Egyptian cats

So, here I am (in Dahab, in the Sinai peninsula) volunteering with cats again - to save money (as my accommodation at the cat shelter is free) so as to help finance the expensive guided tours I have booked for later this year, but also because I do like cats!  Although I have to admit that there are times, with cats fighting to be the one sitting on my lap, or helping themselves to my food (who knew that some cats will chew through a plastic bag in order to eat a bread roll!) that I ask myself whether it is worth it.  Not helped that much by the weather - sunny and dry, yes, but with lots of wind, so strong today that although it is currently 21°C it 'feels like' 16°C.  Maybe it was silly to sign up for just over six weeks of this; I should be like the other volunteers, mostly passing through for just two weeks, which would be much easier.  The owner of the cat sanctuary has let me off the usual €1-per-day contribution to costs, given the length of my visit, but I'm not sure that €45 will really make much of a dent in my longer-term costs!

It's okay really - and nice to know I'm helping the rescued cats, some of whom are blind in one or both eyes, one with a missing leg, etc - just a bit tiring at times like today when the cold weather means that I can't really do anything on this day off.

The setting of the small town of Dahab is beautiful - dry mountains behind us on the land, and Saudi Arabian mountains visible in front across the Gulf of Aqaba.  With a few camels around the town, and lots of places for the tourists to eat and drink, still open all day despite this being the month of Ramadan.

On my very first day off (we get two days off a week) I went on an organised tour, to ensure that I got to see the White Canyon.  Getting into it involved a vertical descent down the side of the canyon, holding tightly to a fixed-in-place rope with the right hand, looking for handholds for the left hand, and feeling with your feet for the sort-of steps down the side.  Thankfully we all got down safely, and there were no injuries as we scrambled over various rocky parts as we moved along the early stages of the canyon before it opened out to a wider canyon with a flat, white sandy bottom.  Only 2.7km long, but well worth the effort, time and cost to go there - a really beautiful place.

The standard tour also includes the small Coloured Canyon, a visit to a strange rock (the Mushroom Rock) resembling a sort-of fungus, and lunch in a desert oasis - all very nice, but the White Canyon was superb.

I've also walked a little way into the mountains around the town, but you can't go far, as ascending involves either slippery scree slopes or rocky wadis - both requiring you to occasionally grab hold of one of the rocks around you - which break off if you put any weight in the wrong direction.  & I've walked along the coastal track for a couple of hours and have also, on a rather warmer day than today, floated in the Magic Lake, a small salty lake (a density similar to that of the Dead Sea) with a muddy bottom, that apparently has 'healing properties'.

As a non-diver (damaged my inner left ear when I descended too quickly on one dive) I can't take advantage of that side of the town, and trying to save money means that I don't visit the very many cafes and restaurants, but it does I suppose give me time to watch a few online videos and read a couple of books (that is, when I can see the screen/page around the cats...).


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