"Ain Sukhna" or "How I Got My Sunburn"

So, Jake and I went camping on the shore of the Red Sea with troop 701 last weekend. Here are some pictures:

First, for those of you who care, here is a map of the area--Cairo on the upper left, and Ain Sukhna (Hot Springs), a tiny town about 80 miles southeast of Cairo.


When we got arrived, we snorkeled with friends from the branch, Jake's first time I believe. If I had a waterproof camera, I could show you the variety of small tropical fish, just 15 feet off the shore.

Jake and I had a great time in the water, and only swallowed a little saltwater.

The waves were not big, but made a spectacular spume as they splashed off the rip-rap on the shore.

This is a picture of a highly developed eco-can, that has evolved to blend in with its natural environment. No, really.

There is nothing unique about scouts hovering around the fire, but I liked the way the fire cast a spooky shadow on the wall.

Jake and I slept under the stars on top of our sleeping bags. The cool breeze that blew throughout the night died down about 5:30 and flies landing on my feet woke me up in time to see the sun rise over the mountains of the Sinai peninsula.

The water was quite calm and the waves were rolled ashore smoothly.

Jake was up early enough to start a fire and wait for everyone else to wake up.

After breakfast the scouts took to the water on their canoes and with masks and snorkels. A pod of dolphins appeared and swam around the scouts inquisitively for about 5 minutes before continuing on. Note the tanker on the horizon, 30 miles or so out of the Suez canal.

This is the only shot I got of Jake in the same frame as the dolphins. You can't tell, but that's him in the front of the canoe on the left. They got about 10 feet from the dolphins before they lost interest in the scouts. One of the young men in the branch snorkeled out to them and touched one with his hand as they swam past each other.

Jake collected paddles after a swamped canoe drill. Who let Dad in the canoe?

Jake and some other scouts lashed two canoes together--a catamaran experiment--but too many chiefs, as they say, made the experiment less than successful and the fun slowly dissipated.

The terrain reminds me of central Utah. Here's a road blasted through rock,

and here's a mound of two-tone desert rock with traces of iron, one of the only colorful parts of the drive.

The whold drive reminds me of the road between Price and Monticello in central Utah. The area is so sparse, you can never be quite sure if the power lines were built next to the road, or if the road was built to maintain the power lines.

This is representative of most loads in Egypt. There's always room for more, whether driven by a camel, horse, or combustion engine.

Approaching the eastern outskirts of Cairo, you can see the two most prolific types of buildings. Mosques and concrete tenements.