Another holiday resort will be added to the comprehensive Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts portfolio at the Red Sea beginning in 2010. A management agreement was recently signed with the owning company International Company for Tourism and Hotel Investments for the exclusive Mövenpick Resort Abu Soma with 424 rooms and suites.
Abu Soma, with its countless coral reefs, is exceptionally popular among member of the diving community. Just 45 kilometers south of Hurghada and 150 kilometers north of Marsa Alam, Abu Soma is also beloved for its gradually sloping beaches and as an ideal starting point for sea or desert excursions – Luxor is only 200 kilometers away, for example.
“We are proud to carry out this unique project in cooperation with Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts. The Swiss hotel group enjoys an excellent reputation here and is one of the strongest hotel brands in Egypt,” said Abdul Aziz Al Mawardi, the owner of the project.
The Mövenpick Resort Abu Soma is located directly on the shore of the Red Sea and has 424 spaciously laid out rooms and suites. Several swimming pools and water landscapes enrich the vast gardens leading directly to the sandy seaside beach.
Source - Easier.com
Mövenpick plans upscale resort in Abu Soma
A Khawaga’s Tale: Here comes the sun
We are not only on the verge of a new leader of the free world, which should be known at breakfast on Wednesday morning, but we are on the verge of the cold weather too.
By my calculations it is just a little early yet to reach for the woollies, I think we have at least another week of temperatures in the high 20s.
A few Cairenes ran for their scarf last Monday, but it warmed up over the weekend. My prediction; the temperature will drop to the low 20s on Wednesday Nov. 12 and that will be it for the warming sun until mid-February.
Cairo is a slave to the sun and with the tilt of the Earth turned towards the southern hemisphere more and more, we are getting less and less sun each day and the nights are drawing in.
The sun is now tracking low across the southern sky, with the Dec. 21 solstice fast approaching, when it will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, and as we are just 7° N of the Tropic of Cancer, we are thus heading towards our shortest day.
You can visit the Tropic of Cancer, approximately 23.5° N, and south of Aswan. I’ve never been, but I suspect there is a line painted on the ground at Philae Temple, where you can witness the summer solstice on June 21.
So, give it another week, and the biggest influence over our climate will be too low in the sky to keep back the moist cool air seeping in from the Mediterranean. Then reach for the scarf and winter woollies.
Egypt is a bit of a paradise for the earth science boffin. There is a divergent plate boundary, where a rift has formed between Africa and the Arabian tectonic plates, which began to part about 30 million years ago.
Thirty million is not that long in geological time; in fact the rift that runs into East Africa is the youngest geological break-up on the planet, with the Red Sea continuing to widen about 2 cm per year.
In the mountains of South Sinai veins of basalt and other volcanic intrusion streak through the granite rock giving them a striped appearance. But allegedly traces of the once volcanic past exist in the hot springs in the caves at Jebel Musa and two warm mineral springs near Tor.
In Dahab, you can scuba dive through lava tubes and I remember the Canyon dive at the Blue Hole to be some type of hollowed out lava flow.
Source - Egypt Daily News
1000 artworks to see before you die: Ancient Egypt
It is in Egyptian art that proportion, geometry and the idea of beauty first appear. The grace and sensuality, not just of Greek art but of all the cultures of the Mediterranean, grew out of Egypt.
The most famous sculpture in Africa seems to be slowly melting back into the desert out of which it was carved. The Great Sphinx is hewn out of the natural bedrock beneath the sands of Giza in Egypt, where it sits in leonine grandeur by the causeway leading to the pyramid of Khafre, the middle-sized of the site's three pyramids. It was created in about 2500BC, early in ancient Egypt's long artistic triumph; more than two-and-a-half millennia later the Roman emperor Hadrian would build an Egyptian religious garden at his villa in Tivoli, drawing on a style of sculpture that was still very much alive in the early Christian era.
If many people's idea of art is dominated by the European model of a succession of styles and movements from Greek classicism to American minimalism and beyond, the art of ancient Egypt has — alone among non-European cultures — long been accepted into this grand narrative. When the sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini placed an Egyptian obelisk on the back of a marble elephant in Rome as a homage to the "wise Egyptian", or Napoleon exorted his army at the Battle of Pyramids, they did not see Egyptians as a lesser people but as the oldest sages and artists, the fount of Europe's culture. But were they right?
In defiance of the reverence for Egypt so visible in Renaissance and Enlightenment Europe, modern art historians have often found ways to cut the Egyptian influence out of their subject. In his famous book The Story of Art, EH Gombrich pointed out that Egyptian art changed little in its 3,000-year history and that Egyptian artists never progressed from stately profiles and sidelong views of feet to the fully rounded, action-packed art of Greece that, in his view, embodied a European "great awakening". But that is to look through the wrong end of the telescope. The Greeks developed skills the Egyptians never explored — but they did this entirely on the back of the Egyptian achievement. It is in Egyptian art that proportion, geometry and the idea of beauty first appear. The grace and sensuality, not just of Greek art but of all the cultures of the Mediterranean, grew out of Egypt. You can see this in the Head of Nefertiti or the great wooden Ka statue in the Cairo Museum. The cliched image of Egyptian art as highly formalised and static is totally wrong: it abounds in realism, humour and variety, from the moving portrait sculpture of the dwarf Seneb sitting next to his long-legged wife that dates from the same era as the Sphinx to all the miniature painted models of farmers, sailors and domestic scenes to be seen in museums around the world.
If Europe got its idea of beauty from ancient Egypt, what did Africa get? It is often considered dangerous to trace equatorial African art back to Egypt because in the past this has been a racist excuse to deny original creativity south of the Sahara. But there might be something equally destructive about denying any connection between the monuments of Egypt and later African masterpieces such as the bronze and terracotta sculptures made at Ife in the 12th century, with their strong sense of beauty. Africa and Europe meet between the paws of the Sphinx.
Source - The Guardian
Egyptian Property Avoids The Crunch
The quest for the 'safest' overseas property investment in the current climate is one of the biggest questions at the moment. We take a look at how Egypt is avoiding the credit crunch and building for a prosperous future. Another approach, and one that looks like it might do well in the future, is that taken by Egypt. By concentrating on the quality of developments and preserving the integrity of the coastline of the Red Sea from over development, as well as diversifying where visitors to the country come from, Egypt should be well-placed to weather the storms other destinations in overseas property are finding hard to endure.
One of the biggest problems in some of the more traditional overseas property markets, many of which are experiencing problems in the current financial and economic situation, is that they rely heavily on visitors from one or two nations for both property sales and tourist visitor numbers. In this way, should the economy of that country take a turn downwards, or even if something as simple as flight prices increase, developers, agents, hotels and tour operators are left with capacity to fill.
Egypt has become one of the top year-round sunshine destinations for UK tourists, many of whom are attracted by the prospect of guaranteed winter sunshine within five hours of the UK. Egypt has, however, managed to extend its attraction to overseas visitors to France, Italy, Germany, Russia and Scandinavia. This flow of visitors, many of whom come back to the country numerous times, are then being attracted by the efforts of the Egyptian government to promote residential tourism in the key areas of the Red Sea Riviera. The strength in visitor numbers should mean that the country does not see too much of a drop in visits through the credit crunch, given that they come from such a wide selection of countries.
While the government is taking significant steps to facilitate residential tourism and attract overseas property buyers, it is not allowing free rein to the builders and speculators to pick and choose the best site without regard for the consequences. Government intervention has been concentrated on infrastructure, while planning restrictions have kept the supply of property down, thus boosting price growth.
The authorities in Egypt also seem to be learning from their own experiences in building tourist destinations, as well as the examples of other countries. The first resorts on the Red Sea coastline, Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada and Dahab, while still being successful and promising destinations for the overseas property buyer, were created by a tourist industry that was feeling its way into the market. With new resorts, more urban planning and restrictions are in place, and infrastructure improvements are at the top of the list, ahead of bringing in money immediately.
One such new resort is Sahl Hasheesh, located around 20 minutes south of Hurghada. This new resort is designed to attract the higher end of the market, and already has in place a suite-only hotel and plans for some sumptuous residential developments. With a new marina aiming to attract the yachting and diving fraternity, and golf courses around Hurghada providing even more leisure facilities, the prospects for Sahl Hasheesh are rosy.
Source - PR Inside
Winner of Best Development Egypt (CNBC International Property Awards)
We are pleased to announce that West Side Village won the prestigious CNBC International Property Award for their 'Best Development in Egypt'. This will give clients and investors alike, confidence in what has been destined to be the most desirable International development in the city of Hurghada.
West Side Village is a secure gated community of 686 studios, one and two bedroom apartments in one of the world’s current top property hotspots - Hurghada.
The development is being built to accepted European standards and will offer connections to Satellite TV and the Internet.
Full furniture packs are available to furnish these well positioned and appointed apartments.
West Side Village is set in a lush, green expanse (44,000 m2) with private restaurants, cafes and bars, spa, three swimming pools and tennis courts.
Walkways are hemmed in by landscaped gardens full of tropical flowers, while apartments overlook swaying palms and exotic cactus trees. Choose from desert, sea or poolside views. Penthouse suites come with an extra roof terrace with panoramic riviera views, perfect for stargazers.
Source - Channel 4 - A Place in the Sun
Orientals showcases its new project on the Red Sea Egypt at Cityscape 2008
The Oriental Coast Project is a majestic piece of land and rejuvenating resort on Red Sea as its area is more than five million square meter development that brings you the oriental lifestyle with its simplicity and indulgence
A masterpiece designed by WATG, the world's most distinctive architectural firm.Over 7.5 km of magnificent coastline and more than ten hotels (4 and 5 luxurious stars hotels) and 4,000 tourist residences between luxurious villas, apartments and studios.
Also with a marina of 600 berths, a signature golf course and the cultural downtown centre is the heart of the Oriental Coast with its shops, retail and restaurants.
The Oriental Coast provides a variety of entertainment activities. There are both indoor and outdoor arenas for a wide range of sporting activities from tennis and golf to team sports as football and basketball. Safaris and mountain excursions can be arranged to enjoy the wild life of the area at its natural best.
As for water sports, the Oriental Coast captures the variety of the Red Sea flora, which makes it a paradise for scuba divers.
All other marine related activities such as snorkeling, water skiing, and wind surfing can also be enjoyed. The area is also considered to be a resting ground for many kinds of migrating birds, giving a bird-watcher a perfect view to capture those moments.
Source - AME Info
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