“Do not stopping thinking of life as an adventure.” Eleanor Roosevelt
CAROL WRITES: Whenever we would mention to friends or family that we would soon be visiting Egypt, I would sense a half-second pause while they were trying to think of how to respond honestly. I got it—there were times I also wondered if we were crazy to attempt such a trip to a part of the world not known for peaceful recent history. Nevertheless, I elected to believe that we were simply seizing a fortuitous moment in time when such travel can be quite safe with a reputable travel company that prioritizes safety.
We selected Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT, for short) at the recommendation of a good friend who had taken more than 15 trips with OAT. Our itinerary began and ended in Cairo, interspersed with seven days of sailing down the Nile from Aswan to Luxor on a small ship.
After several months of reading up on Egyptian history and viewing dozens of YouTube videos, we felt we were reasonably prepared. We left the Jacksonville airport with a backpack as a personal item along with one strategically packed carry-on piece of luggage each.
We were all smiles at the start of what would be over 24 hours of travel to our ultimate destination at the Semiramis Intercontinental Hotel in Cairo.
Despite a government shutdown at home which had been going on for weeks, we did not have a flight delay departing Jacksonville and none at either of our two connections! We arrived in Cairo after dark, but that just made our very first view of the Nile River from our 12th floor balcony so much more dramatic!
The scene below was just as magnificent the next morning… with Cairo’s notorious smog strangely absent.
I was somewhat amused to notice that my Apple watch home screen had switched to a map of northern Africa with Cairo marked by a green dot…
We always prefer to arrive a few days early for any international trip, as that plan proves to be tremendously helpful in overcoming jet lag. Our hotel had a nice swimming pool with the customary tempting poolside drinks, a nice way to destress and minimize 7 hours of jet lag.
The next morning we met our awesome tour guide—Rani—who suggested we take advantage of our early arrival and consider a visit to the Old Egyptian Museum.
She suggested we pal up with another couple, who were also arriving early, and visit the museum together. What a fortuitous meeting that turned out to be! At the start, it was convenient to trade taking pictures for each other.
Our fellow travelers were quite experienced OAT customers with a wide breadth of knowledge as world travelers. They were easy to talk to; thus, we found ourselves frequently gravitating to sit together for meals over the next two weeks. Interesting conversation never lagged, and laughter flowed easily.
The inside of the Old Egyptian Museum reminded me of an old European train station.
The collection ranged from the colossal, like this statue of a seated king and queen from the 18th dynasty,
to a regal tomb discovery,
to the macabre, yet irresistible mummies.
On November 8th, our 16-day tour officially began. Over the next 3 days we sampled a wide variety of Cairo experiences. In addition to the massive amount of rich history that encompasses more than 30 dynasties over 2700 years, Cairo also offered a wonderful mix of Greek, Roman, Coptic and Islamic heritage. Our itinerary introduced us to Coptic Old Cairo, the Christian bastion of Egypt prior to Islamic rule. We visited the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus,
which was famously built in the 4th century over the cave
where the Holy Family is said to have sheltered for about 3 months during their flight to Egypt. There was an indefinable feeling of sacredness about the cave…
No visit to the “city of a thousand minarets” would be complete without a visit to medieval Cairo and a few of its better-known mosques. We visited the Mosque and Madrassa of Sultan Hassan, a grand structure which was an excellent example of early Mamluk architecture (mid-14th century). The mosque consisted of four open courtyards
structured around a large central area with a fountain at its center.
The customary niche indicated the correct orientation toward Mecca, the direction all Muslims face for prayers.
Directly across the street was the relatively modern Al-Rifa’i Mosque, one of Cairo’s largest mosques.
Of historical interest to me inside the mosque was the tomb of King Faisal, Egypt’s last monarch whose reign ended in 1958.
What I didn't expect to see was the burial site of the Shah of Iran, who was not able to be buried in his home country after he was exiled during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. As a sign of friendship, Anwar Sadat provided the Shah of Iran political refuge in Egypt and a respectful burial site in the mosque.
Sakkara is a vast ancient burial ground 19 miles south of Cairo. The step pyramids at Sakkara are among the oldest building structures on Earth. The largest of these is the Step Pyramid of King Zoser, one of the very first pyramids in Egypt which dates to 27 centuries before Christ!
This particular pyramid is the oldest stone structure of its size in the world! It was only fitting to start here where pyramid history began.
After being entertained by a whirling dervish after lunch at a local restaurant,
we had a chance to wander through Khan el-Khalili Bazaar.
Al was going to need a sun hat before too many more trips into the desert, and before long he found just the deal! What great photos this hat would provide in the coming weeks!
Wow! The first 3 days in Cairo were a whirlwind of experiences covering many centuries of Egyptian history, religion, and culture. Now, we were off for a weeklong cruise adventure to visit the temples along the Nile!
The next day we left Cairo and took a private charter jet on a 1-1/2-hour flight
540 miles south to Aswan. Our schedule allowed time to appreciate Aswan High Dam,
the 1960s joint Soviet-Egyptian project which now manages the flow of the Nile River in order to provide a source of hydroelectric power, control irrigation, and prevent harmful annual flooding which has plagued the shores of the Nile for millennia.
In Aswan, we embarked on the lovely Nefertiti, the 75-passenger ship which would be our home for the next week as we sailed down the Nile and explored many temples of the ancient world. I think for both of us this was the most highly anticipated week of our tour, and that is the subject of Part II. Our studies had given us a feeling we would not be disappointed.
“Adventure without risk is Disneyland.” Doug Coupland
Carol Galus
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