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Published: November 26th 2006
Hi everyone,
I'm back! I'm writing to you from our hotel in Prague. We had a pretty quiet day and now some quiet time, so I need to catch up!
We left Cairo yesterday morning, and it was quite the ride to the airport. The smog was thick and the traffic was heavy. We only had a day in Cairo and it was a very full day.
We left the Masai Mara Game Reserve by way of some small chartered aircraft so that we didn't have to make the 7 hour return trip to Nairobi by van again. (One way was enough for all of us!). It was raining quite heavy the night before so we were a bit leery about the condition of the runway. Anyway, we left at 9 a.m. and all was well. We were in small twin otter planes; I wasn't too keen on this since I have vivid memories of a wicked and bumpy flight from Edmonton to Grande Prairie a few years ago. But.......we had a fabulous pilot and the conditions were not too bad, so that's another bad memory wiped out! Perfect!
We had a very smooth landing at Nairobi
Leaving Nairobi
I told you it was fun at the back of the plane!International Airport, where our private plane was waiting. That plane feels like home to all of us now. And the crew were as welcoming as ever! We are all like family and miss each other when we are away doing our tourist things. Leona, my room-mate, was quite content in that she had the very front seat in this small plane and could watch the pilots do their thing. She is a pilot herself! She's quite the woman and I have learned a lot from her (since we are sharing a room on this trip).
So, we landed at Nairobi, got through the required paperwork with ease (Carl and Ben are doing a great job handling the adminis-trivia and making things smooth for us!). It was smooth sailing. Back on the plane, and to the back of the plane we go. That's the "happy space"! My buddies and I like it back there. We great excellent service, and entertainment, from Stella, Frieda and John! Kevin is always delighted as there is a cool Molson Canadian (or any kind of beer, actually) waiting for him! They know what we like!
Up, up and away and we're on our way
More fun!
The laughter and happiness is contagious! to Cairo. It's about a 5 hour flight (see, I forget these details already and it's only been a day). Nice views from the windows of the plane. We get people up and about and a lot of them are heading to the back now. They know where the happy vibes are! These are things you learn once you have spent 3 weeks with a group of about 100 people!~.........who you enjoy, and who you don't (my favorite expression has become: Run, Forest, Run!!!!!.....from the negative people. There's always a few.) The movies on the flight aren't always the greatest. Don't know who chooses them but I might try and find out before we do the long flight home from Iceland!
We fly into Cairo and are quite taken aback by the thick and black smog hanging over the city. I couldn't get very clear shots from the plane because of it. Off the plane and onto our buses we go! We are staying at the Conrad Hilton. It's incredible. I LOVE IT!!!! (Kate, I'm afraid this one is heading to the top of my preferred hotels on this trip! It's almost a tie with the Sheraton in New
King Solomon!
He works at the Keekorok Lodge. Ben and I "interviewed" him the night before we were leaving. Learned lots! Delhi). The rooms are awesome. For once, Leona and I get a really nice room with a view and we are thrilled. We are on the Executive Floor and have access to the Executive Lounge. This is the life! The beds are incredibly comfortable, the pillows are (almost) heavenly, the bathroom is awesome!!!!! I love it! (did I say that already?)
Time for dinner at the hotel. Leona skips dinner because she is feeling totally crummy with a head cold. Dinner is a buffet in a special dining room. Lots of nice choices and finally some chocolate for dessert. Yum! Off to bed early!
(In fact, that was the evening I did all the Kenya blogs!).
Up again, bright and early, and we're on the bus heading for the pyramids. Oh my gosh! They are surreal! Driving around Cairo was an eye-opener. (the view from our hotel room is of the Nile River and the hotel pool.......nice!). The Nile River!!!! Geez, it still seems weird to actually be here! The Nile, for heaven's sakes!!!! So we get to the pyramids, have a bit of an "information session" and then have some time to wander on our own. I
Bathroom at the lodge
Thought you might like to see what the bathrooms looked like there! head out with "the sisters", Anne and Tina. We got some pretty good photos. We met up with a group of school kids who were so very friendly. I wanted their picture, and then the teacher asked me to pose with all of them. What fun! Kids around the world are fabulous! Lots of camels in the area, horses, and so on. It's beautiful. It's pretty brown too! One big sand box!!!!!
(Oh, and speaking of fabulous kids around the world, a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my precious little grandson, Kalen, who turns 6 on Nov. 25 and I think that was yesterday! I phoned him and was delighted to actually get them at home! I love you and miss you, little buddy! And for those of you who know him, isn't it incredible that he is 6 already!!!! Seems like just yesterday...........)
So, the pyramids were amazing, inspiring, incredible to see in real life! I can't imagine what life must have been like back then! From the pyramids, to the Sphinx! Got some incredible pictures and we had a really good time wandering around these places. They really are just like huge sand-boxes! Some people thought that
A pretty darn good shower!
I can live without TV, telephone, internet.....but I LOVE a good shower! the Sphinx should have been bigger. It's really amazing when you hear about these places all your life, read about them, see pictures ......and then get to the real deal. I find it interesting to hear people's thoughts about all of it. We had a really good tour guide and she "educated" us well!
From there, we went to the Sakkara Country Club for lunch. Wowee. An outside lunch in a most gorgeous setting. When I saw the pool, I thought of you, again, Maureen. You really would have loved this trip and I'm sorry you didn't come with me. Lunch was a buffet (of course), but it was really tasty (as usual). I love trying all the new and different foods. We had time to wander around and watched some of the members training on their horses, and so on. Nice place!
Then, back on the bus, and then off to the Egyptian Museum to see the treasures of Tut Ankh Amoun. The Museum was interesting, but not very well maintained (in my humble opinion). Guess I've been spoiled by the likes of the Alberta Provincial Museum (right, Ron?!!!). Anyway, there were some incredible sights in there!
Coming into Cairo
Can you see the smog? The jewellery, the tombs, the colors!!!!! From there, back to the hotel for a bit of down time and then getting ready for supper. We headed to the Pier where we boarded the Golden Pharaoh for our dinner cruise. We were entertained by another belly dancer (she didn't hold a candle to the one at the dunes barbeque in Dubai..........no, I don't mean ME..... ha ha!), and a Whirling Dervish dancer. He was incredible. I had seen them on The Amazing Race; it was pretty fun to be here in person! I got a pretty good picture of that. The boat took us up and down the Nile River and we saw some fantastic night sights and lights. We went up on the top deck for a while, and for some air. I'm getting pretty darn good at all this water and boat living!!!!! (It hasn't always been my entertainment of choice.)
Back to the hotel and I just fell into bed. It was like sleeping in a princess bed! I LOVED it (have I said that already??!! ha ha).
Up and at 'em in the morning because we were leaving for Prague. It was entertaining to sit
Different geography again
Pretty congested down there! in the front of the bus with Elverira so I could get some good shots of the Cairo traffic! Now I have everyone on the bus saying "Pat, to the left; or, Pat, to the right" as everyone has joined in on the blog fun and are pointing out "photo opps" for me. Many of the families and friends of my tour partners are following this (thus, as well, many of my touring partners are not getting any e-mails from home and are feeling some separation anxiety..........you know who you are if you haven't communicated with your parents lately!!!!!! They know you are enjoying the blog, but they also want to hear from you!)
At the airport, we see our familiar plane and are anxious to join our crew again! We spent a bit of time shopping at Duty Free as we had lots of time (we thought) for our flight. We were just getting into the fun of it (I finally found a large, solid, dark chocolate bar!!!! Yum. This has been a rare finding on this tour!!) I was also trying on some of those bangled bands that the belly dancers wear around their hips..........who knows, I
just might take it up this winter! Then someone was hollering that if we hurried our butts to the plane, we could fly out a bit earlier. Sure enough. On the plane and away we go. We leave early, have a great flight, and arrive in Prague quite a bit earlier than planned. But, lo and behold, the guides in Prague checked the internet, saw that the flight was coming in earlier, and they got their act together and were there to meet and greet us! We are now in Prague and ready for our next adventure.
So long to Africa. It was an adventure, to say the least! And it's one that I am so happy to have experienced! There are LOTS of photos included with this blog, so be sure to click on the numbers 2, 3, etc. to make sure you see them all! It's sooooo difficult to choose a few from the 150 that I took!!! I wanted to give you perspective of many things.
Bye for now. The Prague blog will begin to appear soon (or tomorrow morning, as we have free time then too). Besides, if I don't update this right away,
I'm forgetting things........it's all so much fun and so action-packed!).
Happy Pat
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Gail Page
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WOW!!!
Pat I wait anxiously for each blog. What a fabulous experience for a fabulous woman. I also cannot believe that Kalen turned 6. What a miracle. Take care and I look forward to the next chapter of your journey.