Blogs from Luxor, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 27

Greetings everyone! We arrived in Luxor, Egypt yesterday, late afternoon. Quite a difference from the Lodge in Kenya!!!!!!! (which was a new place this year, and unlike the place we stayed in last year) Special birthday greetings go out to my precious little grandson, Kalen!!!!!! So sorry I missed the exact day, but you certainly were on my mind, little guy!!!!!! Love you LOTS! So, we were up and at 'em early in Dubai, heading for the airport, all keen and ready to head into Africa. Everything went smoothly, hopped on the plane........got our FANTASTIC and WARM welcome by the crew, had our champagne and then.........we waited! We were delayed for well over an hour getting out of Dubai. Why, you ask? Why is exactly what we were asking!!!!!! Anyway, how can one complain when we ... read more

Greetings all: Yes, it's been quite some time since I made an entry, but the only places that I go to now are in Egypt, and I hav already highlighted those adventures in this travelblog. But I have a new one with some new stuff...LUXOR! This trip was with Dennis and Iris, and of course, Ahmed. We stayed at the Mercure Accor Hotel which, for anyone looking for a hotel in Luxor, is a great place to stay. I think it is technically only rated 3-stars, but it is great - pool, garden, restaurants, nice breakfast buffet...all the stuff you need. Plus, it is right on the Corniche, between Luxor Museum and Luxor Temple; very convenient. Our first day consisted of flying down to Luxor in the late morning, arriving and eating lunch at a new ... read more

We got onto the boat at Aswan our bad english speaking guide in toe. He checked us in and explained we would be met the following day in Edfu. He told us there was a party on the boat that evening. When we enquired what the party was about he looked blank and told us we would have a very nice time - just like the faluka ride. We gave up in the end. So we left Aswan on a very nice 5 star cruise liner - mmmmm think maybe 3 star but to be fair it was clean and the food was good so couldnt complain. Now I would love to be able to post you a photo of said boat but we were so busy lying in the sunshine by the pool that we ... read more

Our time in Egypt is complete, marking the end of our second leg of the trip. It is scary as it all goes so quickly! After leaving Isreal and Jordan, we travelled for 15 hours straight to the south of the Red Sea atto a place called Marsa Alam. The plan was to chase after what is reputedly some of the best diving and snorkelling in the Red Sea. The main problem was that the area isn't exactly set up for independent travellers. In fact, there is virtually no transport infrastructure and only four- and five-star hotels (completely out of our budget range). Not to be beaten, Scott wrote several emails and found a place with huts on the beach available, alongside their nice hotel rooms. With accommodation sorted out, off we went. There is no ... read more

After waking up again in the early morning hours, Mom, and Heather and I picked up out boxed breakfasts and embarked on our sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Nile and Luxor. I’ve always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon so this was a great experience for me. After dropping us off at a boat dock in order to cross the Nile, we were treated to some much appreciated tea and coffee to wake ourselves up. Once across the Nile the tour van picked us up and dropped us off in a field just outside the Valley of the Queens. The field was covered in hot air balloons, ready to be launched into the skies. There were about 20 people or so per balloon in individual compartments in a much larger basket. The ... read more