Such a perfect day...

Beautiful day... No wind, the sea is flat, the sky is clear, the Abydos 2 is full of happy guests and Ahmed (my colleage divemaster) & I decide to go to Abu Nuhas, a reef decorated with four shipwrecks. On the way there, we chat with the guests, help them prepare their gear and then I relax on the sun deck, talking to captain Mohammed who speaks three words of English. With my three words of Arabic, we have quite some conversation.

The dive is nice, good visibility, the divers in my group behave relatively well and we explore “Chrisoula K”, lying at 3 to 25 meter deep for about 45 minutes. Lunch is wonderful as usual and everybody on the boat is in a relaxed mood. Off to the second dive site of the day, Siyul Soraya, a beautiful reef. The heat is scorching, the desert islands around the reef are sticking out from the clear blue water and we can see 12 meters deep. We jump in the water for the second dive and as soon as we are at the bottom, we spot a huge Napoleon fish. A few meters later, a swimming Lion fish. And then a Flounder. And then, on the side of a huge Brain coral, on a piece of Sponge coral, I spot a tiny tiny Nudibranch of about 1,5 cm. All my divers take a picture and we swim on. I love Siyul Soraya, the coral garden is amazing... On the way back to the boat, a turtle appears, going up for a breath of air, diving back and disappearing into the blue 5 minutes later. During the safety stop, a large school of Fusiliers swims by... if only there were Dolphins behind them (Fusiliers are one of their favourite snacks). No such luck, but the dive is fantastic as it is. I get all my divers safely back to the surface and we sail home.

The trip back is about 1,5 hours and again, I sit next to the captain, exchanging words we’re not sure the other one understands. Mohammed (who is temporarily the captain of Abydos 2) has warmed up to me, since the first time I met him five days ago when he didn’t even want to shake my hand. I thought it was a Muslim thing. Now, he smiles at me every now and then, uncovering his three yellow teeth and tries to explain to me where we are (to me, it’s still one big blue sea).

Halfway home, we overtake Bongos 2, our other boat. I stand up on the sun deck as high as I can and wave at Ahmed the captain and Gijs, Islam & Sabine, our three instructors who were all out with their students for their first dives. Ahmed does a little hoola hoola dance for me and we sail on. I stare at the sea, El Gouna appears at the horizon and all I can think is... such a perfect day.

Back at the dive centre, it’s mayhem. Guests checking in, checking out, log books that need to be stamped, equipment that needs washing, the boat lists and pool sessions for the next day which need to be prepared... I’m scheduled to go to the pool to do 5 try-dives and 2 scuba reviews, which means I’ll be at the Clubhouse tomorrow all day. Which is fun, since the Clubhouse is the local hangout for many divers and other weird Gounies...

Since Stefano and Ivan are out of town, there is no Italian home cooking tonight, so I go for a pasta at the Clubhouse (where I have a monthly budget for food as part of my salary). As the Aliverti brothers left with Ivan’s car, I have two more days of motorised luxury so I drive home after dinner and catching up with the Clubhouse regulars.

It’s full moon and it turns out there is an almost full eclipse around midnight. Darja and I sit by the lagoon, spotting shooting stars and watching the moon disappear behind a red shadow. And all I can think is... such a perfect night...

And some pictures to prove I'm a real divemaster now:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=52841&l=a7f79&id=523210814

xYx