My trip to Egypt started out badly. I arrived in Addis Ababa, expecting to have a two hour layover before boarding my flight to Cairo and meeting my friends, Alex, Fay and Steve in the airport and heading to our hotel. Instead, as I glanced at the monitor in the Addis airport, I realized that there was no flight that night to Cairo. It turned out that Ethiopian airlines had canceled that flight 15 days before and changed my booking to the following day without notifying me. I was expected to wait 27 hours for my connection, and somehow no one thought this was a problem!
After hours of negotiating with the staff, I managed to get myself an unconfirmed seat on a morning flight to Cairo with another airline – but this meant spending 8 hours in Addis and not catching my friends in the Cairo airport. I spent a near-sleepless night in Addis, as I had to wake up in the middle of my nap to run back down to the office to see if my seat was confirmed on the next flight.
Happily, I made it onto a flight that was due to bring me into Cairo at 7:30am, 7 hours late. After waiting for my luggage to come for 90 minutes, it was clear that it hadn’t arrived. This happened despite me reminding the staff in Addis over and over again to get my bag and send it on my flight and after getting a new luggage tag! So I left the Cairo airport feeling quite empty – instead of departing with 3 friends and a bag, I had nothing. Nothing but a 2-hour taxi ride into the city, as it was now traffic hour. Once I reached the hote and saw Alex – whom I hadn’t seen in almost 2 years – I melted into her arms and finally felt ok. For even though I didn’t have my bag, I had my friends, two weeks of freedom and exploration in Egypt, and the knowledge that anytime my trip starts badly, it usually proves to be amazing! And it was!
Happily, I made it onto a flight that was due to bring me into Cairo at 7:30am, 7 hours late. After waiting for my luggage to come for 90 minutes, it was clear that it hadn’t arrived. This happened despite me reminding the staff in Addis over and over again to get my bag and send it on my flight and after getting a new luggage tag! So I left the Cairo airport feeling quite empty – instead of departing with 3 friends and a bag, I had nothing. Nothing but a 2-hour taxi ride into the city, as it was now traffic hour. Once I reached the hote and saw Alex – whom I hadn’t seen in almost 2 years – I melted into her arms and finally felt ok. For even though I didn’t have my bag, I had my friends, two weeks of freedom and exploration in Egypt, and the knowledge that anytime my trip starts badly, it usually proves to be amazing! And it was!
Alex, Fay and I climbing the largest pyramid of Giza – not entirely legal, I think, but our guide told us to do it!
Wandering through the Khan Khalili market in Cairo. As you can see, it was jam-packed with people trying to sell us goods. Dare to make eye contact with someone and you’ve basically bought their ware!
Alex, Fay, Steve, and I on a snorkelling trip off the coast of Sharm el Sheik.
Stevie’s Angels! The entire time the four of us were in Egypt, we received comments from the locals regarding Steve and his three girls. We made a joke of it, saying we were his three wives and that he was just looking for one more to complete his Islamic right to four wives!
From Sharm el Sheik, we drove to Bassata Camp, past Nuweiba. On the way we stopped here, at the Blue Hole, to snorkel. Google it – it’s one of the deepest “seaholes” known, and it’s a pretty scary experience to look down and see nothing but darkness only 10 meters from the shore!
Looking down at Bassata Camp, past Nuweiba from one of its surrounding rocky hills.
Playing chess with my new friends from Bassata – Gasser and Hatem. Read about them in more detail in my blog titled “The Land of Beautiful People”.
On the summit of Mt. Sinai with our Bedouin guide. The sun has just risen, but it’s still freezing (as you can see from my stylish clothing!)
Drinking one of dozens of cups of Egyptian tea – strong and sweet! I miss it!
On a snorkelling boat trip to Ras Mohammed National Park, near Sharm el Sheik. I wore the wet suit this time and wholeheartedly believe it was the best plan. I was able to snorkel for hours in the cold Red Sea.
Eating our first Egyptian meal at Gasser’s house – lentil soup and some sort of staple meal composed of rice, noodles, lentils and chickpeas. Delicious!
Another meal with Gasser in Cairo – this one a traditional Egyptian breakfast! Most of the dishes are beans done various ways. There are also a few falafels – my favorite!
