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Snorkeling in the Red Sea

/ Ryan / Leave a comment

We went to Egypt in December for snorkeling. We stayed in three different resorts along the coast of the Red Sea. The snorkeling was surprisingly good!

We flew in to Hurgada which was a direct flight from Basel. Unfortunately, our first resort was LaHami Bay near the southern border. We hired a driver to take us and it was a looong drive, about 5 hours. The ride was crazy. Much of the drive was pretty desolate, with sand blowing across the deserted, wasted landscape on either side of the road. Our driver didn’t like his lane, so he spent most of the time in the opposing traffic lane. Thankfully(?) there were very few other cars to be seen.

The LaHami Bay resort was my least favorite resort we stayed at. The reef was robust but very brown. It could have been that recent weather stirred up silt, but there wasn’t a lot of color in the coral here. There were plenty of fish though, and supposedly a dugong is frequently spotted here (we never saw it). Later, we learned that a great site to snorkel with dolphins is not too far from here. Every day we were here, the boat trips to other sites were cancelled. There had been a recent capsizing so the government was being very cautious cancelling water travel. Getting into the sea here for snorkeling was exceptionally easy, with a lovely light sand beach and extremely shallow grade leading into the water. We had half board here (breakfast and dinner included) but we usually only ate dinner.

The second resort we stayed at was the Hilton Marsa Alam Nubian resort. This was the largest resort we stayed at (maybe ever?). The snorkeling was fantastic. We also had great weather while we were here. The water was super clear, the coral was mostly vibrant and tons of fish. Once again, getting into the sea was very easy. The food was better and more dishes were offered here than at either of the other resorts we stayed at. We paid for half board (here it meant breakfast included) and we paid for dinner separately.

The third resort we went to was the Movenpick. This was the most expensive and the room and furniture was the nicest here. The sea was a little harder to get into but I think this was mostly due to poorer weather. The beach sloped steeper into the sea and we had waves most days. The reef was decent once we got out a bit but the dive shop didn’t recommend going too far. At the Hilton, it felt like you could swim the reef for a mile.

I looked into whether we could visit any of the classic Egyptian sites but none really seemed practical from where we’d stayed. We’ll have to go back and make a specific trip to see more.

How to buy an eSIM (iOS)

/ Ryan / Leave a comment

I’ve found that buying an eSIM while traveling has been an easy and inexpensive way to get phone service while traveling.

I’ve found and used two providers, Airalo (I used in Asia) and Ubigi (I used in Europe). Both require making an account, which is little more than entering an email address and password. And both should be easy enough to find in your device’s App Store.

When you open Airalo, you are greeted by a list of countries:

To buy an eSIM, it’s as easy and choosing a country. I’ve chosen Croatia:

The first three listed options show us different capacities and duration. It’s a little cheaper to buy a larger plan than to run out and have to buy a second plan. After clicking buy you’ll be taken to a payment page (or a sign up page if you arent logged in).

Ubigi is pretty similar:

The first page offers one-off plans which is what I’d be interested in while traveling. After clicking that, it opens a country list:

After choosing a region/data capacity it will bring up a page showing a full list of the countries participating in that plan:

Clicking checkout brings you to a payment page if you’re already logged in.

Now you have the eSIM and need to select it in your phone and deselect your home country eSIM so you cont get charged roaming fees. Open ‘Settings’ to find:

You want to choose Mobile Service here.

In the Mobile Service page you’ll want to turn on the new eSIM (here mine says Used as “Ubigi”) or Add eSIM if it isn’t listed. I would also turn off my primary SIM by clicking it and turning it off on the next page. Also on the Mobile Service page you can choose the eSIM for your Mobile Data by clicking ‘Mobile Data’

Family

/ Ryan / Leave a comment

Late Christmas night Jenn and I watched a movie together and it got me thinking about my Dad.  He passed away just a few years ago and it moves me a lot whenever I think about him.  I was very close with my Dad, I think back to the times we’d stay up half the night chatting in the kitchen.  Who even knows what we could talk about for so long…

My parents divorced when I was a kid, so I spent every other weekend with him.  This meant most of the time I lived with my Mom.  Of course, this meant she had to do most of the odious disciplining and I’m sure that contributed to the teen angst my sister and I experienced.  It’s hard to look back on one’s past without those memories being colored by what one thought or felt at the time.  Memories seem like blurry things, I can recall emotions and feelings about events in my life but exact details are difficult to make out.

I’m grateful for the circumstances that intersected leading to the last time I saw my father.  Growing up, he lived in St. Louis and my sister and I lived in Omaha.  For a time, my Dad didn’t own a car and would make that ~8 hour drive on his motorcycle.  I was happy to see him, but as an 8-year-old I didn’t know what that drive was like.  I’m not trying to paint him as a superhero for driving a long way on a motorcycle when another man would have bought a car- or when another would have cancelled the visit.  Many years later I got a motorcycle of my own and drove the ~8 hours to visit him.  To be honest, it was a harrowing experience.  But that drive offered me a perspective I had not previously known.

I showed up at his house and we chatted for a few hours.  I had been humbled by the drive, and was grateful for his having done so many times in the past.  I am normally not humble enough nor grateful enough to those around me, family or friends.  But this day, this last time I would see my father, I had been both.  A few months later, he passed unexpectedly.  I miss him dearly.

I have a very strong memory of that visit.  We were happy, sharing stories and enjoying each others’ company.  When I happen to think back to that day, it’s a bright memory; one that I cherish.