With 17 other alumni of the YES programme, I attended a special course on water and sustainability in the Sinai desert for 10 days. It was an incredible experience in one of the most beautiful settings in the world. Lots of learning, new friendships and unforgettable memories.
Children chasing after us on the back of old bakkies (pickups) as we left the tar roads behind and took a bumpy long ride into the desert to the Al Karm eco-lodge that would be our home for the next week or so.
Simone (Brazil), Sevda (Turkey) & Christina (Switzerland) on the back of the bumpy bakkie.
Kiztito & Violet outside one of the huts at Al Karm.
First day, and presenting on water issues in South Africa.
Our beautiful outdoor classroom. No electricity and very little water, couldnt have been better though!
Dr Helmut Jung, an inspirational professor from Austria.
Chris & Timo.
Violet & our resident creative inspiration, Klaus.
Harum, Chris & Timo.
Sharing stories by campfire.
Titia, Harum & Simone.
Outside our huts, with the sunset painting the mountains of the Sinai pink behind me.
Michelle & Chris.
Incredible night time shots taken by Hani, our resident photographer.
First light in the early morning.
The Al Karm ecolodge in the valley below. A place of absolute serenity.
Small stone hut in the side of the mountain that the nomadic bedouin still use for rests during their passages.
We visited a local village (6 or so houses) to learn about the simple but effective water treatments they were using to remove flouride from the water that had been effecting the health of the community.
Dr Amr who runs an NGO promoting water treatment as part of a community health programme.
A small desert flower that can bring on hallucinations for days.
The Sheikh of the local bedouin tribe who was also our host at the eco-lodge - a source of much wisdom and kindness.
Sevda and Jauna on the camels.
Classtime
Sarah & her friend!
We trekked through the desert to the monastery of St Katherines. A spectacular five hour hike through mountains and small villages!
Rodrigo and his camel.
Christina & I.
The local school.
The monastery of St Katherines.
The burning bush of the Bible, apparently.
Ereeny, Sarah, Michelle & I outside the monastery.
We visited a great local project in which the women are sustainably harvesting indigenous plants for medicinal purposes and creating a line of craft products from traditional designs. The project is creating employment whilst protecting the indigenous vegetation from overharvesting.
One of the project groups worked with the local kids for a day to put on a play about water issues in their community. They asked for 10 children, and all 43 from the village (and beyond) arrived.
Sarah with the girls.
Palm trees.
Team Africa: our project team that will be working on installing rain water harvesting tanks for schools in Kenya. Myself, Sevda, Violet & Kizito.
Leaving Al Karm to head to the Red Sea.
Hugo!
We finished up our course at the Basata (simplicity) Eco Lodge on the Red Sea in the Southern Sinai. With reed huts on the beach, overlooking the tranquil red sea with Saudi Arabia and Jordan across the bay, one couldnt have asked for a more beautiful ending to an unforgettable trip.
The main lounge area of the eco-lodge abounded with large pillows, playful kittens and restful souls.
April outside our beach hut!
Juana, Sarah, Simone & Ereeny.
Aziz, Timo & Hugo. The coral reefs straight off the shore were some of the best snorkelling I have ever experienced!
A quick stop on the way back to Cairo to take in one of the many picturesque bays along the Red Sea coast.
