! Out to the middle of the desert to meet Egypt's Bedouin people, people who live right in the middle of the desert with just the basics and homes they built, and no education for the kids accept what their parents teach them. It was a real eye opener, but a great experience as they took us on their camels to get something to eat. Unreal meal! All organic and grew and made by them. From the chicken to the bread, and it tasted so good. Then off to Dahab reserve for more snorkelling. This was more amazing than Sharks Bay with the huge corals, sponges and anemones and the hundreds of fish! It was so quiet and peaceful I could have stayed all day, but we had to go home. We needed sleep, as the next day we where off to Cairo.The trip we booked before we left and the one we looked forward to most. Queue illness!!! Egyptian Tummy, Mummy's Tummy or Pharaohs Revenge is not nice! Pain, vomiting and diarrhoea all at once. We had to be taken to a 'clinic,' which was a tiny little room with a bed and a drug cabinet, for two injections in the butt and a shit load of tablets. But it meant we felt better and could enjoy our trip around the Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids and Sphinx! All was amazing and I can say I touched the Pyramids before they build the wall around them for protection :D...Back at the hotel, after begging at the airport for an earlier flight (long story), the last 2 days where relaxing days, even though we still felt a bit...iffy!

Tuesday, flight home. We heard about all the snow, but didn't realise it was as bad as it was until our flight was delayed for 6 hours! The pickup and flight times just kept getting longer and longer! Reason = SNOW. It meant we had to hang around the hotel for nearly 10 hours, but we got food and drinks, spend a few hours in the airport, sit on a 6hr 10min flight from Sharm and a 2hour drive from our airport which usually take 45 minutes. Who knew the snow could cause so much damage for two people who weren't even in the snowy country :P But we are home safe and sound ready for Christmas. The temperature drop of nearly 40 degrees was the biggest shock my body has ever had to deal with, but I'm sure I will live.

Sorry this is such a long blog, but what I am trying to say is that Egypt was great and I would go back again any day! The good points far outweigh the bad!

Merry Christmas all :D

Sharm El Shark....

Come Tuesday, I am off to Sharm El Sheikh. Sharks or no sharks, it doesn't make me 'afraid' or 'weary' about going. The only thing that makes me weary is the fact that we may not be able to get to the airport due to the snow, or that the flight might be delayed for hours! I did book the holiday to be able to get in the water and see all the nice little tropical fishies and do a bit of snorkelling, but due to all the shark attacks recently, that might not happen too often. When I get the chance however, I will be in the water! So, lets give a little insight into sharks...

Sharks are the apex predators in the marine world, and though they are viewed as oppressing animals, they are actually the oppressed. Despite being quite intelligent animals, they are hunted by us humans in many countries for their meat and for shark fin soup, for which we kill millions per year. Their payback is by attacking how many of us each year? 60-70 shark attacks on humans annually, of which only a few result in death. If you ask me, that is quite reasonable compared to what we do to them! Its like winning the lottery....you probably have more chance of being shot, or be fatally hit on the head by a coconut falling from a palm tree, and will always end up saying "It will never happen to me."

Sharks have extremely keen olfactory senses allowing them to detect up to one part per million of blood in the water. Using their Ampullae of Lorenzini (sensory pores in their head) and lateral lines, they can detect movement and electromagnetic fields from possible prey from from miles away! However, they are usually deep water hunters as said, not a particular threat to humans, unless you look like a nice juicy seal at the surface. Those thought to be doing the damage in Sharm El Sheikh are white tip sharks, usually only found in deep water, but have recently been driven into the shallow reefs....sucks for the poor critters at their peril! Reef sharks are usually pretty 'friendly.'

Humans are not part of every sharks diet. The bull shark and tiger shark may be a bit more inclined to munch on us, but generally we do not 'contain' enough fat to provide enough energy for these magnificent creatures. What made us frightened of them where films such as Jaws... come on, are there really any sharks that size with a human killing spree the only thing on its mind? They are not mindless killing machines with humans as their number one choice!  Attacks are merely a curious animals way of investigating something it thinks might be food, and the problem with having no hands to do this, a bite is the only way possible. There is a few minutes grace after a 'bite', which usually poses the risk of the loss of a limb, and if the shark thinks 'yummy' or decides no. This is when someone should make for shore, but would usually mean splashing about a bit, thus leading to a bit of extra bleeding. Thrashing and bleeding makes someone seem more appetising and...hey hey!

So, even though we should learn to "understand the sea in all its beauty, mystery and power" (Peter Benchley), if you are in the water and are bitten by a shark, try not to splash about or bleed to much! Also, don't wear bright coloured swimwear!

Oceanic Whitetip Shark

Source: Educated Marine Scientist.... :P

Take a step back and look....

When do we ever do this??? When is the last time you ever have taken a step back and looked at yourself or just at the world in general. I know there doesn't seem to be anything exciting about the world, but stuff still happens, and its not always bad and stuff you don't want to hear, you just need to look closer. As random as this post seems, it was something I overheard 2 women and an old biddy rambling about at work one day last week that got me thinking. I will get back to that in a minute.

So when is it you would take a step back a look at yourself....a sort of re-evaluation in a manner of speaking??? How about these few things....

When you meet or lose someone
Making new friends and meeting new people
Losing someone close to you
Having some sort of accident
Being diagnosed with some sort of chronic disease
Starting a new job or leaving a job (or being sacked)
Moving out of home
Buying/renting your first house
Moving to another country
Reading something tragic happen to someone you know (like in a newspaper or on the news)

Most of the stuff here would make you think about life in general and what will happen if any of them happen to you. You will, probably without knowing, take a good look at yourself and all the people around you, whether it be your family, friends or both. most of them would make you think 'OMG' and give you a bit of a fright, or a shake. So next time you meet someone or lose someone, or start a job or leave one, realise that you wonder to yourself 'Do they like me' or 'Can I do this?'

Anyway, back to the women and biddy that lead to the creation of this blog...one woman was reading a newspaper, and there was something in it about a boy committing suicide. Queue woman 2...the conversation went something like this....

W2: Isn't that awful. Poor young chap...
W1: Aye, I know. You'd wonder what would make a person do that...
W2: He must have been going through a while lot
W1: God love his family...
W2: Auk ano...

Queue biddy...

Biddy: Well personally I think he took the cowards way out!

W1 and W2: What????
Biddy: He was a coward. What could be so bad that you would have to take your own life?
W2: How can you say something like that? You didn't know him so how can you possibly ask what could be so bad....
W1: It must have been bad....
Biddy: You didn't know him either so you can't say it was that bad...
W1, in a I-can't-believe-you-voice: He didn't do it for fun!

W1 and W2 walk away....

If I was part of this conversation, I would have told the old biddy to shove her comments, keep her opinions to herself and clear off! What about suicide makes you a coward? In my opinion, it is one of the most rational decisions anyone can make....they are choosing to end their own life!

Anyway, that my rant for the day....

Catch ya!

My cat is trying to kill me...

Recently while using google for god knows what, I came across a page on how to tell if your cat is trying to kill you. Yes, you read that right, trying to kill you, and as I thought it was good, I thought I would throw it on here...

How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you by Matthew Inman


It was a look at what cats usually do on a day to day basis and how this contributes to them plotting to kill you. I thought it was quite funny...

So, when I look at all of the things Chewi does, it makes me wonder.While she doesn't knead on me, she has a habit of walking up and down me, or over the top of me during the night. Sometimes she stops and sits down, while staring at me. Maybe this is a sign that she has found an epic weak spot and is contemplating her next move! This would also contribute to the staring contests she puts on while sitting usually in high places with eyes that look like two little slits in her face. The bringing of pressies and throwing up grass doesn't happen with Chewi as she doesn't go outside on her own. However if she did, I doubt any would occur as she is lazier than your average cat and is a very fussy eater, putting the grass out the window! Therefore, there is a lot more shovelling of kitty litter, which I have to brush up from all over the room....does this mean I am helping her dig my grave :o.... Hiding in random places is a Chewi special, from which she usually jumps out landing on an unsuspecting passer by's leg! Its not really 'hiding' either as her ass, tail or ears is usually stickin out from somewhere! I have already mentioned what she does while I am lying down, or asleep and rudely awakened by her, but Chewi usually konks out beside me and sleeps there until she is woke. She does like to sit right in front of the computer screen while it is being used and again, do a bit of staring...as for the sprinting out of the room, this happens all the time, and it is more of a bolt instead of a sprint, so there are many failed ambushes in Chewi's case. This also leads to a session of darting at high speed from room to room while I just..watch. So either she is confused or is pretty useless at trying to ambush anyone.

So after taking all of this into consideration and knowing that my cat can be pretty lazy, I reckon I am quite safe and that this particular cat is not plotting to kill me just now. Either that or she is just not making a very good job of it. Anyway, I will love her until she succeeds, but I loved the How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you webpage! Great job :D

Its cold, there's snow

Snow. It has been lying on the ground now for nearly a week, the longest I ever remember snow staying without beginning to melt before another layer or just coming and going. To be honest, it's quite nice unless you have to drive in it, but looking at it and being out in it is soo fun! We gots a new layer today, so after I built Mr. Chills the last day, today it was time for an igloo...well, any hut feature made out of snow and ice has to be classed as an igloo right, not just the icy ones the little Eskimos create. I sadly had to...recycle...Mr. Chills to to so, but he was beginning to look like something from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' so, he was happy not to just, melt away. So, it took me nearly all day, and by the time I went in home, it was dark(ish) and I suddenly realised that it was 4.30 and I had forgotten to eat...imagine that, snow and fun makes you forget that you have a stomach, good job huh? So I warmed up with a nice chinese. Anyway, I like walking in the snow too, looking at the nice sights and getting to wear my wellies and ski wear without looking like a complete idiot :). Look at the blog page and there should be snow falling!

However, with the snow comes the cold, and with the cold comes snow, sometimes. Now, the temperatures are sitting in the minuses, and that is not nice let me tell ya, and the snow is turning to ice and going nowhere. During the night the temperatures get to -10 and to around -2 or 2 during the day. Nice. I end up wearing so many layers I look like a sumo wrestler when I am at work. More hateful is when I have to get up in the morning. Do I get up though...nah. Wake up, stick a toe out, straight back into bed and back to sleep until it is absolutely necessary to get up. Even more hateful is having to pee during the night. OMFG...and rolling over to a more comfy position doesn't even work because if you move, you end up in a cold place in the bed...not nice! That's the cold....it makes you pee, so much more!

That's the body's way of....trying....to keep us warm. Keep blood away from the surface, higher blood pressure and no sweat = pee much! What else does the cold make you do?....Shiver, shake, curl up in a ball, fall on your ass in the ice, fry in front of a fire, lay in bed etc etc. But that's what winter is and its nice....in its own way...

Toot-a-loo...