Thousands and thousands go!
And they choke up the piers, queueing for ages amidst the confusion that greets their surge to find their boats amongst the scores of others.
Our first trip was on the day after our arrival and meant an early breakfast before arriving at the dive school for 8am, still tired from the previous day's travel and dreading a day at sea with two children who might be as sea-sick as their Grandfather was bound to be.
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| SO HAPPY! AND THEN WE CAST OFF! |
Welcomed on board a double-decker by a crew plucked from the pirate ship last seen in 'Pirates of The Caribbean' we and a dozen others filed up the vertical metal ladders to a floor covered with thick mattresses and an awning to keep off the worst of the scorching sun and set off to the first dive site which we arrived at with thirty other craft all disgorging divers who could be seen through the azure water swimming in a mass accurately referred to as 'Diver Soup' !
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| RIGHT ! IF YOU GO BACK TO SLEEP I WON'T TELL YOU ANY MORE ABOUT MYSELF OR MY BLOG ! |
Gemma's first forty minute absence wasn't too bad as Daniel slept for five minutes before screaming for the next thirty five despite being rocked by me and the boat. The temperature was well over one hundred degrees and poor Dylan had to sit still for fear of falling overboard.
The 'captain' who had the demeanour and girth of a man more used to sitting at a pub bar downing most of the contents of the establishment stared at us with an understandable loathing and actually shouted "Your baby is screaming!" at Gemma when she seemed to be taking too long changing after her dive.
Then it was Dylan and my turn to snorkel accompanied by an instructor who had the four year old jumping into deep water without a hitch and swimming up and down the reef holding a float whilst he explained what we were looking at.
What we were looking at, apart from a few slow-moving fish were hundreds of divers forty feet down in a rotating stack that looked like aircraft circling Heathrow waiting for a landing slot!
Twenty frozen and terrifying minutes later we were back on board shivering, with me pretending that the experience had seen the fulfillment of a boyhood dream and really regretting not being allowed to scuba. I didn't mention the fear that gripped me as I ran out of the energy needed to swim back to the boat against a strong current. Nor did I mention my real fear of sharks, thinking that we wouldn't be diving in an area where sharks might attack!
And what happened a few months later in the very waters where I had swum with my precious grandson? Why, sharks attacked and killed a number of swimmers!
I was then forced down into the cabin to sample unidentifiable pots of hot food which were frankly inedible and I just couldn't wait to get back on dry land!
But much worse was to come!
We motored down the coast for an hour until we reached the most popular dive site where with the engine off we were thrown about like a cork!
How I prevented myself and the children from flying over the side I will never know!
In fact, a little later Derek, who is powerfully built with legs like an Oak tree trunk, bent down to pick Daniel up just as the boat pitched violently and attempting to get his balance he lurched sideways kicking Dylan ( lightly thank goodness ) on the side of his head just before crashing heavily into a fortunately placed metal upright which prevented him and the baby flying over the side a split second later! Although it all happened very quickly, I watched it all in horrifyingly slow motion!
So, we were ridiculously hot, the baby had cried for the best part of four hours, Gemma and Derek were diving again and I was trapped on a boat with pirates scowling at me and then Dylan needed a wee!
The 'toilet' was seven feet down the impossibly pitching thin metal-runged vertical ladder! There was no way that I could have even stood up to make the journey on my own, let alone whilst holding a baby and a four year old but somehow and heroically I managed it with the crew staring at us without offering any help as they leaned against the rails smoking and obviously full of contempt for the rich foreigners who they were fleecing appallingly!
I didn't want to spoil Gemma's enjoyment when she came back onboard and pretended that everything had been fine, saying how sad it was that we had to head back to port and telling her that I intended defying medical advice by taking a scuba course when I got home!
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| DYLAN! ANY IDEA WHAT I SHOULD DO? YOUR MUM'S STILL DIVING AND DANIEL'S STARVING! I KNOW ! DANIEL! CHEW ON THIS ! |
I reluctantly let Joan and Amy go on the next trip which was apparently even worse than mine!
And whilst they were all away Dylan and I had a day to ourselves and as it was literally too hot to walk bare-footed we spent most of it in our room watching Egyptian cartoons and popping out for a glorious MacDonald's cheeseburger and chips and jumping in the unheated pool where the only other bathers were two young Russian Mafia Molls wearing virtually nothing, which Gentlemen is actually much better than women wearing absolutely nothing in my experience!
Ahem!
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