Posts

Showing posts from March, 2017

El Gouna Owners Club Announcement

Image
The Gouna Owners Club  (GOC) provides  a forum  for communication  amongst owners of residential properties in El Gouna,  both  with one another  and  with the management of El Gouna.   An e lected Committee of 8  volunteers  meets regularly with El Gouna GM Mahmoud E l  Baroudi  and his senior staff to discuss matters of general interest to owners and  to seek solutions to any issues .   O utcomes are shared through the C lub’s Google G roup and  Facebook Page   Among the many t opic s  currently under di scussion are  financial reporting of  service  charges , increases in utility charges , security matters and  the  Orange Internet/TV service.   Chairman, Mr Maher E l  Faham  says, “The Committee has established a good working relation ship  with El Gouna management and we have seen  significant  successes  over  the past year”. The Club also has a social function.  Approximately every two months events are arranged in local restaurants to pr

Post Office Moves to New Location

Image
Many of us will have, at one point or another, seen or entered the Post Office located downtown in the 'Tamr Henna Plaza' near the 'Tamr Henna Cafe'. The old sign once said 'Tourist Post Office', but the doors are now closed. A small sign directs customers to go to the new location.  The new location is beside the Bus Station downtown. Adjacent to 'Stop'N Go' restaurant. A bright green sign touts the new brand: 'Egypt Post'. (Incidentally the Organisation is celebrating its 150th year). No major change in services to be broadcast,  just a newer updated locale. Courier services, postal orders, letters, postal boxes, etc. are the main services offered. As previously in the old locale, there are not enough postal boxes to go around and residents expecting post must stop by and sift through this week's arrivals before they are sent back. However, if a resident is in dire need of Post Office Box, it would be best to visit the P

El Gouna Winery Begins Production of Premium Spirits

Image
El Gouna has a winery. Most old time residents are aware, but a few new residents may not know this.  The winery was established in the year 2003 and is majority owned by Mr. Samih Sawiris. Those of us who exit El Gouna, using the northernmost gate that cuts through the industrial area, will notice a tree lined walled off set of one storey buildings. That is the winery.  Mr. Labib Kallas, the amiable Lebanese general manager, kindly showed me around the winery and gave me a thorough introduction to the wine making process. A process involving much expertise that Labib gained in university studies at Bordeaux then Montpellier in France and through 27 years work experience gained in France, Lebanon and Egypt.  I am told the objective of the winery was to make high quality Egyptian wine from Egyptian grapes. It was a fact that, at the time, Egypt had good beer, but our wine was lacking and was being made from imported grapes or imported concentrate. Tourists liked our

Photography Workshop in El Gouna

Image
The Culture Relations Department of El Gouna is pleased to announce the organizing of a photography workshop by Dr. Samir Farag.  Dr. Samir is the director of cinema industry and director of photographs department at Egypt's Higher Institute of Cinema. The workshop schedule is divided into two levels It will start on the 6 th  of April for three days (first level ).  The second part will be from the 20 th  of April for another three days (second level) The price for the workshop is 750 EGP. For more information, please contact Dalia Aly  01204629631 . Kind regards, The Information Center Team

The Importance of Location

Image
I have made an interesting observation during my grocery shopping trips to the El Gouna downtown: One fruit and vegetable shop ( left image ) is full of customers anytime of the day, the other fruit and vegetable shop ( right image ) is empty at all times of the day.  Even more interesting is that both fruit shops have the same owner and the same name : 'Abu Amer - Fruits and Vegetables '! They sell the same products from the same sources at the same prices.  They are roughly the same in size, with customers in the 'full' shop always scraping past each other in very tight confines, making the selection of produce experience tedious. In the 'empty' shop, the rare customer has the whole place to him or herself.  The shops are only 250 m. from each other.  For this reason, I have only gone shopping for fresh produce at the 'empty' shop. I enjoyed the space and time it took to find what I was looking for. I paid without waiting for an

Specialist Consultants Visiting El Gouna Hospital this Week

Image
EL GOUNA HOSPITAL IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT Prof. Dr. Ahmed Hassan Orthopaedic Surgeon Consultant Ain Shams University will visit the hospital  Thursday 13 th   of  July 2017 Examinations will be held during outpatient clinic times  from 1:00 PM till 3:00 PM and Dr. Diaa El Din Mohamed A. El Fatah Urology consultant Ain Shams University will visit our hospital Friday   14 th  of July 2017. Examinations will be held during the outpatient clinic times 10:00 AM till 2:00 PM &  7:00 PM till 9:00 PM and Pr of. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Hady, MD , Consultant Neurosurgeon Fellow of Neurosurgery, GOTH l Friday 14 th of July till Monday 17 th of July 2017 Examinations will be held during outpatient clinic times as follows:   Everyday :  From 10.00 AM till 2.00 PM and from 7.00 PM till 9.00 PM. Except Friday only from 7.00 PM til l 9.00 PM. For more information please contact us Tel: 065 358 0011 E

Rotary Club of Red Sea - El Gouna February Newsletter

Dear Friends of Rotary We have pleasure to announce the February 2017 newsletter from Rotary Club of Red Sea - El Gouna. You can also view the newsletter online here: https://view.publitas.com/rotary-club-red-sea-el-gouna/february-2017-newsletter-of-rc-red-sea-el-gouna/ Greetings from the Red Sea. Best regards Georgina Cole

The Day I Took a Lagoon Trip

Image
A boat trip around the el Gouna Lagoons might not be your wildest adventure, but it will definitely be your best chance at discovering the architectural variety of this town. My mother and I took the small Zodiac style motorised boat with a local 'driver' from beside the Club House downtown. Four hundred pounds Egyptian gave us a one hour tour from the downtown to Abu Tig Marina back to Steigenberger resort and Paradisio passing by a maze of winding lagoons.   At least for me it was revealing, for I have finally managed to distinguish between buildings belonging to the 5 different phases of development. And I am no expert in architectural styles. But every new visual piece of information, triggered in me the desire to learn more about who did what in order for Gouna to come to life. And so, I discovered that apart from 3 prominent architects who hail from Egypt (Shehab Mazhar, Ramy El-Dahan and Ahmad Hamdy) El Gouna prides itself on the team efforts of foreign architects w

Trilingual Ode to El Gouna

Hurghada resident and El Gouna lover Flavio wrote this trilingual poem to El Gouna and sent it in to Gouna News: Always sunny, safe and funny El Gouna soleggiata, giovane laguna, sei sorta fra deserto e caraibico mar rosso pochi lustri orsono d'un audace sogno di lusso ormai eretta a fiera ed elegante realtà! Ti contemplo, e penso divertito: è qua la mia shangri la? Sapessi quante gioie mi regali valgon più di preziosi gioielli venali, lunga è l'estate che mi tien lontano ma ti ho impressa nella mia mente, sai? Bien sûr j'ai dans ma tète ton image et puisque mon esprit est empli de souvenirs je t'oublirai jamais, mon beau village. Sans doute oui, LIFE AS IT SHOULD BE                                                 Flavio

Le Brunch returns to La Maison Bleue

Image
 El Gouna Residents and Visitors La Maison Bleue is pleased to announce that  “Le Brunch” is starting again   on Saturday, 4 th  of March .  Join us every  Saturday, starting 1:30pm  and share great moments  with friends, at La Maison Bleue.

El Gouna Retains Tennis Trophy for Fourth Year

Image
After a closely fought thrilling four day Tournament, El Gouna managed to retain, for the fourth year in a row, the Tennis Championship trophy. This yearly tournament is played between the same two competing sides: El Gouna and Gezira Sporting Club  (GSC).  The tennis tournament was held at the El Gouna Tennis Club (managed by Club 7) between the 25th and 28th of February and saw the participation of 60 players of both sexes (expected to grow to 72 in 2018!). Matches pitted teams of two players from El Gouna against two player teams from GSC. A doubles team could be comprised of two men, two women or a mixed double.  
Overall, 50 matches were played in the competition that counted towards winning of the tournament trophy. In this four day competition, El Gouna won 29 matches versus 21 for GSC. 
 On the fourth day of the tournament, finals for each category were held to determine cash prize winners. GSC were winners in the Swordfish, Turtle and Seahorse categories, while El Gouna