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february 2004
Trip story of the last Sudan dive trip

IA bad start!
We organised our trip again with the Don Questo, since we had wonderful experience with this boat in Sudan before! We chartered the whole vessel and Lorenzo Oorso - captain of the Don Questo - organized a trip schedule to accommodate our wishes. Four dives a day were no problem, which is unusual by Sudanese standards.

A divers night mare
But before the diving started a nightmare became true for a part of the group. Eight divers left on friday and the oher par of the group (6) left on saturday in the early morning to catch the flight leaving from Cairo to Port Sudan (once a week at saturday evening). Due to heavy snow in Milaan the airplane from Amsterdam left with 4 hours delay on saturday. So six divers arrived late in Milan. But arriving in Milaan all flights were cancelled due to heavy snow!!!!!

So there was no chance at all to catch the connecting flight for Cairo. This meant this part of the group didn't reach Sudan at all and went home disappointed and very sad! There will be no refunds by Al Italia.................

The other 8 divers arrived safely in Port Sudan and went diving after the message came to them that the other part of the group won't reach Sudan.

The way was short. Roaring zodiacs brought us quickly to the southernmost tip of one of the best divesites in the world, just in the time when the sun was starting to vanish in the Red Sea.
Diving in twilight has always its own charme, everywhere of course, but especially in the Red Sea and definetely at the legendary Sha'ab Rumi south point. Woody Allen once mentioned that nature is nothing but a big restaurant - and this place was just about to open up for dinner. We were members of the underwater Guide Michelin.
We arrived at the southern point, where only few gentle waves were rocking our two zodiacs, some 20 meters above a paradise of underwaterlife. The sun was sending their last rays, the whole site was filled with dimmed red light. What a graceful time and location.
Josef slowed down the engine, we prepared ourselves and Captain Lorenzo counted down on three, two, one.
Everything was grey, like in the wonderful first scenes of Besson´s 'The Big Blue', a very precise, very contrasting scenery of simple beauty, including the corals, the fish, the coral pillars and the passing grey reef sharks that were still very calm and reluctant, supposingly knowing the rules. Cause the restaurant was not open yet. But do the tigersharks, that must be somewhere down there in the abyss, know the rules as well? Hopefully. It was the silence before the storm - an annoying phrase, but it fit like never before.
Some yellowtailed baracudas were swimming around us. A huge moray had just left its crevice. A group of jacks was gaining speed, while anthias were looking for shelter. A parrotfish started to create his selfmade pyjama. When a big grey one appeared the anthias were left alone because then the jacks were gone. The waiters were receiving many orders, while more and more gourmets crowded the tablecorals.

Suddenly, right there along the eastern wall between the main reef and the first big coral pillar, a hammerhead shark appeared. Quite some meters away, but its characteristic moves and the dark belly left no doubt, even watched from the side. We had several brief encounters with individuals this week and mostly along this part of the wall, unusually close to the main reef. Maybe always the same shark?
Lorenzo showed up signing us to follow him. The whole group went around the corner, where a fish soup was cooked. Hundreds of sardines, jacks, doctorfish and other species were flirring around, hunted by baracudas and grey sharks that were diving into those groups of prey like falcons.
The schools were trying to get away, but not every single one succeeded. What about dessert?
A great dive came to its end. When we were hanging along the main reef, fulfilling our decompression dutys, the sun had almost disappeared and darkness was starting to reign. Friendly hands helped us out of the water. Just at the horizon, only marked by some sealights, the DonQuesto was waiting on us - with warm showers and Salah, the sudanese man for great food. Josef started the engine and we went north in full speed, almost flying through deep dusk. Not the worst day in our lives.