The City , the bedouins , the Sea & the Desert ........
The Beduins

The City , the bedouins , the Sea & the Desert ........
The City

Dahab environment

Dahab Environment

The City , the bedouins , the Sea & the Desert ........

The City : Dahab is a little bedouine-village on the peninsula of sinai at the gulf of Aqaba approx. 95 km north of Sharm-el-Sheikh . The word Dahab means "gold"in arabic. The Beduin tribe of the Mezeinah was established here long time ago. Dahab developed from a hippy village to a dive spot with a well functioning infrastructure. The village originally consisting of two parts, that almost grew together . Dahab has good hotel accommodations, but also affords less expensive housing in the village, or camping. About 11KM from town is the famous Blue Hole, for diving.

The Bedouins : Bedouin populations in Southern Sinai are broken into 8 tribes. The Management Resource Protected Areas of Nabq and Abu Galum are inhabited by two of these tribes, Al Mezeina - one of the largest and most powerful tribes - inhabits the Southern Gulf from Nuwaiba to Sharm El Sheikh and the El Tarabin, the area from Nuweiba to Taba . The total Bedouin population in these areas is approximately 3000 individuals.Bedouins have traditionally occupied the Sinai Peninsula. Within the limits of declared Protected Areas they retain their traditional rights and continue to occupy their settlements, women graze their sheep and goat herds and men fish. Activities that are likely to damage habitats or reduce their biodiversity are now regulated by EEAA staff in cooperation with concerned Bedouin. Bedouin staff have been contracted by the EEAA as Park Rangers or to provide services to the Protectorates.Bedouin culture has been founded on strict tribal laws and traditions. Nature is respected, water is consumed sparingly, small water reservoirs are constructed on hillsides to assist wildlife, the relationship between coral reefs and fisheries is clearly understood and damage to reef areas is limited. Tribal law prohibits the cutting of "green trees", the penalty could be up to three 2 year old camels or their equivalent value. Bedouins have said that "killing a tree is like killing a soul". Much can be learned from that statement.

Coral reef ecosystems : Coral reefs provide food and shelter for thousands of organisms which co-exist in complex interconnected food chains. Different behavioral patterns permit many organisms to share the same area, yet all organisms share common objectives: to occupy space and protect that space, to feed and to reproduce. Organisms which are less successful in any of the above will, in time, disappear from the reef.Coral reef ecosystems are in a constant state of change. Corals grow and provide the framework for extension of the reef. Simultaneously, the reefs are being broken down by animals living in or feeding on the structure (sponges, bivalves, urchins, fish). If corals are damaged then the complex equilibrium of the reef will be permanently altered. The result would be loss of productivity and biodiversity, both of which would have a serious economic consequences

The Sinai Desert : The Sinai Peninsula is situated between the huge continents of Africa and Asia, comparable with a triangular wedge and functioning as both, separating desert and binding land bridge.
No matter from which side the Sinai is approached the traveler is suddenly confronted with the rough almost refusing yet impressive countryside of dramatic contrasts.Only little by little one realizes that it is those contrasts which make the Sinai so fascinating.
There are people who find this desert landscape and the Red Sea less inviting, even terrifying and hostile towards human life.Right here lies the peculiarity of the Sinai, with its constant weather fluctuations and changes of light which often happen unexpectedly.
The dusty, blazing heat of midday is followed by a cool wonderfully starry night.In winter it sometimes even snows on the highest mountains. After few but usually strong rain falls, the sand is gradually covered with a carpet of colorful flowers and with amazement one stands in front of this miracle of a flourishing desert.
The same is true for the landscapes as such. Dreary expanses of sand and gravel unexpectedly enter into a lovely landscape of dunes and behind the next bend a smooth little wadi brusquely ends in a wild deeply fissured gorge.
In the steeply rising rock faces, colorful deposits are hiding and it is hard to believe that they are natural formations and not man-made works of art. At the Gulf of Aquaba, reddish rugged granite mountains fall down almost vertically from a 2000m altitude into the deep blue water of the sea.
Time and again the amazing contrasts of the Sinai surprise you with unforgettable experiences. Its diverse geographical structures emerge into ever new impressions of the landscape which may in fact become a real treat when these same mountains, dunes, acacias, wadis, rocks, or gorges continue to offer you a magnitude of views due to the changing light of daytime and season.
Everyone who has experienced a sunset at the Mountain of Moses or on one of the lonely surrounding summits knows that the light at the Sinai plays a fascinating role.The overwhelming impression left by the change of rough but sublime wilderness through the alternation of light, in the middle of an infinite silence, can move a human being deep inside.
It is surely also responsible for the significant religious impulses coming from the Sinai.Thus it is easy to understand why people from all different walks of life are so fascinated by this particular landscape, that they always want to come back, indeed, that they are even willing to give up everything and stay forever.

Dahab is located between the different Sinai National Parks .