Egypt
I’m writing this blog entry as we cross the eastern part of the Egyptian desert bound for Taba. Matt just turned to me and said “it looks like we’re on Mars!” There is nothing out here but a few stray camels and some electrical towers – a stark contrast to the chaos of Cairo!

Our Egypt story began in Aswan where we boarded a Nile River ferry (floating hotel) for a four day tour of Aswan and Luxor. The first day there, we hopped on a small river boat which took us to the Aswan Botanical Gardens. The gardens, on a small island in the middle of the Nile, are truly remarkable. Every tree from Asia is represented in the garden and it’s green and lush and colorful. Our next stop was the east shore where we rode camels to visit a Nubian village. Riding the camels was definitely a highlight and the girls were loving it! During the “cruise” we visited the High Dam, Kom-Ombo Temple, Edfu Temple, Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple and The Valley of the Kings. To say that one temple was more impressive then another would be misleading because they are all so unique. Each temple, with its own story and presence is completely powerful and majestic in its own way. I think our favorite was Luxor Temple because we were there as the sun was setting and it was magical to see it in the fading light of day. The Valley of the Kings, where 64 tombs have been found to date, was pretty amazing. The Egyptians chose this area for burial because it was quite a distance from the Nile and they knew it would be safe from flooding (little did they know that flooding was the least of their worries for ensuring their kings were safely resting in their afterlife where nobody would disturb them!) The tombs were interesting, and a little sad. These people went to such great lengths to honor their kings with elaborate burials and most of the tombs are stripped of their original belongings and all you really see are the paintings and decorations on the walls leading to the burial chambers. The valley is beautiful and far enough away from Luxor to not be affected by Luxor’s nasty pollution.

After spending one more night in Luxor, we flew back to Cairo to see the pyramids and visit the Egyptian Museum. Cairo is insane. It’s the most densely populated city we’ve been to yet and the traffic and pollution are just gross. The pyramids of Giza are simply alien. We spent a couple of hours walking around each pyramid and, of course, the sphinx, and we had to stop and pinch ourselves a few times because we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. The Egyptian Museum is surprisingly old-fashioned and funky! The collection there is outstanding, but the displays and placards are more like those you might find in some nutty archaeologists home office! Actually, because of this, it’s quite charming and kind of a fun way to enjoy all these ancient treasures. We were very pleased with our time spent there.

I write this blog with mixed emotions because there were so many incredibly distasteful aspects of traveling in Egypt. The unpleasant experiences don’t even deserve attention in this blog because these memories are, ultimately, for the girls, and to harbor on the negative would be tedious. I will say that I have never been more in touch with my “Mama Lioness protecting her cubs” then I was in Egypt. And as far as Matt was concerned, I think I even heard him roar a few times. He was awesome and we were, and are, so incredibly proud of, and comforted by, the way he took care of us. The man has cajones!

We were happy to leave Egypt and the sight of Israeli flags flying over the border crossing was so welcoming. Egypt was an experience we’re happy we had together as a family, but sadly, I doubt that any of us will ever return.