Who would have expected that a volcanic eruption in Iceland would have the effect it had this last week?  Airports all over Britain and the European continent closed for almost a week, just as the Easter holidays were ending.  It meant that lots of people who were planning on flying home were stranded in foreign countries.  This also happened to the guests of liveaboard tour operator blue o two in Egypt.

The 59 guests that were on board the three blue o two boats the previous week, heard on Thursday that their flights were not going to take off on Friday. Some of the guests were placed in a hotel, but most of them stayed on board the luxury vessels M/Y blue Horizon, M/Y blue Fin and M/Y blue Melody.

Saturday showed no dissipation of the cloud of ash covering northern Europe and airports were still closed. blue o two director Nathan Tyler decided to offer the guests an extra week safari. 22 of them took him up on the offer, while the others decided to wait for the first available flights home. Once it turned out that the first flights would only leave on Friday, the rest of the guests left on Tuesday on board the Blue Horizon for a mini safari in the north.

It seemed like the guests on M/Y blue Melody used all their bad luck for the week already and the week provided splendid weather conditions which allowed some great diving. After a dive at Umm Gammar they crossed over the channel to dive the Dunraven. The next day they did two dives at Ras Mohammed, where some of the divers were lucky enough to spot a rare leopard shark! A turtle was also seen. The afternoon dive was done at the Thistlegorm in pristine visibility with as an extra bonus a silky shark under the boat!!!! On Tuesday the weather continued to be great and Rosalie Moller provided us with two spectacular dives. The Ulysses, an old sail/steamship, was next on the program. This site is very often impossible to dive because of weather conditions and waves, so for most of the guests it was their first visit to this beautiful, overgrown wreck.

On Wednesday the news everyone had been waiting for was finally announced; the airports were open again and flights were booked for the Friday afternoon!  The cherry on the cake; after a good dive on the wreck of the Giannis D, the divers were treated to a leopard shark at Siyul Kebir and bottlenose dolphins at Shaab el Erg!

Thursday afternoon the unexpected safari ended and at three o'clock the mooring lines were tied on at the Marriot marina. After a group photo of the guests of the Blue Melody and the Blue Horizon, the guides said their goodbyes and everyone started packing their bags.  Finally on Friday afternoon the long delayed flights, arrived and marked the end to an unexpected holiday&