We “signed on the dotted line”…
You’ve bought a property WHERE ?? The reaction when you tell anyone that your second property isn’t on the Costa Blanca or perhaps even the Canary Islands is fairly predictable. I think that “jaw-dropping” is the polite term for it!
We were seduced by El Gouna from afar, having started the rounds of property exhibitions and becoming gradually more and more disillusioned by terrifying prices or concrete boxes in an urban sprawl and a thirty week letting season! As a family of divers, the Red Sea has a special thrall, and as Chris’s work sees him with limited holidays in the summer, and more free time in the winter, the Egyptian climate is a definite plus. A friend had “discovered” El Gouna and we were so impressed by their impressions and the website that we decided to throw caution to the winds.
We “signed on the dotted line” at a property exhibition at Celtic Manor in Wales some eighteen months ago, meeting Gianna and Carol Richards for the first time. There was no pressure to buy, except for a rapidly diminishing portfolio of available property at that time, and indeed we weren’t initially able to buy the property where we wanted.
Initially we were signed up for a three-bed Duplex in the Upper Nubia area, but there were subsequent problems with the pool (or lack of – it proved impossible to build pools up there, and we did spend a couple of weeks thinking we may have to pull out altogether as, with the children, use of a pool was very important to us). Eventually we were advised that a property ideal for us had come available on Golf West (inbound) and currently we are hopeful of being installed by early spring 2006.
We love El Gouna, it feels safe and comfortable. Each time we visit we are remembered by more people, Egyptians and Europeans alike, and we are slowly building a small network of friends. The children are learning a smattering of Arabic and are not shy to use it and we are already notorious with DiveTribe at the Movenpick (fantastic staff, excellent standards and SO helpful).
Our youngest would enrol tomorrow at EGIS given the opportunity, and is already planning a career as a divemaster in El Gouna (and there we were thinking of having a nice child-free bolt hole in future years!!). For us increasingly-oldies, the dry heat of Gouna is a real tonic for creaking joints and an early evening drink at Café Maritim watching the light fade over the Marina is one of the greatest forms of relaxation I have yet discovered.
For the next few years, El Gouna will be a holiday home (with, we hope, the emphasis on HOME), but the expectation is for increasingly longer holidays as the children loosen their ties and eventually we would like to spend our winters out of the damp dreariness of the UK.
We are not planning on wide-scale lettings, although this will of course be available for friends and family (and probably friends of friends). The increasing number of flights from the UK to Hurghada is encouraging (have to admit that we did gamble on that 18 months ago when there was only one charter flight a week from the UK).
The bulk of our furniture is ordered but I admit still to being worried about trying to source all of life’s daily essentials, crockery, cutlery, linen etc as I’m not entirely comfortable still in dealing with Hurghada shopkeepers!! (Anyone know the Arabic for toilet brush???) Not sure why I’m so worried about plates and corkscrews as I fear that Moods, Hedra, La Scala etc will be seeing rather more of us than they ought to.
In the meantime I need to sort out a golf handicap so that the Steigenberger can benefit from my custom, win the National Lottery so that we can manage an early retirement and learn at least three European languages so that my Gouna neighbours can share evening drinks on my terrace in comfort.
Chris and Trudie from England.
For a better understanding where west golf inbound is located, see the map here below.
More pictures of their future home in El Gouna and the fantastic view they’ll enjoy on their terrace can be found at Real Estate > Real Estate West Golf > 2005-06 wg Y1-02