Sataya Reef Hamata – Marsa Alam Dolphins Spinners and corals (October 2016)


Sataya Reef is a horseshoe-shaped reef 30 Km south of Hamata and 50 Km north of Berenice, it is the main reef of the Fury Shoals, it is just the most beautiful reef I never saw in the Red Sea! Fantastic!….and not only because it is the playing garden of the spinner dolphins but also because the corals are huge and not broken! It is 12 years that I live part-time in Egypt and I saw the corals of the Red Sea going down and down every year due to the climate?… I am not sure but what I am sure it is due to the wild fishing and the tourists…. no respect or not enough informations to know how to protect this beautiful world? To see a place like Sataya Reef make sun in your heart!pa130229_800x600
To join Sataya Reef from El Quseir means to drive for 2 hours and half with a mini bus and 2 hours and half with a boat….. so it is really far! If you are lucky the sea will be calm….if not take half a tablet not to be seasick!… not too much like that you will not sleep during all the trip …the Sea is so beautiful!
We arrive in Sataya Reef and immediately we saw the dolphins….and not one or two but so many!!!pa120047_800x600pa130261_800x600
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The books say that 200 Spinners are in the Lagoon! The spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris – in French dauphin à long bec – in Italian delfino Stenella dal lungo rostro) is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical water all around the world, the name is due to the acrobatic way of moving (spins) in the air when he jumps (to advise the other dolphins that there is fish to eat) or under water when he moves. The adults are long from 150 to 235 cm and their weight is between 25 and 80 kg. It is amazing to see in Sataya Reef so many babies Dolphins…Good that means they are healthy and the place is not polluted by too many boats and tourists. Usually the Spinners arrive in Sataya around 6 in the morning all together, they stay all the day there to play, to grow up the babies, to make love and in the evening around 5 pm they go out of the reef all together to hunt for food. They are not too much disturbed by the tourists (if the tourists are not hystericals and “run” to touch them)
…. once there were 12 boats in the lagoon and so many snorkelers running after the dolphins…. it was terrible to see the tourists fighting to reach the dolphins…. but the dolphins are so clever….they bring the group of tourists out of the reef, in open sea….and they came quietly back inside!

the reef by another way…..I was looking their “cinema” from the boat and I laugh so much!!!!
Sataya lagoon is 5 km long and 2 km wide in the very south side of the lagoon you have a nice shallow plateau with coral gardens, in some spot the sea is so low that you can walk in the sand!
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Trip to Sataya Reef with the Boat Aqua Star 2! (October 2016)

We were in a very comfortable boat named Acqua Star 2 with a crew so kind and so professional I feel safe and happy all the week! Thanks to Captain Nasser, Chef Ali, Mechanic Tecnician Shazly, so clever Zodiac driver Ali, Waiter Mustafa. The week holiday was organized by a Belgium tour operator Dolphin Heart. My dream is to go back once more with the same Boat and Crew but organized by a local tour operator to give benefit direcly to Egyptians, it has been so hard for them for so many years with so few tourists. Wish all Nationalities come back to this wonderful country!
I want to give a huge thank to Zodiac Driver Ali because he helps us so many times to climb in the Zodiac….and we are not so “light”!!!!!
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Enjoy life with the Spinners Dolphins of Sataya Reef (October 2016)

pa130097_800x600Dolphins are  mammal of the order of Cetacean. There are almost 40 species, ranging in size from 1.2 meters to 9.5 meters and 40 kilos and 6 tons (Orcas). They are predators

The name dolphin perhaps come from the Greek Delphis, whe means or “uterus” since the dolphins give birth to their babies, or in an other translation of Delphis it can mean “spirit of the sea”!….for me both can match with my idea of Dolphins!


In Greek mythology, the dolphin is an animal beloved by Apollo. Friend of man, kind with children, liking music, sailors’s comrade that announce calm waters and safe routes, he is a help for fishermen. His capture was a sacrilege.


The dolphin sleeps with half a brain at a time: while one half rests, the other remains vigilant.


The dolphins are the only ones, among the non-human mammals, that can be attributed a proper name. In social group, the members recognize themselves by their “speech”: every individual corresponds a special vocalization, a sound that in their very intelligent mind is a real name.


The dolphin is the only animal, besides humans, to have in the midbrain the “black substance”, which indicates a high intellectual development. If captured he feels anxiety. For an affective pain, as in the case of a mother separated from her baby, she can suicide, voluntarily stopping to breathe.


After mating, the female dolphin makes prenatal gymnastics. Gestation lasts one year.


Dolphins can realize that they do not know something. In one experiment, some students were rewarding the animals only if they answered correctly but they were allowed not to complete the test to think it over. The “do not know” option was often chosen by a dolphin. For the searchers, their behavior in face of doubts is similar to what humans feel in similar situations.


To reduce friction with the water, the skin of the dolphin is renewed every two hours.


The dolphin emits with the head some high-frequency sounds (called click) that spread in the water and then come back in the form of echo. Like that they are able to navigate and locate objects and bodies in the water (so they can, for example, find a coin up to 80 meters and a shoal of small fishes to more than 100 meters).


The dolphins are the only animals with the elephants and men who can recognize their own image in the mirror.


Before eating a squid, dolphins dragged it on the clean sand (so to pop off the bone), and hit it repeatedly (to squeeze out all of the ink).


In nature a dolphin lives 45 years. Half of those in captivity “playing” in some performance shows die within two years, those who resist may not exceed five.

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The colours of Sataya Reef! (October 2016)

If you have the chance to go to Sataya Reef…. take time to snorkel in the very South of the Lagoon in the shallow plateau you will find the most beautiful coral gardens that I never saw …and not one coral broken….and we met Napoleon fishes… and all the fishes are just relax like us ….because I think ….not a lot of fishermen!!!! We went only once in the South part of the Reef that is why I want to go back …because I really wish to snorkel for hours in this shallow part….and have all the freedom to enjoy time, not to be stressed by the tour organisation.

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Sun and Sea in Sataya Reef and in Hamata (October 2016)


Nothing very special…. but it makes me feel relax….hope the same for you….
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…and why not the moon?DSC_0407_800x532PA160845_800x600

L’artisanat de Madagascar!

Vu mon enthousiasme pour Madagascar il est évident que j’aime aussi l’artisanat!!!! La simplicité des artisants, le matériel…et le résultat!
Je connais le grave problème de la déforestation…. mais l’artisanat n’a rien voir …. donc achetons sereinement ce que nous offrent les sculpteurs des villages….Le Caméléon en bois Hintsy est une poignée de porte…. très décoratif ! …et mes sacs ont un énorme succès auprès de mes amies! Les sachets contiennent les épices locales cannelle, clou de girofle et poivre…. voilà le secret de la bonne cuisine de Madagascar: les épices!
Les bois travaillés sont:
pour le bois noir le hintsy et pour le bois blanc l’arbre à pain.

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Rohanou Beach Resort El Quseir – 2016

Après avoir décidé de “fermer” mon petit appart à El Quseir où j’ai vécu “my dream” de liberté dans un pays que j’adore, j’ai du prendre la décision de “retourner à la vie d’hôtel” j’ai
choisi le Rohanou pour le charme, la dimention et la localisation de ce resort….je connais presque tous les resorts cela fait 11 ans que je “vis part time” à Quseir/Marsa Alam…et j’ai vraiment élu le Rohanou pour ma nouvelle vie!!!!J’ai séjourné au Rohanou un mois en Avril 2016 (mon premier test séjour!), un séjour dans un très beau cadre, dans une chambre agréable et spacieuse, j’adore l’architecture du Resort…. on y trouve des terasses tranquilles, des coins de plage presque privés….et l’ hôtel surplombe une mer magnifique et riche en vie. J’ai “vécu” la construction de ce Resort étant une fidèle de ce coin de la Mer Rouge, en particulier de la plage de Kilo Ashra voisine de l’hôtel …www.habibielquseir.com. Le resort se trouve à 10 km au Sud de la petite ville de El Quseir, à 35 mn au Nord de l’Aéroport de Marsa Alam..et pour le plaisir des yeux, entre la baie de Serib Kebir et Serib Soraya, endroit idéal pour la plongée et le snorkeling.
Le personnel est vraiment attentif et disponible ….tout sourire!…. et on prend un très bon petit déjeuner sur la grande terrasse surplombant la mer et ….aussi merci au Chef et à Paolo pour l’organisation de joyeuses diners-soirées égyptiennes!
Ce n’est pas un hôtel “bling bling” c’est un environnement simple mais de grande qualité! Si vous désirez un hôtel bruyant et cahotique …. ce n’est pas votre lieu de vacance! Mais si vous aimez la mer le snorkeling et la plongée …et le calme…. c’est votre rêve!!!!!
….. et je reviens aussi pour faire du snorkeling nocturne avec le Wonderful Dive Centre de plongée intégré à l’hôtel!
Merci au GM Mr Maged et aussi à Mr Magdy, l’idéateur de cet eco-resort de grand charme!
Je souligne que je voyage seule et que je me suis toujours sentie en sécurité dans cet hôtel qui a une équipe de surveillance très sérieuse tant du coté entrée de l’ hôtel que du coté de la plage….. donc séjour très relax!
Le test a été positif!!! Je retourne pour un mois en Octobre! See you soon!….et Mabrouk et Shoukran à tous!

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un instant “papillon” très zen… 12/2015


Un instant de relax en jaune avec les papillons jaune masqués et les papillons raton laveur de la Mer Rouge… juste un simple plaisir ZEN…OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERApapillon jaune masquépapillon jaune masqué couple

Tourista!!!! 12/2015


I was making a sweet and romantic video of a group of butterfly fishes, very relax..and a puffer fish arrives…nothing unusual…but he has stomach cramps, upset stomach!!!! May be a “tourista”? Never saw before…anytime something unusual can happen in Red Sea!…even a puffer with a tummy ache!!!!
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