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.
