After only a day in Cairo, we flew to Aswan to start our exploration of Upper Egypt. Around Aswan, we visited the Aswan High Dam, and later the Aswan Dam where we took a boat out to see the Temple of Philae which was moved from its original location where it was partially submerged after the Aswan Dam was built. We enjoyed an excellent Nubian lunch at a small restaurant on a nearby island with the Temple serving as a beautiful backdrop a short distance across the water. We also visited the red granite quarry where the unfinished obelisk lies. When last we visited, the quarry seemed quite remote. Now, a growing Aswan surrounds it, complete with a formal entrance, chain-lined path, and barriers to keep you off of the obelisk.
Early the next morning we were up before the sun, driving 3 hours south across the desert to the furthest reaches of Egypt to see one of the most spectacular temples built for Ramses II–Abu Simbel. Rescued from the rising waters of Lake Nasser, Abu Simbel was also relocated by a massive UNESCO effort in the 1960s. Originally carved into a sandstone cliff, the temple was cut into pieces and reassembled higher on the plateau. Abu Simbel is quite remote (only 90 km from the Sudanese border), but well worth the visit. In addition to its ancient beauty, massive scale, and intricate workmanship, it is also a marvel of modern engineering to relocate and rebuild such a massive monument.
Abu Simbel–one of the most spectacular temples in Egypt
Alex and Maile have finally made it to Africa, their seventh continent, and what a memorable way to spend their first day. After arriving very late (4 am, maybe early is more accurate), we met up with our friends for breakfast at the hotel before starting our first day in Egypt. Our guide, Walid Ghonem, took us first to Memphis, then Sakkara, and finally to the Giza plateau. Even though Stacy and I have been here twice before, the Great Pyramids are just as impressive as the first time we saw them. They were already ancient when the ancient Greeks proclaimed them a wonder of the world, and they still are today.
Originally this visit to Egypt was planned for March of 2020 and only the four of us were planning to go. While the pandemic put us off for a year, we convinced several of our friends (Kelly, Rochelle, Nate & Brayden Nyberg, and George & Megan Robison) to join us this year. Egypt was closed for several months last year. People have started to return, but mostly in small numbers. According to Walid, we are the first “group” that he has hosted since March of last year. Groups traveling in Egypt are afforded extra security ever since the terrorist incident in 1997, something that we didn’t have when we were here in 1995 or when we traveled independently through the country in 2002. The armed police officer riding shotgun everywhere we went was readily apparent. It took a while to realize, though, that the frequent sirens and flashing lights behind us were our police escort. Eventually, Walid explained that our entire itinerary had been registered with the police, and they were not only escorting us but expecting us at various checkpoints. Our escort varied, from a single police car to a convoy of police cars, motorcycles, and occasionally trucks with armed soldiers. We felt like VIP’s!
Our tour was organized by Junior Singh from Travel Discounters, who did an amazing job last year when we were dealing with sudden flight cancelations, and again this year putting things back together for us and arranging things for our friends. Their partners in Egypt, Blue Sky Tours, provided excellent services on the ground and made sure everything went smoothly. Finally, our Egyptologist guide, Walid Ghonem, put together an outstanding itinerary and took extra care to help us experience Egypt, not just see it.
Our March 2020 trip to Egypt was canceled at the last minute along with every other flight out of the country. Who would have thought, then, that it would be a whole year before we could make the trip? Here we are, one year later, waiting at LAX for our flight to Istanbul and on to Cairo. It will be interesting to see how much different things are one year into the pandemic.
Christmas on Bora Bora is hard to top, but Rangiroa managed to do it. We had never been here before but included it in our holiday plans because I heard that the diving was good. I really didn’t look much farther into it, just figured we would check it out. Rangiroa is a large atoll (the largest in the world), which means it is low-lying coral islets without a spectacular volcanic island like Bora Bora. We stayed at the Hotel Kia Ora which was quite nice. We chose to dive with The Six Passengers, and I would highly recommend them. They are a very professional dive operator offering spectacular diving.
Rangiroa diving is all about big animals. We dove the Tiputa pass every dive and were never disappointed. Every dive was different, depending on the direction and strength of the current. We saw a lot of big animals, but the real attraction is the dolphins. Wild dolphins will occasionally decide to interact with divers. Just seeing groups of dolphins swim by is exciting, but when they approach and play with you–UNBELIEVABLE!
After the first close encounter with wild dolphins, that became the standard by which all other dives were judged. During our time in Rangiroa, we saw mantas, eagle rays, grey sharks, reef sharks, schools of jacks and barracuda . . . Always something exciting to see, but you are always glancing out into the blue, hoping the dolphins will return. It sounds ridiculous to surface after a dive and say, “no dolphins, only a hammerhead shark” with a degree of disappointment in your voice. Rangiroa is THAT GOOD!
Especially after being stranded close to home for the last nine months, it was great to get out of town and enjoy something close to normalcy. I think this photo sums up Christmas in Bora Bora: fantastic! Thanks, Stephan, for the great family photo.
