Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
New Inventory
Summer is just around the corner, and by some strange, serendipitous coincidence, a shipment of trendy new inventory got dropped off on our rooftop by mistake recently. Of course there was no return address, so the only option was to keep it. FYI, seems black is going to be the new tabby this season....
NB: These are two different siblings - brother on the left, sister on the right.
On this Day: The ocean's always bluer
Dahab and its cats and its windswept Red Sea coast and its lack of humidity are great and all. But it's still hard to see this photo and not kind of wish you were there instead....
Originally posted on 25 May 2023:
Just a bit ago on the phone a good friend sarcastically teased that this page hasn't been posting enough photos of the view from the veranda of our $12 a night beachfront chalet.
To which we say: Sarcasm? Never heard of it! Also, it's only $11.89 a night at current exchange rates....
Egyptian Guard Kitten®
Never* worry about the safety of your family or home again with the new and improved Egyptian Guard Kitten®!
*Only effective against much smaller kittens
After a late afternoon swim
This photo was actually taken at the very beginning of March, and unbeknownst at the time that guy chilling in the shadows on the bottom left turned out to be the father of these tabby kittens. Haven't seen much of him since they were born though. Typical....
Catman
When the cats very belatedly discover the ladder leading up to the roof's roof, but it's just in time to check out the full moon....
On this Day: Glowing Blue Dot Memories
Ah, glowing blue dot. The places we've been together!
Originally posted on 26 May 2022:
Regardless of what this incredibly dodgy, bizarre tri-border town actually looks like on the ground - or how nonexistent its internet is (as evidenced by the "4.5G" download speed of 1.1KB/s at the top there) - just seeing that glowing blue dot and knowing that you’re literally in the middle of nowhere, aimlessly ambling about, eating really good food, discussing the upcoming elections with more than a few animated* locals, drinking too much cerveza and generally soaking up the atmosphere in a truly forgotten little corner of the world is enough to make even most curmudgeonly of curmudgeons perfectly content.....
*We’ll never forget the gloriously inebriated shirtless chap who singlehandedly held up a kilometre-long procession of cars, trucks, tuk tuks and motos supporting the (shitty, rightwing) establishment candidate for a solid 20mins, and then answered in response to our inquiry about whether he supported the leftwing opposition candidate with a very fervent “No Nada!!” whilst wearing a bracelet and having a sticker on his bag for the leftist opposition candidate - what a fucking legend.....
Homage to Al
This shot is from a cafe/restaurant on the main waterfront promenade, that's being completely rebuilt from scratch and is now just an empty lot. No idea what the plans are, but hope they keep this Al Pacino wall as an homage to its previous incarnation.
On this Day: No internet, no problem
By popular demand, here's another beach shot from this day last year. And the internet was fine in Dahab today, so guess the curse is broken....
Originally posted on 27 May 2023:
Places you don't mind being when the internet and mobile network go completely offline for almost 24hrs: #1 - Here [ie Tioman Island, Malaysia]
To be honest, it was a bit disappointing to wake up this morning and see the signal had returned....
NB: Coincidentally, the same thing happened last year when we were in the middle of the Colombian Amazon, so might as well keep our schedule clear for 27-28 May 2024....
Travelling with Kids
Fun little family day trip yesterday! Although the kids weren't too excited. And that was before they knew where we were going (the vet) and why we were going there (to make the ghost of Bob Barker happy), so you can imagine the long faces on the way back home....
‘Anthropology’ by the Beach Boys
When you cook chicken liver for cats at 10pm while listening to an entire Beach Boys greatest hits album, only to wake up with the Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson duet ‘Say Say Say’ stuck in your head for hours, despite not actually knowing a single lyric aside from the titular word. The human brain is a mystery!
NB: Map courtesy of Terrible Maps
Smells of low tide
Tide was so low last night, it looked like you could just about walk to Saudi Arabia - especially if you were smoking what people on this particular beach tend to smoke around this particular time....
Next Generation
The new generation of flip flop surfers here on the rooftop seems to have noticeably more attitude than the previous one....
Baby Bat Cat
Training still very much a work in progress....
On This Day: Invisible Man
Great book. Highly recommended, especially if you're American.....
Originally Posted on 1 June 2020:
“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass.
When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me.”
― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Weekend vibes
This photo was actually taken on a Wednesday, in mid-February.
Gold Coast
Trash-strewn beaches are objectively bad, yet irony is one of God's true gifts to the universe. Thus you can see the philosophical dilemma that arose upon coming across this discarded pack of Gold Coast on the beach this morning.
Making new friends.... (Part II)
Here's Part I if you missed it. Same two kittens, taken exactly three weeks earlier:
Swiss Knives
When the guy who runs the home goods shop convinces you to buy the much sturdier, much more expensive* knife that was made in Switzerland, but upon more thorough investigation back at home you realise there may have been some miscommunication.
*The Chinese knife made in China was £85, whereas this Swiss knife made in China was £220, which might seem expensive, until it's clarified that those are Egyptian pounds, and the equivalent of $1.70 and $4.40. But still.
Knock, knock
That look on your face when your crazy aunt comes to visit and you're the only one home, but she invites herself in for 'just a second' anyway....
NB: Found out a few days after posting this, that the calico (ie Stripe aka Gremlin Cat) in the background is literally the crazy aunt, as her and the mom of the kitten (ie Mr Wing) are sisters from different litters. Small village.
On This Day: 100th Country
Celebrating country #100 in style. Miss you Tabatinga!
Originally posted on 5 June 2022:
This is the very first photo we took in Brasil, our 100th country. And we know what you’re thinking, but no, it wasn’t staged at all. While it obviously looks like a classic Nat Geo cover shot, created by a whole team of folks cordoning off the street and redirecting light with those big silver umbrella things, the truth is it just caught our eye as we were aimless strolling along the main street in Tabatinga. But we can’t imagine a more perfect (totally random) image to capt…
Darwish fishmarket / أسماك درويش
From the façade of a popular local fish restaurant here. Always nice to see hand-painted murals like this rather than some giant plastic sign with stock photos.
Also happened to walk by early one morning when the artist was painting it, and saw the care he was taking with some of those circles around the eye. Quality work.
Life is like a swing?
Never forget: Life is like a swing!
What does that mean exactly? No idea. But you will get vastly different answers to the question 'how is life like a swing?' depending on your preferred search engine (see comments).
Chunk*
It's really a shame you can't pet this guy through your screens. Softest cat fur ever. Like a chinchilla or something. Guess that's one of the benefits of nursing till you're the equivalent of a teenager (and counting).
Langosh and More
Despite the name, this place doesn't appear to have either langosh* or more, mainly on account of no longer being in business.
But it still sits proudly on the main street through town, as a testament to Dahab's multicultural, cosmopolitan vibes. Or something....
*Hungarian deep-fried bread, that traditionally comes lathered in sour cream and cheese.
Penultimate Sunrise
Penultimate sunrise over the Red Sea in Dahab this morning. Because if you've ever got the chance to use the word 'penultimate' you've got to take it....
Kitten Prison
When you try to play God / Mother Nature (and help control the local animal population) as a good deed just before finally leaving Dahab, but real God / Mother Nature has other ideas, and instead you've got to stay an extra week to run a pop up kitten prison. What a burden - albeit an adorable burden if there ever was one....