Some People Say I'm a Fool...Safaga, Egypt

Somewhere in the back of my ignorant head, Egypt only exists as some kind of Hollywood/Disneyworld creation…little Jafars hopping around, markets full of bread and pistachios. It’s like a mystical Arabian land which has long since sunk into the sand, whose stories bubble underneath the surface awaiting some safari-hatted professor to push the wrong hieroglyph and bring the whole thing back to life. I love this idea of Egypt and can’t say I’ve been totally enlightened past this illusion.
As we pulled into the coast of Safaga, a loose collection of adobe houses and industrial buildings sat hazy and motionless near the water as if, at any moment, it would be swallowed by the desert which surrounded it. I was sure the city must be somewhere beyond this, perhaps past the mountains lining the distant horizon. In true Hollywood form, Safaga is only an ocean gateway to the rich treasures and buried kingdoms in Luxor and Karnak that await further inland. The town came into focus as we sailed closer, but as I rode through its seemingly abandoned streets I couldn’t shake the image of hidden underground compounds and burka’d women watching us from around building corners.
Some people say I’m a fool for playing golf instead of visiting the Valley of the Kings where King Tut and the remains of other famous pharaohs were discovered only a few decades ago...I say you’ve never had a bread & cheese sandwich at a desert golf course in Egypt. Golfing around the world is not a hobby I’ll be taking to anytime in the foreseeable future. With little exception, green fees at world courses tend to climb into the $200-600 range, geared at attracting wealthy tourists and idiots like me who used to be good at golf. I’ll sign the $30 bill two times/year at my local municipal, hit a few big drives and shut up about it. On this day, I laid down my paycheck to battle 60mph sand-filled winds, a hilarious sunburn and loved every minute of it.

Sailing in to Safaga


On the way to the course...Boat blown up, anchored beside all the other boats...


Safaga Desert Course


Sandtraps Everywhere...


4 club wind...


Up against the Med Sea..


Looking left...


Looking right...


Looking into night...


Ancient conflicts influencing the atmosphere. The sky looks different out here.