OUR ADVENTURES IN THE BAYS OF MARS ALAM (PART 3)
6. MARSA MURENA (40 km south from the hotel).
In this bay, we were once, however, more, we did not particularly strive, but, in order. It's a bit far from our hotel compared to other places. We paid 60 dollars for the bus (although, for the number of people who gathered, it’s normal). Why go far if the closer bays are not yet fully developed? But not to go there at all, we could not. Theoretical studies of MARSA MURENA showed that in that place there are most often meetings with sharks. We did not particularly strive for this, but before leaving, volkis made parting words: "Sharks from you! ". Sharks are sharks, and the task must be completed! So, we are going to Murena. Which is what we did.
The bay is a trapezoid - an extension from the beach to the exit from it. The beach there is quite pleasant - there are umbrellas. When we sailed away, local Bedouins who wanted to "profit" approached our "not far-swimming" ones.
True, they left without salty slurping - a "brick" muzzle, "nixt fershtein" and "know problems". Even poking a finger at the beach did not help the Bedouins, they say, the land is ours. Although, in this bay you feel calm, as there is such an invasion of divers that there is absolutely no feeling of a wild place.
On the northern wall there are the remains of an unfinished pier, but they did not interfere with us, in fact, they did not help either. The entrance to the water there is already quite comfortable - on the left side of the beach there is a narrow corridor. True, it is so narrow that there are small queues. But we did not wait for them and were the first to enter the sea. First we sailed along the northern wall. It is quite interesting and, of course, massively populated by the inhabitants of the reef. The reason for the love of divers for this bay immediately became clear - the wall is quite deep (farther from the coast) and there is something to look at at depth.
Again, having sailed further, we found an explanation why here, most often, meetings with sharks occur (we did not meet) - there is just a bottomless pit in the center of the bay, most likely, these inhabitants emerge from there, from time to time. The bay is not large, therefore, the wall is not particularly long, and having sailed beyond it, we immediately returned, since there is absolutely nothing to do there. On the way back, for about ten minutes, we looked at a huge moray eel (the bay justified the name), which, not paying attention to the divers, "furrowed" its possessions. Having explored this side, we went to the southern wall. What can I say! ? It's not bad (although it's not long either), but it's a depressing sight. Solid bags and garbage, which is nailed to it due to the barbarism of the "guests" and the local current. Naturally, I had to fight with him, especially at the exit from the bay, and beyond its borders, the wave completely cleared up in earnest.
After looking at the situation, and looking around the local sights, we decided that the place was not worth such an effort, and returned. There was still time (not to sit on the shore! ) and we decided to return to the northern wall and study it in more detail. By the way, our beginners really liked it, and it's comfortable there for any level of "amateur" of beauty.
So, in principle, for a change, you can go there, especially considering that there is no "extreme", in the sense of the wildness of the places, which not everyone respects.
7. IN SEARCH OF THE DUGONG OR "LEGEND BUSTERS"
As I already wrote, the dugong is our "fixed idea", which we have not forgotten anywhere! And, if possible, "wool" suitable places. And what places are suitable, and what time is the best for meeting this animal, etc. , etc. , we studied at home, and very carefully. Even on my birthday (our 2nd trip to MUBARAK), despite the planned rest (i. e.
not a day away from the hotel), we still, at my insistence, went to MARSA MUBARAK, for me meeting with the sea is the best gift! And in our hotel it was doubtful to get into it. So, that day I was haunted by the thought that I, after all, should receive the main gift for my DR - a meeting with a dugong. Therefore, after visiting and exploring the southern wall of the bay (see Part 1), we, of course, sailed through the center in search of what we wanted. But, alas! We didn't see a dugong.
Our vacation was coming to an end, but the dream did not come true. Of course, it is a sin to complain, since there were more than enough interesting meetings and impressions for one trip, but what will keep the obsessed? Rumors fueled that this beautiful animal was seen in MUBARAK Bay more than once this year. The last straw was the message of our new acquaintance from the office where we ordered a taxi, that on October 2 (the penultimate day of our stay) he took a yacht excursion to this bay and saw (personally!
) dugong. Doubts away - on our last day of vacation we go exactly there, moreover, purposefully in search of an animal. I was in such a mood that no one even tried to resist him - it's useless! We are going to MUBARAK for the third time!
A team of 9 people gathered, fortunately, this bay allows lovers of all levels to swim there. The plan was this - we landed in the center of the bay so as not to enter forbidden places, and sailed in search of a “dream” (it’s even closer from there), and the “newbies” will find something to do there (we know - they passed). In fact, nature has made its demands. Upon arrival at the bay, we found that the weather conditions are such that it is impossible to enter the water in the center of it - the wind and the wave are serious! A minute of hesitation and a decision was made, nevertheless, to go to the left side - there, in any weather, you can enjoy the sea. Everyone resignedly moved to the left. No matter how hard we tried, we could not avoid the "one-dollar" bribe per person for entering there.
Well, okay! I see a purpose, but I do not see obstacles! In the meantime, the wind and the wave were getting stronger, but this did not stop us in any way. We honestly warned the whole team that it’s not worth sailing for us today, since we have a specific goal and, perhaps, it will either not be interesting with us, or it will be physically difficult. Three experienced people had firm intentions to go in search of the dugong, and also, one of the "newbies" succumbed to the temptation, which gave us unnecessary excitement.
Finally, we were on our way. It is clear that it is necessary to explore the center of the bay, where sand and grass, of course, swimming in such a place for a long time is a tedious thing, but the end justifies the means. Considering the weather conditions of that day, already after an hour of swimming, I felt a "slight" fatigue. After all, the wind, the wave, which increased every minute, aggravated the situation.
The presence of many yachts and ships added tension, the owners of which, too, had heard a lot about their recent stay in the dugong bay, and, naturally, everyone wanted to make money on it. It was already sailed in order when I heard the cry and saw the furious waving of my hands. Naturally, everyone rushed to that place - my acceleration was like a monster was chasing me. It turned out that the walrus invited us all to contemplate the huge bracken (the locals, for some reason, call it a manta). What can I say - handsome! What grace, what magnificent movements! Just a miracle, not an animal! We swam after him (or rather, over him) as much as we had strength - he swims quickly. Unfortunately, at such a speed, a successful photo did not work out, but there were enough impressions. All the seekers converged in one place, shared what they saw, thought about where we were sailing next.
And there was something to think about - the wind is getting stronger, the wave is getting higher, there are more ships and boats, and, behind the wave, you can’t even see them from the water. Once, a motorboat even approached us with those who wanted to see the dugong and asked if we had met him, to which we truthfully replied that we had not seen him. In general, hunting for a dream animal began to look like a "gold rush" - quickly, after all, rumors spread on Mars. It was decided to sail closer to the shore, we will meet, so we will meet, no, so no - safety is above all. At that moment, to be honest, I lost much hope of meeting the dugong - for some reason it seemed to me that it was impossible to find it so close to the shore, at the same time, I consoled myself with the thought that the huge bracken I saw had already compensated for the efforts.
And walrus, even later admitted that he was gnawed by the thought that it was all a lie about the dugong - he is not here, another hype and a legend in order to attract more people on excursions and earn money. But no one stopped swimming in search of a "dream", although everyone was already quite tired, especially the "newbie", because they had already plowed a good 7 kilometers along a serious wave and against the current (fortunately, we know how to swim correctly in such a situation ).
Literally in a couple of minutes, the bay was cut by the heartbreaking cry of walrusa: "Lera! Cow ! ! ". I didn’t even think that this was an insult to me (although I could) and I automatically turned my head to the right. God! A dugong flashed past me a couple of meters away! I can `t believe my eyes! I'm in a dream! In shock, I turned on such a speed that I overtook the handsome man even before he lay down to the bottom to eat delicious grass. A wonderful dream turned out to be an incredible reality and it really was a dugong!
In the place where we overtook him, there was a depth of only 4 meters, which allowed us to fully admire the contemplation of this magnificent animal, both from the surface of the water and easily sneaking closer to it. A handsome dugong (according to our estimates - 3 meters long) gave us a total of 18 minutes (marked by the clock) of excessive joy to fully enjoy the company of his "majesty" - a royal gift (nothing that a week later after the DR), especially, given that we watched it exclusively, with our narrow company of 4 people. He allowed me to see how he eats, how he floats to the surface to breathe, and even lightly (we didn’t dare anymore) touch him and feel his very hard bristles on his body. What else to dream about? We did not even notice how the handsome sea man carried us along to a serious depth. Moreover, he does not seem to be particularly waving his mighty tail, and the speed of his movement is serious.
They came to their senses when they were already in the open sea. Looking towards the coast, and realizing that it was still necessary to get there, God and I "let go" of the handsome man - live and make others happy!
And it was not close to get to the shore, especially considering how much had already been sailed before and the wave, which was not going to calm down, but only increased. Especially here we were disturbed by our "beginner" - it was clearly seen that he was rather tired (had no habit of long swims and weak fins). Tired, of course, already all, but the vivid impressions of the extraordinary meeting added strength. Coming ashore, we simply stunned everyone with a hail of our impressions, only our "newcomer" was silent - there was no strength left. We asked him: "Why did you swim after us, did we warn you? What if we, in the end, did not find the dugong? ". To which he discouraged us with the answer: "And I had no doubt that you would find him. " Well, you must! We doubted, but he did not!
Of course, it was impossible to calm down and stop us that day - emotions were overflowing! And the weather was getting worse, something like a sandstorm began - sand was carried on the beach so that the anti-cellulite massage was resting. Despite this, it was still necessary to get along the beach to the meeting point with the bus. And our emotions did not subside. How did the poor driver get there? After all, it seemed that from our impressions, which we shared with the rest all the way, the car could take off. Insanely tired, but even more insanely happy, we arrived at the hotel to plunge into the pool, where they would pour beer and go to collect our things on the road - the vacation was over. But what! Just fat point!
This trip became a landmark for us, in terms of understanding how important a team of like-minded people is in such trips, even if not a very large one. Again, how important are the "little things" that are there, they are not trifles at all.
Even such a "detail" as the corresponding identical T-shirts for all members of our team also played a role, and not a small one. These T-shirts were made for us by the administration of the "Turpravda" site in the shortest possible time - for which, a huge human thanks to them. We planned to make them ourselves, but I'm sure we would not have succeeded in such a beautiful and high-quality way. Everyone paid attention to our "attributes", thanks to which, contact with potential "newbies" was established faster. So, there are no trifles in this interesting case. As a result, we gained even more experience - I hope it will come in handy! I wrote "I hope" because the internal situation in Egypt is still shaky. Let's see what the upcoming events will show there, because there is no more or less budgetary alternative in this direction. Let's not talk about sad things!
We will look to the future with optimism, and it lies in the fact that on our next trip, more fans of the sea will gather, and we are always glad to like-minded people. Fortunately, Turpravda helps us in this and it is very easy to understand here who breathes what and who has what priorities. So, join (or join us) in the future - "newbies", amateurs, fans and maniacs of the Red Sea! We are glad to everyone!
I express my sincere gratitude to our friends from the "Turpravdov team" - without them, such a wonderful and eventful vacation would hardly have turned out! And also to all those with whom we had a chance to meet this time (we are lucky for people! ), I think they are now also fans of the SEA, like us.
I want to apologize for, perhaps, not quite high-quality photos (deep shots are the work of my husband) - this is my first experience of underwater photography (I didn’t aspire to this before).
And also, for the excessive number of photos of corals - well, I like it, but it's hard to give preference to any (and so many weeded out)! As my husband says: "Well, you are a lover of stones! ". Well, I could not help but share with you all this beauty! In general, I love everything, but so far not everything can be filmed as we would like.
P. S. In conclusion, I can not help but describe one moment that impressed us all. In the bay of MARSA MURENA, we witnessed a case where, with one of the diving teams, a young girl arrived there in a wheelchair with absolutely no legs. She, dressed in appropriate ammunition, was carried into the water in the arms of a young guy. It looked like a celebration of life, and also like a great power of love for the SEA. Yes! Once falling in love with this beauty, a person will certainly strive to get there again and again, in any case.
P. S. , P. S. I wish you all love for the SEA! Love it, and it will repay you in the same way - it will reveal (not immediately) all its secrets!
Be healthy and take care of yourself! And also take care of the SEA and learn how to do it correctly, the main thing is that you don’t need to do anything, but simply don’t harm it. Then our children will be able to admire this beauty and fall in love with it. Good luck and happy travels!
And yet, a huge request to everyone who loves such adventures and exploration of the unknown - share your research with all of us, please!
