EGYPT
day #1
Upon arriving in Cairo, after two long flights and a super long layover in Casablanca, the four of us (Me, Sekou, Sam, and Annie) all wanted desperately to take a shower and a long nap. Our tour guide had a different idea. We were immediately whisked away into the historical heart of Cairo: The Giza Pyramids. Within an hour of first stepping foot in Egypt, we were mounting camels and heading into the desert to see some of most widely recognized historical images in the world. We were set up with a tour guide who led us to the pyramids and the Sphinx, explaining the historical background and significance of each…though we later found out that he made most of it up.
Afterwards, our tour guide, Sameh, took us to a an oil shop where they sold Egyptian fragrant and medicinal oils, a papyrus shop where we learned the time-old technique of making paper using papyrus and had the opportunity to buy beautiful paintings, and a bazaar where they sold Egyptian souvenir knick-knacks and whatnot. Leaving the shops, we headed out of Cairo to a hotel where we were stay before heading out into the desert the following day. We were invited to eat dinner at friend of Sameh’s who would be our desert safari guide the next day.
day #2
Our desert safari started early in the morning with the Black Desert that gets its name from the black rocks that cover the surface. The rocks actually come from a volcano that snakes its way underground and deposits its chard-black remains here. Next was “Mount Crystal” which is a small mountainous deposit of crystals in the desert. Lastly, we visited the White Deserts (old & new) which are characterized by hundreds of large, white rock-like formations that were formed over 65,000 years ago when the desert was under water! If you look hard enough here, you can actually find shells and oceanic fossils. We set up camp underneath one formation and after eating one of the best meals of grilled chicken, salad, stew, and veggies, we slept underneath the desert stars. Since we camped here, we were able to see both the desert sunset and sunrise; it was BEAUTIFUL. However, none of us knew that we weren’t going back to the hotel before camping and consequently spent most of the night freezing! There were also some foxes that harassed our campsite all night, but they only managed to make off with Annie’s sandals.
day #3
The next day, we returned to our hotel to shower before heading back into Cairo. After checking into the hotel, we went out for a Dinner Cruise on the Nile. This part was pretty touristy, so the food was only okay and we didn’t really go far on the cruise, as it was only 2 hours in total. But dinner came with a show: a belly dancer and a traditional Egyptian spinning-skirt-man….(?)
day #4
Day three consisted mostly of driving to Dahab, a small beach town on the Sinai Peninsula. We arrived exhausted, but had little time to rest before snorkeling in the Red Sea, eating a huge seafood dinner and then setting off at 11pm to Mount Sinai. Because the hike up Mount Sinai is so long and grueling, it is necessary to start the hike around 1-2am in order to see the sunset around 6am. So that’s what we did. And because we were all religiously ignorant (not you, Annie), none of us knew the significance of the mountain until after we climbed back down—for all those like us, Mount Sinai is apparently the mountain that Moses climbed to receive the 10 Commandments. Sam, Sekou, and I agreed to the hike knowing that there was some sort of importance (maybe it held some height record???) but mostly because we knew that Annie really wanted to do it (of course, she knew the significance). So we all arrived at the top, freezing, tired, half-dead, and very angry at Annie. We apologize. But anyways, we saw the sunrise, which was pretty much like every other sunrise I’ve ever seen, and climbed Moses’ mountain, which was pretty much the hardest mountain I’ve ever climbed. You’re welcome, Annie; and thanks, Moses, for making it worth my while.
day #5
Again, we spent most of the day driving. But this day it was rewarded with PIZZA HUT DELIVERY!!!! This may not seem that exciting, but considering I haven’t seen Pizza Hut or any other American fast-food chain in 2 years, it was pretty damn thrilling for me.
day #6
We spent the entire day in Cairo doing a city tour with stops including the Egyptian Museum, which was huge and had a lot of stuff but I was highly disappointed with the curator as most pieces had little or no descriptions at all! We spent most of the time wandering around not knowing what we were looking at. However, there was a special exhibit for King Tutankhamen with many of his jewelry pieces, three of his four sarcophaguses, and his famous headdress. We also toured a huge Citadel (mosque), and a few other churches. We finished the day with a Sound and Light Show put on in front of the Giza Pyramids & Sphinx. The show told the real story of how and why the pyramids were created.
day #7
Again, we hopped back into the car to drive to Alexandria, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Here, we visited the Alexandria Library, which is one of the oldest and biggest libraries in the world. Despite its age, however, it has been totally rebuilt and modernized. Afterwards, we went to see some Roman-Egyptian Catacombs, but none of us really understood what exactly they were and our “tour guide,” who ended up just being some guy from the streets who was hoping to get a tip from us spoke no English or French he simply just pointed to different rooms and said either “Roman” or “Egyptian.” I’m sure the story was really very interesting though… Also, we ate CINABONS!!! They were delicious and possibly one of the best parts of the trip. Afterwards, we headed back to Cairo to do some last minute shopping, smoke some hookah, and drink some mint tea (the latter two were present in each day of our trip).
day # 8
PEACE OUT! Today, we sadly said “goodbye” to Egypt and continued on our way to Morocco, land of the hustlers.
MOROCCO
Morocco was more of a hassle than Egypt, but mostly just because we didn't have the help of a trustworthy tourguide. We spent our three days in Fes, which is an old market town made up of tiny, winding, stone streets, vendors, and people trying to rip you off. We spent the three days just relaxing and getting lost in the maze of streets before heading back to Togo.
