An action-packed book featuring the Sharm el Sheikh shark attacks and the Egyptian Revolution
John Kean remains one of the most informed of writers of Red Sea diving and everything that goes with it ... a must read. - Diver Magazine
This is one of the best fly-on-the-wall accounts of life behind the recent headlines in Egypt. In fact, the wall fell down three times and the flies joined in! Detailing the horrific Red Sea shark attacks in Dec 2010 and the people’s revolution of Jan 2011, ‘Sharks, Fights and Motorbikes – When it Rains in Egypt’ explains how holidaymakers and residents in Sharm el Sheikh and beyond dealt with this tourism-busting, back to back, double-whammy of a showstopper that continues to affect the perception of Egypt as a travel destination.
At the very height of the resulting tourist slump the author, John Kean and French diver and photographer, Yann Vautrin, departed on a 5,000km scuba diving and motorcycling trip of the entire country to see if the media and foreign office warnings about travel in post-revolutionary Egypt matched all the hype. What they discovered, riding a pair of fully loaded KTM motorcycles, was a welcoming and hospitable country still delivering a first-class service to anyone who wanted it. Along the way, however, there were plenty of big surprises, adventures and laughs as the motorcycling duo ventured through the deserted Sinai wilderness, dived WW2 shipwrecks, explored the Sunken City of Alexandria, visited the War Graves of El Alamein, interviewed revolutionaries of Tahrir Square, joined a road trip with Cairo’s largest motorcycle club, raced their bikes against the horsemen of Giza, rode across the Aswan Dam, got arrested on suspicion of spying and temporarily jailed after running over a jaywalker. On the plus side they made it back to Sharm in one piece and had the highlights of their incredible journey published by the leading UK diving, travel and motorcycle magazines.
This is John Kean’s third book featuring the Red Sea and Egypt. ‘Lost Wife, Saw Barracuda – True Stories from a Sharm el Sheikh Scuba Diving Instructor’ became an Amazon Kindle number 1 double best seller in Egyptian Travel and Scuba Diving. In ‘Sharks, Fights and Motorbikes’ he delivers more first-hand eyewitness accounts of the stories that once again put this small but popular holiday destination back on the front spots of the world’s media. The book shines with the sheer determination of the expats and Egyptians who helped restore the community spirit by refusing to let these two disasters get the better of them. It also includes the amazing story of the Sharm el Sheikh Rugby Union Club, who rose from the ashes of these troubled times into a highly polished and slick new rugby team. Their story is worthy of a book in itself but beautifully covered over several come-and-go chapters charting their heroic, blood and guts, historical journey to victory.
Featuring scuba diving, motorcycling, rugby union and travel, this uplifting true story can be enjoyed by anyone. It is occasionally tragic but frequently funny as John Kean writes not just about the two key news events but the huge helpings of comical experiences that are never far away when Middle East meets West in Egypt. Readers will feel as if they’re almost taking part in the latter stages of the book where the second revolution takes place. Just about anyone who could walk, shout and sing, including the tourists, took to the streets in an emotional sea of red, white and black euphoria that knocked the so-called ‘travel warnings’ into orbit.
‘Sharks, Fights and Motorbikes – When it Rains in Egypt’ is a moving, informative, inspiring and frequently comical look behind the scenes of the news that shook the world. It should also leave readers in no doubt that despite occasional setbacks and unrest, Egypt is still an exceptional and welcoming country to visit and is likely to be so for quite some time to come.
