We have expanded our safari tour destinations in Egypt! If you have already been to Hurghada, Safaga, the Deep South, the Brother Islands, Daedalus, Rocky and Zabargad, then it is time to discover our new routes this year! We offer three completely new itineraries!

Our new itineraries

THE TIRAN ISLANDS

One of the most popular North tours originating from Sharm el Sheikh is the one to the Tiran Islands.

We are widening our safari destination offers in 2010, one of which is an expanded North safari originating from Hurghada. In our new itinerary the boat does not turn back at Ras Mohammed but continues towards the Tiran.

The coral reefs we visit from South to North are: Gordon, Thomas, Woodhouse and Jackson. The reefs got their names from 19th century British map-makers who were the first to make maps of this area.

The Tiran Islands which hide a virtual coral reef forrest on the sea bottom, lie at the entrance of the Akaba Bay and almost block the way to the Red Sea. There are only two narrow strips allowing entry through: the Enterprise on the West and the Grafton on the East, where the depths are at 360m, quite shallow compared to the depths of 1,800m to the North and South from here.

This creates currents rich in nutrients, providing an excellent habitat for fish and large whale species.

We recommend the Tiran Islands especially to advanced divers.

ELBA AND ABU FENDERA

Divers visit these reefs for two reasons: either they go through here when sailing from Egypt to Sudan or they come here to find a place where there are no other boats or hoards of other divers.

Abu Fendera is one place like that as is Elba Reef. From all the Egyptian liveaboards, only one or two sail this far South when an adventurous group books a week on them.

Abu Fendera lies South of St Johns and the Elba Reef can be found on the Egyptian and Sudanese border with a good plateau on its North and South side as well.

On the South plateau lies the large wreck of “SS Isola di Levanzo” that sank in the early 1900s. She is a rarely visited beautiful wreck which is surrounded by scattered sherry bottles all over the sea bottom. A few interesting facts about the wreck:

The “SS Isola di Levanzo” was built in 1901, weighed 3,713 tons with a length of 339.6 feet and a breadth of 46.3 feet. She was a single-flueted and double-masted vessel with a maximum speed of 11 knots and was able to accommodate up to 900 passengers.

She was built by the Orlando Brothers in Leghorn (Livorno) and she was launched in 1901 as the latest vessel of the Southern Marine Transport Association.

The boat laiden with salt and other cargo ran aground on the Elba Reef in the Red Sea on March 14, 1923 on the way from Genova to Durban. On March 28 during a salvage operation the towing rope snapped, the boat drifted onto the rocks and sank.

And finally, do not miss snorkelling in the Elba Reef lagoon.

These two destinations (Abu Fendera and Elba) can be reached by only high-speed vessels since several close to 10-hour-long night sailings dot the week-long itinerary to make sure the divers can start their next dive early in the morning at a far dive site. (The distances are: Hamata-St Johns, St Johns-Elba, Elba-Abu Fendera.)  And for these distances are just perfect the two robust steel vessels: Cassiopeia 5* and Andromeda 5*.

After a long safari season, Cassiopeia arrived in the dry dock at the beginning of December, and into experienced and professional hands to make the entire boat more beautiful as before. You may read about the dock work in our previous article. We are happy to announce that she is back in Hurghada now with all her new permits.

The entire boat has been re-painted and all the necessary maintenance work has been completed. Andromeda has received her own underwater stabiliser wings just like Cassiopeia’s. The interior walls have been covered with new velour finishings and the windows have received new curtains on the main deck and on the lower deck in the cabins.

All damaged wood planks have been replaced, the teak floors have been sanded and the bottom of the boat has received a new coat of algae-repellant finish.

During this time, Andromeda has received her permit to sail to Sudan and she is set to leave for the South in the beginning of February to start her 5-month long work there.

Our bodies are constantly exposed to damaging effects but the safety mechanisms of our immune system prevent the development of diseases. The weakening of our defense system or if exposed to especially serious harming effects can lead to the formation of diseases, in our case, to the infection of the hearing canal.

The harmful effects damaging the hearing canal can be divided into two groups: every-day effects and diving-related effects.

Besides the harmful effects at our own hands from the every-day cleaning of the ear, the hearing canal is further sensitive to drafts as well as to soaps, shampoos and shower gels which can significantly change the PH-levels of the skin or cause allergic reactions.

On a diving safari divers can dive up to four times one day and adding to this some snorkelling and fooling around in the water, divers can easily spend up to 6-7 hours a day in water. In addition, the sea water can collect in the shaped curve, increasing the time water stays in the ear. This much time spent with water in the ears is not preferable. Just think about sitting in the bath tub for a long time when our hands wrinkle like a prune.

Plus the sea water is not sterile. The organic materials in it provide sufficient breeding ground for bacteria which can more easily enter the skin of the hearing canal soaked in water, causing infections.

The first symptom of infection in the hearing canal is the ear ache. As the process continues, the skin of the hearing canal swells, narrowing or often completely closing the canal. From the narrowed canal there is often a discharge caused by the infection.

When the ear aches and the diagnosis is probable infection in the hearing canal, we can do the following: If on a diving safari, leave out at least one day of diving, try to gently rinse out the canal with fresh water and use anti-inflammatory ear drops 3 times a day. Once on land, consult a physician who will carefully clean out the hearing canal, prescribe ear drops or if the canal is too narrow, place an antibitoic strip into the canal.

To sum up, we can do the following to avoid all these inconveniences and to prevent infection in the hearing canal:

- Keep the hands away from the ears. Do not use cleaning sticks, hair pinsor any other objects to clean them.

- Have your ears checked by a doctor 2 weeks before a diving trip.

- Use PH-neutral or hypoallergenic hygiene products.

- Protect the ears even from the wind.

- After a day of diving, always rinse the ears with fresh water and letthe water leave the ear completely.

Dr. Gabor Kiefer PhD.
University Assistant Professor
SOTE, Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic
Tel: +36 20 947 0701

The Hearing Canal

Every diver’s nightmare is the less or more painful ear ache starting on the second or third day of the safari which could also last for the whole week. There are many reasons for these ear aches but most common is the inflammation of the hearing canal. The hearing canal lies between the outer ear and the ear drums. Its function is to get the sound waves to the ear drums and in part, the protection of the ear drums. In an adult ear, the surface of this “S”-shaped organ is covered with a fine layer of skin.

This skin layer contains the suet glands that produce a special substance,the ear wax (cerumen in Latin). In normal cases, the ear wax thinly coats the skin of the hearing canal, acting as an anti-bacterial agent and protecting it from infections. Like with most good things, there may be a couple of problems with ear wax: not enough or too much.

If there is not enough, the hearing canal is dry, itchy and can easily crack, leaving room for the bacteria to reach the deeper layers of the skin. If there is too much, it can accumulate and cause a plug, partially or completely closing the hearing canal which may cause annoying decreased hearing.

From all these we can quickly conclude that the use of Q-tips (earcleaning sticks), preferred by most people, can be the source of many problems, so they should be used only to gently help out the ear wax that is already on the edge of the ear canal. If we use them deeper in the ear and we regularly clean out the ear wax, we cause the ear canal to dry out and the skin to break. And if there is too much ear wax, we cannot clean it all out and we simply gather it into a plug somewhere near the ear drums.

So, it is best to leave the hearing canal alone and have it cleaned by a doctor one or two weeks before the diving trip. The doctor will either use a syringe filled with lukewarm water to rinse out the hearing canal or use a gentle suction device to remove it. Of course, this will not guarantee 100% that after this procedure there is not going to be any ear infection but the chances of it happening are decreased.

Now let us see what can actually cause an infection in the hearing canal…

To be continued…

Dr. Gabor Kiefer PhD.
University Assistant Professor
SOTE, Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic
Tel: +36 20 947 0701

Would you like to jazz up your office or your home?

Would you like to surprise someone for their birthday or just because you have been thinking of them?

Would you like to look at beautiful underwater pictures all year round even if you cannot be there?

Download now the New Year’s present of Red Sea Boats, a free printable 2010 calendar with the most beautiful photos of Daniel Selmeczi.

Click on the image on the right and our calendar can be yours, all you need is a printer.

The Cassiopeiasafari Team

Suddenly feeling the urge to get away from it all? We offer a collection of unbeatable, last-minute special offers to Sudan.

Get away to Sudan for some winter sun and some of the best scuba diving to be found in the World.

The brand new luxurious M/Y Andromeda Liveaboard is offering the following spectacular last minutes offer for the following cruise dates.

Some places are still available on an incredibly – priced, low season scuba diving safari.

Last Minute Deals BOOK NOW & SAVE!!!

27 February until 06 March 2010 on board Andromeda, North trip, last spaces !!!

13 March until 20 March 2010 on board Andromeda, North trip, last spaces !!!

20 March until 27 March 2010 on board Andromeda, North trip, last spaces !!!

Don’t delay, this offer sell out fast!

For more details contact volgyesi.livia@cassiopeiasafari.com

In our new series of articles Dr. Gabor Kiefer, an ear, nose and throat specialist answers your questions that come up most frequently during diving, on holidays and diving tours. If you have any questions regarding the topics or other issues, feel free to comment.

Our childhood experiences often influence our adult goals and aspirations. I was around 10 years old when captain Cousteau series started to run on TV. I decided then that I was also going to be a diver. But the little boys love of wanting to dive remained only a platonic desire for a long time and nearly 20 years had to pass before the childhood dream could become a reality.

Since then, during the following 10 years or so, I have had the chance to live through wonderful experiences and exciting adventures on numerous diving trips and safaris.

My professional work gradually included diving and more and more divers began contacting me and entrusting me with their various ear, nose and throat problems or asked me for their fit for diving tests.

In my series of articles I would like to share with you my experiences as a diver and as a doctor to make sure that your diving tours and travels are the least disturbed by ear, nose and throat problems.

Dr. Gabor Kiefer PhD.
University Assistant Professor
SOTE, Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic
Tel: +36 20 947 0701

To be continued!

This week the Marine Academy in Alexandria, Egypt started to issue the ID cards that have become manditory for every captain sailing in the Egyptian Red Sea. We have also paid the fee for the cards for our captains and when we received them, we got the surprise! On the back side of the cards the picture of Cassiopeia can be seen, even with the name of the boat visible. We do not know whose decision it was to have our boat selected to be on these cards but we hope others will also like it as much as we do!

In any event, we are very proud that our boat represents all the vessels in the Egyptian Red Sea on the captain ID cards!

We wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

alias: Scheduled dry dock for Cassiopeia II

For unknown reasons, in the noon hours last Sunday, the Diving City safari boat caught fire in the Safaga dock and two hours later, was completely destroyed. The boat was right behind Cassiopeia, awaiting works to be done on her. The sometimes strong winds from the North-Northwest managed to blow some of the flames onto Cassiopeia as well, burning off the paint in some areas of the boat.

The fact that Cassiopeia did not suffer any more serious damage can be attributed to the twenty people who were working together to save the boat by emptying all the fire extinguishers and by using an old hose to pump some water that was found nearby onto the fire. Cassiopeia did not have any water onboard as it all had to be drained the day before when she was being lifted out of the water and she fell back due to being too heavy for the operation. It was very close that Cassiopeia could have also been eaten up by the fire.

Following the Sunday scare, the renovation continued on Monday. The new steel sheet were installed along with the stabiliser wings onto the bottom of the hull and all the paint was sanded off to prepare for the new coat of paint. On the main deck the walls of the diningroom are bare, waiting to receive the new covering.

To be continued…