review

El Gouna: Egypt’s seaside idyll?

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You need to fly at least five hours from the UK to find guaranteed winter sunshine and warmth.

So I booked a trip to the Egypt’s warm Red Sea coast for some much needed Vitamin D.

But I didn’t choose the ever popular Sharm El-Sheik – I decided to stay in El Gouna, Egypt’s upmarket purpose-built resort which took shape from 1990.

With its series of little islands and lagoons connected by bridges, the town has been called The Venice of Egypt.

How did this safe, manicured holiday idyll measure up? READ MORE BELOW

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I chose the Creek Hotel and Residences as my El Gouna home. Modern and comfortable, with friendly staff and a great buffet breakfast and dinner to graze on.

It was fairly quiet, with plenty of room around the sun-kissed pool area and small stretch of beach next to the furthest reach of lagoon.

A tuk tuk driver and his vehicle in the Egyptian resort of El Gouna

Tuk tuks are El Gouna’s transport of choice

The hotel wasn’t in easy walking distance of El Gouna’s downtown and seaside area. But there was a solution – a fleet of fast and cheap tuk tuks to whisk you around.

With its rows of pastel, white and sand-coloured villas set next to the water, the resort had an architectural purity and neatness that was a joy to photograph.

Zaytouna Beach, next to an ironically blue Red Sea, was full of places to settle and sunbathe and had a stunning boardwalk to wander along.

An unexpected attraction further inland was the Festival Plaza, a tall structure full of symmetry that didn’t seem to be doing anything apart from crying out to be photographed from all angles.

I also wandered around the downtown area a lot, with the shopping area designed like a souk but without any of the hard sell hassle.

Mike Osborn beneath El Gouna's impressive Festival Plaza structure.

The Festival Plaza was an impressive find

And the marina areas were lined with impressive looking crafts, handsome villas, upmarket cafes – and even a pristine white lighthouse.

Maybe El Gouna didn’t pack enough of an Egyptian punch  and felt a little too smooth and perfect.

This is why I took a trip to nearby Hurghada, a larger city which delivered more of an authentic feel with bustling street life and some rough around the edges architecture.

I thoroughly enjoyed my dose of winter sunshine and a refreshing change of scenery in El Gouna. Maybe the answer is to come here to decompress after a more intense visit to Egypt’s vast, chaotic capital Cairo?

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Come closer

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My Fuji family has just expanded with the addition of a new lens, the Fujifilm XF 18-135mm zoom. This sits aside the 18-55mm kit lens that came as standard with my Fuji X-E1 back in 2012, and the 60mm macro lens.

There is a comprehensive array of lenses for the Fuji compact system, with this zoom one of the more heavyweight offerings. Its substantially greater focal range offers the chance to bring distant objects and views closer, and hang back in street photography situations.

My first observations with this piece of glass is that it feels quite weighty attached to the light body of my camera. The instinct is to cradle it with one hand while carrying it around my neck. The manual zoom ring gives quite a lot of resistance, but it needs time to loosen up. Another practicality is that my camera bag has become heavier, there’s less space in it and will have to be replaced if the family expands any further.

I went into central London and conducted a simple test using the BT Tower – a prominent city landmark – to prove the lens’ zooming prowess. The left-hand image (below) is at 55mm, the extent of my usual kit lens. The right-hand one was taken at the full 135mm, and the difference is obvious.

BT Tower

As a photographer who likes capturing tall structures and landscapes, this should be worth its weight in gold. Whether the 18-135mm lens will become my standard remains to be seen. And it’s weather resistant, but I have a phobia of exposing my camera to wet weather which is not likely to change. These are just initial impressions and a full review with technical specifications can be found on Ken Rockwell’s site.