Easter in Egypt (4-13 April)

‘Amazing’ is a great word to describe my recent trip to Egypt. It was such a great trip and I had such great travel buddies. I went with Chris L, Wendy and Jessie (all three teachers at Rossyln). I was planning to go to Egypt last year over Easter, but went to Mauritius instead. Then I was thinking about going during another time last semester, but that too fell through. I am glad that I waited to go until now so that I would be able to travel with them.

I really don’t know where to begin. We did everything. We saw the great pyramids, the sphinx, King Tut’s burial mask (which is out of pure gold), mummies, ruins, obelisks. We went to Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Luxor, as well as other well-known places like McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC and Chili’s.

I was astounded to see monuments that have been around for 3,000 years. And even in some of the tombs, there was still paint on the wall from thousands of years ago. Wow! It is hard to write about all the things we saw. In Cairo and Alexandria, we had our own tour guide, Marwa. She told us about all the pyramids and took us throughout the Egyptian Museum. Then from Luxor to Aswan, we were on a cruise ship and were in a group of us plus three other people. Of the three, Jenny was from Tasmania and the other two were a couple from Los Alamos, New Mexico … the husband works with Jessie’s dad. Crazy! Our tour guide was Mohamed. He was the best guide ever. He nicknamed our group “The Tigers”, or as he would say it “Ze Tigerz”. At historic sites, he would address us as the Tigers and even tell us to “attack”. We thoroughly enjoyed his leading. His English was great and his knowledge was astounding. There is so much to remember and he kept it all straight. He even used good teaching strategies when he explained things. He had us act out the history behind the different sites.

Below is our itinerary. It may give you a better idea of the trip. You can click on the links as well for more information about the places we saw.

Day 01: Depart Nairobi on MS850 at 0515 hours. Arrive Cairo at 0910 local time. Meet and assist through formalities. Transfer to President Hotel for check in. Afternoon half day tour to visit the Great Pyramids of Giza & Sphinx. Transfer back to your hotel and overnight in Cairo.

Day 02: Full day tour to visit the Egyptian Museum, the Citadel, Mohamed Ali Mosque and the Old Bazaar of Khan El Khalili. Transfer to Cairo train station for your overnight sleeper train to Luxor, dinner and overnight on board the train.

Day 03: Breakfast on board of train. Meet at Luxor train station and transfer to board your cruise ship. Embarkation & lunch on board the cruise. Proceed with the visits of the East bank of the Nile including the Temple of Karnak & Temple of Luxor. Transfer back to the cruise ship. Dinner and overnight on board the cruise in Luxor

Day 04: Buffet Breakfast on board and proceed with visit to the West bank of the Nile including the two colossi of Memnon, The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir El-Bahari and The Valley of Kings. Lunch on board the cruise ship. Sail to Esna. Dinner & Overnight on board the cruise in Esna.

Day 05: Buffet Breakfast. Continue sailing to Edfu. Visit the Temple of Edfu, dedicated to the god Horus. Lunch on Board the cruise ship while sailing to Kom-Ombo. Visit the Temple of Kom-Ombo, dedicated for gods Sobek and Haroeris. Dinner & Overnight on board the cruise in Kom-Ombo.

Day 06: Buffet Breakfast on board. Morning sail to Aswan. Lunch on board the cruise ship. Afternoon tour by felucca around Elephantine Island and the Botanical garden. Dinner & Overnight on board cruise ship in Aswan.

Day 07: Breakfast and disembarkation from the cruise. Proceed with the visits of Aswan including the High Dam, The unfinished Obelisk and the Temple of Philae. Transfer to Aswan train station for your overnight sleeper train to Cairo. Dinner and overnight on board of the train.

Day 08: Breakfast on board of the train, Meet at Cairo train station. Travel to Alexandria with full day tour of the city visit to the Catacombs of Kom El Shokafa, the Pompeii’s Pillar, Roman Amphitheater and the Montazah Palace & Gardens. Return to Cairo and overnight at President Hotel.

Day 09: Buffet breakfast at hotel. Check-out. Transfer to Cairo international airport for your final departure flight.

**Pictures to follow ...