Aqaba part II diving in the Red Sea, Jordan

We took the VIP JETT bus here this time. The cost was 11 JD and made no stops except for the mandatory police check points. It had food and drink service for a fee and comfy seats with extended leg room. It was a double decker bus as well with 2 seats then an isle then another seat; very fancy for us. This trip took us about 5 hours and the girls slept most of the way.

Back in Aqaba we checked into the same hotel as before, the Hotel Prestige, and went out searching for a lab again and a dive centre to get organized for the next few days. We found the lab just around the corner and for 5 JD we could have the blood work results in an hour, quick and easy. We also got everything set up with Mr. frogman Dive Center. Tyson was organized for two shore dives the first day and I would follow the second day. We did a wreck dive of a sunken ship as well as a dive in the coral gardens that also had a submarine cable connecting the Jordan and Egyptian high voltage power grids.

With the Cedar Pride ship wreck we were able to penetrate the vessel through an open door and swim around inside. It was however very narrow in spots and quite dark. There was also an air pocket trapped 10m below the surface where you could pop up into it and talk to one and other.

Back on land the lab results were a bit higher this time so a slight medication adjustment and we would retest again in a couple days prior to crossing into Israel.

This was again our relax time for the girls. They could crawl around on the bed (we had a king and a single which we pushed together) and stretch their legs for the 2 days of diving for us. They enjoy being in the Onya carriers to an extent but are very happy when out of them roaming around. These carriers are very comfortable, have lots of pockets, wipe off easily, have a sun shade cover to keep the girls covered up. They even turn into a safe seat on an adult chair making it like a high chair to be able to feed the girls. They are a must for travel.

We ended up staying an extra two nights because once we got to Israel we wanted to rent a car and we just found out the companies were all closed on Saturday being their weekly holiday. Due to our extended stay we needed to switch rooms for previous reservations. Again, the Hotel Prestige was very accommodating to us by rearranging things to make it work as they were fully booked.

Back to the lab we went on Saturday and this time Tyson’s levels were in the desired range at his doctor’s request. We wondered the city, picked up another mango smoothie with some snacks for the next day along with some dinner. We even came across a small craft fair type thing in the evening with booths set up with hand made products like jewelry and such.

One of my worries about travelling with the girls at such a young age and having them confined to the carriers and beds is that it might slow their development down. But to our surprise so far they are advancing nicely. Lidija is very close to crawling at this point and Bexley is all over the place. From a standing position she is able to let go for a few seconds before she looses her balance and plunks down onto her butt. They can both now pull themselves up to their feet and we can no longer place them down in one spot and expect them to stay there when we turn our backs.