When Egypt’s kite-surfing community found out that, Matchu Lopes, 23-year-old kitesurfing champion is coming to Egypt; everyone got excited! Born and raised in Cape Verde, he began riding the waves at the age of four. Developing his talents as he grew up; Matchu traveled at the age of 17 for his first international competition and managed to finish in the top two places despite being the youngest competitor.
Lopes, who travels the world kitesurfing looking for the perfect wave as part of North Kitesurfing team – has just won the Mauritius Strapless Kitesurfing Pro title this past September – luckily we had the chance to meet and chat with him and he had nothing but great things to say about Egypt. From the people to the history and the beautiful beaches, we heard it all as we tagged along for some sightseeing during this past weekend.
Egypt, he says, is nothing like he expected: going by old documentaries he has seen over the years, he was expecting to find desert and camels but was surprised to find beautiful landscape and nature; watersports from kite surfing to diving; busy city streets with lots of traffic where he visited exclusive private developments until he found himself at a party on the 25th floor of a Cairo high-rise. “It was just cool,” he said.
While we drove up to the pyramids and wandered through the Egyptian Museum in a charming day tour organized by Travco Travel Company of Egypt, we asked Lopes about the purpose of his visit to Egypt. “I was in Almaza Bay, and it was epic,” he told us. “They have an amazing white sand beach with turquoise blue waters! A cool project.”
“I was visiting here, of course, to catch some waves and experience a new place, the wind was coming basically from the shore so the water stayed clean and the sun was shining, so it was like, man, real crazy things.” “Beautiful” he said, as he stressed on how beautiful Egypt’s beaches are some more!
Lopes was in the North Coast to film, take pictures, and gather some sweet promo materials for himself and his sponsors, who send him all over the world. With the beauty of the landscape and the great scenery in Almaza Bay; Matchu managed to capture some really cool footage and says he had a great time!
Egypt is big and has a lot of possibilities. The atmosphere, the people and the attitude of the Egyptians he has met have put him at ease. “You see people on the street, you see their faces, they’re happy, cool and smiling. They talk to you; they invite you to places all the time. Everything was just perfect!”
We asked him if he’d come back, Lopes said definitely – and not alone! He said he’d like to give kitesurfing clinics, or come with friends and enjoy the colors, the landscape, the culture, and, of course, the kitesurfing. “I can’t wait to be back!”
