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...

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 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. Tour...

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

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...

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 ...

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

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...

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

 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.

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, ...

An interesting outing was organized by the Ladybird-kindergarten group at Kids Corner to the Gouna fire brigade-team. The staff kindly explained everything to the children: The fire truck and all the tasks performed by the team. 
The kids were very happy and enjoyed the "red-hot" morning. They wish to thank Mr. Mohamed Ayoub, at Orascom El Gouna, for giving them this opportunity.  It would be definitely an outing to be repeated for a new kids-group.  
 This is in Europe, especially in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, a yearly popular special day, called "Feuerwehrtag" (fire service day) - like a folk festival with music, food, to see the firemen in action and how they extinguish fires. Firemen are very popular and heroes, not only for children...😉 
Contributed by Ms. Christel Kids-Corner - Sabina Y-119

The seventh circuit preliminary court of north Cairo at Abbasseya has ordered the release of Gouna resident Yasmine El Narsh on 20,000 EGP bail. Yasmine had been in detention on charges of possession of a controlled substance at Cairo Airport while catching a domestic flight to Hurghada and agressing a police officer in May 2015.  The order was given after the court accepted the appeal presented on Yasmine's behalf by her lawyer Bahaa El Din Abu Shaka citing irregularities in her trial of October 2015. Yasmine had been sentenced to four years in prison at the time and fined fifty thousand pounds. The court rescinded the charge of drug possession and agreed to a retrial at a later date and ordered her release on bail.  Yasmine is expected to be released today Wednesday after being processed at El Nozha police station in Cairo.  Yasmine is awaited by her many loyal friends, family, daughter, employees and customers of her furniture shop on the El Gouna Marina...

It is finally here!  The yearly encounter between El Gouna Tennis enthusiasts and their Gezira Club in Cairo (GSC) counterparts, is upon us. The tournament starts on Saturday 25th at noon and run until February the 28th.  The GSC team will drive up from Cairo and compete at the Gouna Tennis Club clay courts, located beside the Go Kart race track and opposite the TUB campus.  
 This is an annual meet between the two clubs, and the 2017 tournament will be its fourth occurence, with El Gouna having won the tournament the last three times. It is important to note the informal, festive and friendly nature of these meets, where the love of tennis and the social aspect feature greatly.  
It is expected that around 60 players will participate in the 2017 tournament.  
Following is the High Level Plan for the tournament and events:
 1.  GSC participants travel by bus at 8.30am in front of Gezira Horse Racing Gate on Friday 24th of February 2017...

As part of Motoclub Egypt's efforts to increase the knowledge of Egyptian people of  motocross sport and put El Gouna's name on the international map of  motocross sport, Motoclub Egypt (El Gouna) has  decided to organize and host an international event to break the  recorded longest distance covered on a motocross bike in 24 hours  (individual).  This event will happen next March 2017 at Motoclub Egypt El Gouna. The attempt has been sanctioned and will be monitored by Guinness World Records.  The current greatest distance on a motocross in 24 hours recorded  by Guinness World Records, for an individual, is 565.74 Km and was achieved  by Paul Oughton (UK) at Rogershill Raceway in Bere Regis, Dorset, UK on  10-11 September 2011. Paul used a Yamaha YZ250 for the whole attempt. A further announcement will be forthcoming. Motoclub Egypt looks forward to residents and visitors showing support for the event. http://www.record...

Residents of El Gouna may have noticed feverish activity on the road between Downtown and Marina. A structure is being built beside the Tennis Club and opposite the TUB campus. Dozens of workers are hard at work building,  El Gouna's new Squash Center. The Squash Center will be built with four courts and is expected to open on the 1st of April 2017, in time for the PSA (Professional Squash Association) Women's International Squash Championship, that was delayed from 2016.  The Center will be managed by Mr. Amr Mansi and Orascom. Once again El Gouna will be on the map in international Squash competitions.

An absentee owner in Cairo was given the shocking news that his 43 ft boat submerged and began to sink on its own accord in broad daylight.  The 43 Ft Azimuth was docked and moored in the El Gouna Abu Tig Marina with no one on board on the morning of January 28th, when suddenly it began to sink.  The boat's captain and deckhand were first to raise the alarm.  A small crowd assembled and the dock master was called in.  Frogmen quickly appeared on the scene to establish what was the cause of the boat taking on water. It became apparent a hull underwater light had smashed and had allowed water to seep in, thus scuppering the vessel.  A winch was brought in, floaters were positioned below the hull and pumped with air, and the smashed light removed and the opening plugged.  By the end of the day the boat was afloat again,  with unfortunate water damage to interior furnishings.  A truly rare and strange incident: a boat trying to be a sub...

By Valentina C. (Contributor) Decorating a garden can be a tricky job, as much as it can be a very enjoyable creative endeavor. And when your backyard or front yard accompany a villa in El Gouna, then you are probably looking for some beautiful accessories somewhere not far from home. So, what about some traditional pottery for instance? El Gouna doesn't have a Pottery outlet per se. The nursery, owned by Mamdouh, previously behind the Marina, has relocated beside Dubieland. They have a small limited selection of pots for plants. However, we know a great place in Hurghada, where you can choose your own favourite types of pots, out of a variety of shapes, colours, sizes and finishings. We've decided to share our experience with you.  Egyptians have made pottery For millennia. Ancient Egyptian pottery was originally made for functional reasons, rather than for decorative purposes. But nowadays the situation is mainly the other way around. Although making pottery is...

I was lucky to be in El  Gouna  for these winter holidays, while back home temperatures were dropping below zero and  the streets were slowly being covered by mountains of snow .  But just when I thought my luck  can not  get any better, the 'Arts and Fleas by the Sea ' Marina market tombola proved me wrong. That's because I was  the winner of a Gift Certificate for a 25 minutes ride with an ultra light aircraft, from  Sharm  Air, El Gouna.  So New Year 2017 started well for me, with a chance of conquering my fear of heights and meeting captain  Hany . Who is Captain  Hany ? He is an Egyptian, a cert ified pilot, who has been flying light and ultra light aircraft for the past 20 years. A gregarious man who retired from a corporate career with multinationals such as Bristol Myers and Kimberly Clark to pursue his hobby of flying.  As I was informed later on, the ideal wind speed for flying an ultra light p...