Bedouin camp

Today I had my first "dinner in the dark" restaurant experience.
Well... technically, it wasn't a real restaurant, nor was it fully in the dark.

The only weak light is coming from a candle that is standing inside an old 5-liter plastic bottle on my table, the bottom filled with sand. The table itself is low and made from wood, and I am sitting on flat floor cushions/mattresses laid on carpets in a straw hut with two walls.
On the menu: 3 entire grilled fish, freshly caught by my Bedouin hosts today, and prepared and served in an aluminum wrap together with potatoes and onions.

*The only cutlery: a table spoon and my fingers, supported by my fish bone/fish fin/fish skin-scanning eyes and tongue.
*The only company: two cats that appeared out of nowhere (or the dark) the very moment I opened the aluminum wrapping.
*The only music: the sound of the sea right in front of me which I can't see any more at this time of the day.
Oh, and of course the decor: a clear sky full of stars.
In the far distant at about 10 o'clock, I can see an alight spot of a town in Saudi Arabia, in the far distant at about 1 o'clock, I can see an alight spot of a either Sharm El Sheik or Dahab.

It took one hour to dissect the fish, and while I could sadly not find the cheek meat, I probably ate other parts that I would normally leave behind.
Advantage for the cats that even started fighting over the feast as soon as I set the left overs on the sand.
They seemed to have made cease-fire now as I can hear them taking their turn for dinner while I enjoy my Bedouin tea, sweet enough to compete with any dessert.

My 'home' tonight will be a fabric tent, just as you imagine it for living in the Northern African desert. Except that it just arrived from Saudi Arabia, as Sulemanye, my Bedouin host proudly explained to me this afternoon. He just bought it there, and I will be the first one to sleep in it!! It really is beautiful, white outside with a red painted lining inside. As it has no floor, the sand is covered with fabric carpets, and I have to figure out yet if I will take some of the floor cushions over, or just sleep on the carpets, rolled into the thick blankets that I am already using now to keep warm. It became quite chilly as soon as the sun started to disappear behind the mountains around 16.30h.
In fact, it already felt a little chilly the whole 1,5h camel ride here because the path goes right along the coastline where the wind blows freshly and lets you easily forget that the temperature is as high as 28 degrees. But there is no escape for the wind, the path narrows down to a tiny rocky strip right between the sea and the

steep mountains, and I am very impressed by how tactile the camels made their way through it on their skinny legs. Neither cars nor motorcycles would get through here.

Tomorrow I am hoping to wake up early for another round of snorkeling. Today I had the company of a South African mother and son, who left again in the afternoon. Apart from the 3 Bedouin families that live here, I have only seen a handful of divers at the other end of the plain. There may be a total of 30 or 40 huts on this flat land bulge of land, each set about 10 m apart, and 90% of them empty...
Yes, it is still off-season, also in Egypt, and the big crowds should normally not arrive until next week for the Christmas vacation.
But it is suspiciously quiet, and especially in places like Dahab, it is depressing how empty the restaurants are.
However, it is safe in Sinai! With the usual travel precautions, there is

no reason not to travel here. Many expats live here, a good number of long-term travelers are visiting here or those who know Egypt from before. Many I have spoken to have also been to Cairo and report no issues at all, as long as you avoid Tahir square.
And to be exact, the media covers about riots on the streets only concern that tiny little part of country, the famous square in the capital, creating a misleading opinion about the rest of the country.

I'm zooming out now, it's time to enjoy the silence a bit longer and then fall asleep to the sound of the waves!
Good night!