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Refaie, who has been charming snakes for the past five years,
says the reptiles have become closer to him than some of his
human friends.
"The world of snakes is vast, the trainer must learn the secrets
of hunting and capturing snakes ... if he is not knowledgeable
he could be exposed to deadly venom at any moment," he said.
Refaie holds each snake by the tail and gently swings it back,
forth and sideways to soft Indian music. Then he looks directly
into its eyes before touching its head with his forehead and
laying it on the ground.
The 29-year-old has more than 13 snakes and hopes that snake
charming could become a growth industry in Egypt, where tourism
is slowly picking up after years of downturn caused by political
turmoil and attacks by Islamist militants.
Beaches and dive sites around Sharm el-Sheikh once attracted
around one fourth of the tourists who visited Egypt before a
2011 uprising scared visitors away.
The tourism industry, one of the country's main sources of
foreign currency, has gradually recovered in recent months, with
revenues up about $1 billion in the first three months of 2018,
a boon for thousands of workers like Refaie whose wages depend
on the flow of visitors. [nL8N1TU2X1]
"I hope Egypt can host international shows, where I will not be
the only one doing this beautiful work ... It can attract more
tourism still as I've seen in the last period how much visitors
to Sharm El Sheikh love this show," Refaie said.
(Reporting by Amr Abdallah Dalsh; Writing by Nadine Awadalla;
Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
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