Thanks to Leanne and Gavin, who’d been through a couple of weeks before us we knew it would be cheaper to arrive with some food and water supplies… We went all out and stocked up with quite a large supply of chocolate, muesli bars, chocolate and water (24x1.5L bottles!).
Day One
We arrived around lunch time, dropped our bags, asked reception to sort out why we didn’t have water in our room. Then went to hit the water as it was 40 degrees and blowing 22 knots! Perfect!!
Trace passed the kite rental tests so she was all sorted to rent without lessons which was nice as we were a little worried. By the end of the day she was blasting back and fourth and riding up wind easily.
There’s about 25 kiters here at the moment but the majority are all part of one German group that stick in one area… Luckily! As kiting through their group is like navigating a mine field!
We got back to the hotel tired and ready for a shower… Still no water, it seems water is somewhat difficult out here in the desert. The maintenance guy showed up to take a look. He didn’t speak a word of English but somehow we got by by pointing at various bathroom items and then giving them a thumbs up or in this case it was generally a thumbs down. He returned 5 minutes later with a miniature angle grinder and welder, he then preceded to replace a leaking section of pipe within 30 minutes, Impressive!
That evening we went into the dinning room with an open mind as we have fairly low expectations of food in Egypt now. It was possibly the largest buffet we’ve ever seen, and great food! Trace somehow managed to try one of every desert… There’s about 12!!
End of day one. Bring on 8 more!
Day Two
Trace is getting more confident and managing the occasional turn. Not quite as windy, only about 17 knots so standard sized kites today. Mike’s loving the chance to try different kites and he’s already ridden 3 different types and various sizes… Favourite is confirmed as the North Vegas!
Late that afternoon, disaster strikes… Trace charges straight onto a shallow point with lots of little rocks. After falling forward she quite badly takes the top layer of skin off her right hand and elbow and gets a couple of small cuts on her leg. She managed to stay quite calm considering!
We walked back with the kites to the kite centre and patched up trace with various disinfectants. We also negotiated a two day break on kite rental in exchange for a couple of hours of lessons (they won’t do cash refunds) later in the week.
Once we got back to the hotel Trace rummaged through the medicine bag and came out with a smile… Apparently Nikki P gifted the following “medicine” which apparently fixes everything? It’s good to finally use it after carting it around the world for the last 2.5 months!
We managed to move from our hotel room to a seaside room, great! First thing we did was check the water everywhere, check the air-con, check the fridge. No problems here!… seems great! …
Day Three & Four
We woke up to find we have no water! … We move again… All tests pass again, fingers crossed they stay that way!
Trace turns from a kitesurfer to a photographer… And she really got into it! By the end she was knee deep in water and Mike was practically jumping over her head! Mike rode for at least 4 hours each day… No more changing kites now though, Vegas is a definite favourite!
There’s literally hundreds of great photos and videos but it gets a little repetitive so here's a couple of the best.
Later on day four evening, the wind picked up a bit and we were lucky enough to watch the two instructors from the large German group have a 30minute play… They both rode on 7m kites and did the kind of tricks you only expect to see on movies. Mike’s probably going to spend the remainder of the holiday attempting to imitate them now!
Day Five
After buying a new pair of sailing gloves Trace is back into action and we both spent about 3 hours out on the water… Unfortunately the wind wasn’t as settled as previously and extremely strong… Trace was flying their smallest kite at 6m (it was depowered too!) Mike was only slightly bigger on a 7m.
Trace has booked in her lesson for tomorrow so fingers crossed the wind is good and she gets her turns sorted!
Day Six
Trace’s lesson lasted almost 2 hours and she’s beginning to get the hang of her turns.
Mike was given the photographer's roll for a bit in the afternoon once Trace had built up some confidence.
Day 7
For the first time we had to wait for wind!! We were ready to go at 9:30am with not enough wind… Had to wait until 10:30am . . . and then it end up blowing almost 25 knots. . . It’s tuff!
Later that evening we went for a walk to the pier as the sun was setting, it was so beautiful.
There are a lot of unfinished buildings in Egypt, below is a picture of just one unfinished hotel. The ones they have finished, don’t really seem to be maintained… It’s all a bit odd really.
We were told that the Egyptian citizens don’t finish their homes completely, just enough so they can live in them, this is so they can get a lower tax rate for a dwelling still under construction.
Day 8
Had to wait until 10:30 again… Trace is starting to get the bug and enforcing an early rise to “get our money’s worth”.
During the morning Mike was on camera duty for a bit, in the afternoon, it switched.
Breaking through some chop
Turning action sequence
Enjoying it!!
jump sequence
Oops…
Day 9
Where’s the wind gone? We tried to kitesurf for a couple of hours but the wind was quite weak so we gave up at lunch time and went back to pack. 8.5 days of wind… Not bad!!
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