Hurghada- a beach interlude

Last updated on February 16, 2022

Egypt is located in two continents, Africa and Asia. It borders Libya to the west, the Gaza Strip to the northeast, Israel to the east and Sudan to the south. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile River, and the Red Sea. It is the largest, most densely populated country among the Arab countries with over 100 million people. 90% of the country is Sunni Muslim and 10% Coptic Christians. Almost all of Egypt’s Muslims are Sunni with only a small number of Shia. The total area of the country covers approximately one million square kilometres which makes it the 31st largest country in the world and 48% larger than Texas. However, only 7.7 per cent of Egypt’s area is inhabited. The rest is desert. Almost everyone lives in the green sections of the map below.

The Nile River is the longest river is the world. It flows south to north and covers almost 1,000 miles in Egypt. Without the topographic channel that permits the Nile to flow across the Sahara, Egypt would be entirely desert. The Nile Valley and Delta is the most extensive oasis on earth. The Nile has two major tributaries – the White Nile, which begins at Lake Victoria in Uganda, and the Blue Nile which begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. The two rivers meet at the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.  Egyptian civilization has depended on the river and its annual flooding since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan dam and nearly all of the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt are found along river banks.

The Aswan High Dam is the world’s largest embankment dam and was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt between 1960 and 1970. It was done to better control river flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity. Before the dam was built the annual flooding of the Nile during late summer passed unimpeded down the valley. These floods brought natural nutrients and minerals that annually enriched the fertile soil along its floodplain and delta making the Nile valley ideal for farming since ancient times. However, this natural flooding varied, high-water years could destroy the whole crop, while low-water years could create widespread drought and consequently famine. Both of these events occurred periodically. With the greatly increased reservoir storage provided by the High Aswan Dam, the floods could be controlled and the water could be stored for later release over multiple years. This both protects and supports Egyptian farmland and its economically important cotton crop.

Hurghada is a city on the west coast of Egypt on the Red Sea and one of the Egypt’s main tourist centers. It’s major industry is foreign and domestic tourism, owing to its landscape, year-round hot and dry climate and long beaches. Its waters are clear and calm for most of the year and have become popular for water-sports, particularly scuba diving and snorkelling. Daytime temperatures are around 30 °C (86 °F) most of the year, and during July and August temperatures can reach over 40 °C (104 °F).

It took about four hours to get to Hurghada. Once we left Luxor and headed northeast away from the Nile, the landscape became what you would expect…sand, sand everywhere and not a drop to drink. The guide told us that sometimes you will spot a camel, but not much is out there. There were some smaller rocky mountains as we neared Hurghada.

About two hours into our trip we stopped at a tourist rest stop for a bathroom break, an overpriced coffee, and to stretch our legs. Trey is annoyed by the vendors trying to sell you things. They are very persistent. To avoid additional contact, he led the kids across the road to play with a trip of goats. The goats were not interested in their love and in a pack crossed a busy road in front of an 18-wheeler to get away from the Katzenbach kids! Fortunately, everyone survived.

Two more hours later, we arrived at The Oberoi Beach Resort which is stunning! We were welcomed by Four Season style service and staff. A cold hibiscus juice and a few Egyptian cookies were popular with the kids. We had a tour of the main building and pool area and were driven by golf cart to our adjoining beach front suites. The beach is beautiful, but not a big swimming beach like in Hawaii. There is a thriving reef in the shallows just off the shore and big snorkling/diving opportunities if the wind dies down.

We had a big late lunch by the pool including grilled catch of the day with grilled vegetables, a beef schwarma sandwich and margarita pizza. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the heated pool, swimming laps and playing a pool-modified Roblox game called “Mad City” where the policemen, criminals, villains, and heroes interact using what seems like random tools of the trade. Trey added in a new weapon, the toxic falafel, for a bit of local flair.

The hotel has a number of free events for guests including yoga, wine tasting (did you know Egypt has a wine region in the north by Alexandria? Egypt just started exporting wine very recently so maybe it will show up in PA sometime soon.), a cooking demonstration and Arabic lessons. Trey and I went to the wine tasting and were planning to banish the kids to the library to watch a movie so we could relax. Our lovely host offered them a cheese plate and mocktails which they gladly accepted. They knocked back the first one and said “yes, please” to another. Griffin spent the next 24 hours imitating the waiter with his interpretation of the accent, “Would you like some mooooor?” with an extended hand and a slight bow. We cracked up every time. The kids eventually went up to watch Wreck it Ralph and got movie popcorn to snack on while we chatted with a nice couple from Wales who have been here 6 times before! The walk back to our rooms was beautiful with everything lit up. The turn down service created a crocodile and other animals in towels much to the kid’s delight.

For the first time, when I got up I found Marin and Sy doing their writing work on their own with zero prompting. So exciting! We had a lovely breakfast in the main courtyard and signed up for tennis. A nice man on a golf cart picked us up and took us to the tennis courts where there were 5 water bottles, rackets and balls waiting for us. The courts here are hard packed red sand. We were wondering how a ball bounces on sand and it does, but not as much as we are used to. We all played for about an hour and a half. The man that picked us up ended up being the tennis pro. Unprompted, he gave Marin, Laura and Trey a free short lesson while the boys played water bottle flip in the shade. We went back to the pool after tennis where the kids enjoyed a few pizzas for a late lunch.

Marin and I went to a cooking demonstration by the Indian chef here. Sy joined to watch, having realized we got to EAT the food at the end. He informed Griffin and Trey who joined for the eating part. The chef made a fish curry and cumin potatoes. The ingredient list was impressive with a ton of spices. He was very friendly and gave us the recipes and the hotel chef’s email in case we get home and have any questions about making it. Everyone ate and enjoyed it. The best part of this was that Marin ate the whole thing and asked for seconds! I think seeing how it is made makes food more accessible. Note: sign them all up for ethnic cooking classes. 🙂

We wandered down to the dock via a rock path and saw impressive purple coral in very clear water. The wind is a little strong and the waves a bit too wavey for easy snorkeling so we continued down the beach to play on a hammock and watch the sun fade.

The next morning we went horse back riding on the beach which was fun. I have not been on a horse in 25 years so it was a familiar, but strange feeling. Sy and Griffin have always turned down pony rides so I was pleased that they both got on and rode. Sy even wanted to trot. We rode through the shallow water and down the beach for about an hour. Marin seemed to recall her early lessons (age 5) and looked comfortable on her horse. I had to rely on some long ago learned equine skills to keep my horse from laying down in the water. It was a dicey few seconds of pawing and trying to lay down.

The boys had haircuts at the hotel salon. I was wondering how we would make it to June without cutting their hair so I was excited to see a salon when we arrived here.

I continued my self- serving, “massage per country” policy and got a Balinese-style one that afternoon. Some hot water poured over your feet at the start and a bit more stretching seems to be the difference.

We are off to Cairo tomorrow for one more day of exploring. It has been a lovely interlude here at a peaceful place on the beach with no commitments. The other nice thing is the hotel has a policy of not tipping anyone until the end. You give a lump sum to the front desk if you were happy with the service and they divey it up among all the staff including the employees that are not client facing. This has been very refreshing! No need to carry money or wonder if you are giving the right amount. If you are in the area, we highly recommend a vacation here! Very beautiful and relaxing and not crowded!