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 more exotic trips we are planning for the future. Weekend trips to Whistler and the Okanagan may still be in the works in the autumn, when it will be a great time to check out Winter Olympic preparations in Whistler ... read more

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 Islamic Cairo to look forward to. Our last day in Egypt would be spent souvenir shopping, touring modern Cairo and packing our bags for our trip home! Coptic Cairo January 6, 2009 We toured Coptic ... read more

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 camel at the front swinging your legs over the front post! Once you are in the saddle, lean back and as the camel rises lean slightly forward! Check out the video on getting on a ... read more

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. Although we had been invited to spend New Year's Eve with our friend, Ali, we had fun hanging out with our fellow hotel guests from Norway and England. Canuck Junior danced her feet off as she ... read more

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 Thebian rulers, and toured the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, the only woman pharaoh to reign in ancient Egypt. We then toured 3 tombs in the Valley of the Queens. The tour of the Valley of ... read more