Why Staycation? After taking all our 2009 vacation allotment earlier in the year to tour Egypt for four weeks, our family, aka The Travelling Canucks, decided to be tourists in our own hometown over this summer's weekends. On weekdays, we slaved at our desks looking out of our downtown office windows and counted the hours until our next weekend adventure! Staycationing was definitely a trend this summer with the challenging economic times we have been facing. Although there are short trips we could have taken around our beautiful province, we decided to save our money for [View Full Entry]

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Want to know what the Travelling Canucks are talking about now that they are back home in Vancouver, Canada after a 4 week trip over Christmas Break? Well, even if you don't, we Senior Canucks are approaching our 50's so before our memories fade, we are sharing some of the highlights and lowlights of our trip to Egypt. Hopefully, Junior Canuck's memories of Egypt will be everlasting! Since we captured amazing sights and experiences of our Egyptian adventure having taken over 4000 photographs and 4 hours of video, we have posted some of our favourite photographs on our travel blog for [View Full Entry]

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Cairo Revisited! January 5, 2009 We returned to Cairo after touring Upper Egypt for 10 days. We flew into Cairo after spending the night in Abu Simbel and stopping over in Aswan en route to Cairo. After flying Egypt Air across Egypt, we were impressed with the aircraft, flight crews and airports. In fact, all our domestic Egypt Air flights departed and arrived on time! We checked into the Four Seasons Cairo at Nile Plaza for the last 4 nights in Egypt and spent the afternoon taking it easy since we had two full days of being guided around Coptic and [View Full Entry]

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Abu Simbel We had a morning check out of the Movenpick Aswan Resort Hotel on Elephantine Island and took a flight on Egypt Air to Abu Simbel on Sunday, January 4th. Since most travelers travel to Abu Simbel by bus or take Egypt Air flights with fixed departure and same day return flights, most travelers do not overnight in Abu Simbel. Because we had read that the flights were sometimes delayed and travelers had limited time to marvel at the temples, we thought it would be a unique experience to stay at Eskaleh Traditional Nubian House, so we decided to overnight. [View Full Entry]

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Camel How To's To understand how to get up on a camel, it is helpful to understand how a camel gets up! The camel first gets into a kneeling position; then, the camel pushes up its strong back legs before finally straightening its front legs. First of all, you have to be able to swing your legs over the camel's saddle with wooden posts protruding from the back and front of the saddle. Not an easy task for the vertically challenged with short legs around a tall and broad camel! For others it’s a piece of cake if you mount the [View Full Entry]

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Aswan Again! We took an early Egypt Air flight from Luxor to Aswan so we could arrive in time to get two full days of sightseeing! Aswan is Egypt's sunniest southern city and located about 81 miles south of Luxor. It is an ancient frontier town with a distinctively African atmosphere. Small enough to walk around and graced with the most beautiful setting on the Nile as it flows through amber desert and granite rocks, round emerald islands covered in palm groves and tropical plants. It was the country's premier winter resort from 910 to 24 BC, offering natural beauty, a [View Full Entry]

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New Year's Eve What a night! Snake charmer, dancers, and musicians (Canucks using the term broadly). Watch and listen to the video clips and weep! Mama Canuck was the first to be introduced to the not so charming snake charmer! With a snake around her neck, Mama Canuck could only remember the terror Papa Canuck felt when in Marrakesh! After the snake charmer's offer to put the snake down Mama Canuck's top was rejected, the snake charmer couldn't resist pinching Mama Canuck's derriere as she ran back to our table! We enjoyed a great buffet of Egyptian salads and dishes. Al [View Full Entry]

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Travelling Canucks Go Tomb Raiding and Temple Gazing Again! In the Valley of the Kings, one never knows what tombs might be closed for repairs. So, we went prepared with a list of our picks, but went with an open mind! Being flexible is key to enjoying the travelling experience, especially in Egypt. We took a private guided tour with an Egyptologist, Mohamed abdel Hamid of Eye of Horus Tours that started around 8:00 a.m. in the hopes of beating the crowds. Unfortunately, the crowds were even heavier than the day before and long lineups formed at the most popular tombs. [View Full Entry]

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Last Day on Sonesta Nile River Cruise December 29, 2008 After breakfast on board, we had an early start, leaving our ship at 7:30am with our bags in tow. We boarded a bus, crossed the Nile and toured the West Bank with our group. In ancient Egypt, the tombs were all built on the west side because the day “died” in the west, swallowed by the goddess Nutt. People lived on the East Bank where the sun was reborn each morning. We visited the Valley of the Kings and Queens, which included the famous Colossi of Memnon, three tombs of the [View Full Entry]

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Cruising on the Nile December 27, 2008 After enjoying a delicious breakfast on board, we sailed on the Nile by felucca, an Egyptian-style sail boat, around Kitchener's Island, a small granite island that was landscaped with exotic plant species by Lord Kitchener. There was a strong wind that carried us swiftly across the Nile under blue skies and sunny weather with a young Nubian boy on a water board being dragged along while singing Nubian folksongs in the hope of earning baksheesh. It was a great way to start our day of cruising down the Nile. We look for [View Full Entry]

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