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| SCORPION FISH - Photo Credit: MANSOUR FAIRAQ |
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Since I wrote about
my snorkeling adventure out on the Red Sea last month, I have since been out snorkeling two more times.
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| EXPLORING THE RED SEA - Photo Credit: TRINA EPSOM |
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A couple of weeks ago before sunrise my husband and I went out on a boat with our niece’s husband Mohammed and his brother Sultan, so I consider them family, even though in this culture, we are not. The first two spots that we anchored at were fishing spots. We all tried our luck but the fish just didn’t seem to be biting that day.
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| AMAZING COLORS OF THE RED SEA - Photo Credit: TRINA EPSOM |
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The third place we went to was a coral reef where I could go snorkeling. The reef was absolutely enormous. While Adnan stayed on the boat hoping to catch some fish, I went into the nice cool turquoise waters to snorkel with Mohammed and Sultan.
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| CORAL and CLOWNFISH - Photo Credit: TRINA EPSOM |
I watched in amazement through my goggles as Sultan swam several meters down to the sea floor and brought up a gigantic sea turtle, just like Crush in Finding Nemo! It was so cool to see him rising to the surface, almost as if in a dance with this splendid creature. Adnan helped him get the sea turtle on to the boat, and then we continued snorkeling. After a while the waves started getting really strong, so I told the guys that I was going to back to the boat, but they still wanted to keep on exploring the sea.
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| CLOWNFISH SCHOOL IS IN SESSION - Photo Credit: TRINA EPSOM |
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The shell of the sea turtle had to be about 3 feet long by about 2.5 feet wide. Adnan had set up some big coolers around him to contain him on the boat. I watched the turtle in wonder for a while as Adnan continued in his vain attempt to catch some fish. When I asked what we were going to do with the turtle, Adnan told me that he thought the guys might be planning to kill it for its meat. I was devastated upon hearing this and set about trying to talk Adnan into letting him go.
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| GIANT SEA TURTLE - Photo Credit: SUSIE OF ARABIA |
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Almost two hours had passed and Adnan and I were becoming concerned because we could not see the two brothers snorkeling in the sea. We didn’t have binoculars with us and there was no apparent response at all when we honked the horn of the boat several times. Adnan still hadn’t caught any fish, and I was feeling rather anxious about the possible fate of the huge sea turtle we had board with us. At last Adnan lifted the gentle giant up and tossed him back into the sea. No more than five minutes later, we finally caught a glimpse of the two snorkelers. They had gone around the entire massive reef!
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| RED SEA SPOTTED STINGRAY - Photo Credit: MANSOUR FAIRAQ |
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Feeling much more at ease now that we knew the brothers were all right, Adnan dropped his line back into the sea and within seconds pulled up a nice plump more-than-a-foot-long fish - his first catch of the day! We were astonished when he caught another identical fish as soon as he put his line back into the sea again. All I could say to Adnan was “Good Karma!” The guys were fine when they learned that the turtle was safely back in his watery home, and I got to drive the boat most of the way back to our starting point, which is rather ironic since as a woman I’m not allowed to drive a car here in Saudi Arabia…
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| CLAM CLOSE-UP - Photo Credit: TRINA EPSOM | |
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Most of the photos in this post were taken on the third snorkeling trip I went on a week ago. They were taken by two scuba divers in the group – and seeing their beautiful photos has really got me thinking about taking scuba lessons ... hmmmm.
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| TONS OF FISH! Photo Credit: TRINA EPSOM |
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Click on any photo in this post for an enlarged view.
Wonderful adventures you've had on and in the sea! The sea creatures are so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHi Dina! Great to hear from you. I'm amazed that I've had three opportunities in the past month or so to go snorkeling - and that I've been able to go! I really love it.
ReplyDeleteThe images speak clearly of these wonders of the sea. How wonderful that you've snorkeled three times. I say, go for the scuba. And how is it you can drive a boat but not a car and be accompanied by three men? More please, for you and me.
ReplyDeleteHi Gaelyn - I don't think they issue boating licenses here, and I bet not much thought has been given to females driving boats either. I would bet that if all of a sudden women here began driving boats in droves, action would be taken against it.
DeleteSince my husband was with me, there is no problem with us being in the company of others. The problems would arise if my hubby were not with me and I was alone with another man. This gets confusing though because women here in KSA are forced to take taxis or use drivers which puts them in the position of technically being alone with an unrelated man in a car. It's hard to explain and even harder to understand... and I certainly don't understand myself.
I once saw a huge sea turtle riding the waves in the corniche during one of the rare windy gray days of November. They're majestic!
ReplyDeleteHi Sand & Smoke - I had never before seen a sea turtle in nature like that. It was incredible watching underwater when he brought the turtle up from the bottom of the sea floor. I'll never forget it.
DeleteHi Susie,
ReplyDeleteI have a question. What do you wear when you go snorkeling? :-) I think I'd like to give it a try too; I love the water!
Thank you much!
Hi L K - I have been wearing a long sleeved white t-shirt and long white stretchy stirrup pants. I also have on my bathing suit underneath which has a skirt that partially shows as it hangs down longer than the t-shirt. It's actually quite comfortable, keeps me from getting sunburned, and I don't have to deal with loose fabric like on an abaya. I do not cover my hair when I'm snorkeling either.
DeleteHi Susie,
ReplyDeleteQuick question, what do you wear when you go snorkeling? I think I'd like to give it a try; I love the water!
Thanks
Thank goodness you saved the turtle! I have met a few people from Germany and Italy who have been fortunate enough to snorkle off Jeddah and Port Sudan and who say it is unbelievably beautiful! Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteIncredibly beautiful shots! And so glad the turtle lived to see another day.
ReplyDeleteGood morning how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because trough them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately it’s impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Saudi Arabia? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Saudi Arabia in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Avenida Juan de la Cierva, 44
28902 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez
Dear Susie, hope you are doi g great. I rally admire and like your posts on your blog and Facebook page. It's like getting to know some other persons who are trying to feel home on a foreign land. It's life.
ReplyDeleteI really need your help, I need to see a gynaecologist. It's my second pregnancy after many early mis carriages, I was seeing the dr. Sajira but she is on vocations and I don't know any other good doctor. I'm in faisliya just behind erfan and bagedo but I don't know which is a good doctor their, I need not only good ob-gyn but also symptahtic one who can give personal attention and care because of my case.
Thank you,
Gorgeous photos, scuba diving there must be amazing!
ReplyDeletenice shots. you are doing well
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteWe are very happy you are enjoying some scuba diving and snorkelling in Saudi! It really is the most amazing place to do so! We even wrote an article about it, tell us what you think!
Fadi
http://www.thesignaturehotels.com/en/scuba-diving-in-jeddah
Hi Fadi - Thanks for your comment. It's a lovely article - thank you for the link.
ReplyDelete