Safaga
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:01 pm
Welcome to Safaga - Egypt's Red Sea cruise port is the entry into Upper Egypt and the very heart of this country's existence - the Nile. This great river takes you to some of Egypt's most fascinating antiquities, including the Pharaoh's lavish tombs, temples and palaces in Karnak, Luxor and the Valley of the Kings and Queens. The rich detail in the wall paintings of the tombs depicts the unworldly lives of the Pharaohs and takes your breath away. Safaga is also close to the beach resort of Hughada, where the clear waters along the coastline are rated among the world's best sites for diving.
The Nile flows for over 3000 miles before it ever reaches Egypt, and then for another 900 miles from the bottom to the top of the country, creating the fertile Nile Valley. Below Cairo is called Lower Egypt while the land south of the capital is known as Upper Egypt. 93% of the land is desert and rainfall is utterly insignificant - seven inches on the coast every year, one inch in Cairo and a few drops every five years or so in Luxor. I was here some years ago and was lucky enough to se the main sights including the Tomb of Tutankharnum. He only ruled for 9 years before he died, possibly a violent death, when he was about nineteen. A recent autopsy revealed evidence of a hemorrhage!
Because I'd seen the Valley of the Kings and Queens and also because it is nearly a four hour drive (420 miles) I opted for the Desert Safari. Luckily the weather has changed to a warmer 16 degrees so we left the ship in high spirits. After a drive through the Eastern Desert, with scenes reminiscent to a moon landing this tour offered a real chance to 'get back to nature' with boundless great photographic opportunities. We made a stop to take some shots and it was amazing, just sand everywhere you looked, save one sole Acacia tree. It was the biggest golf bunker I'd ever seen. Then onward to a settlement where we received a warm welcome from the Bedouins. The camp was astounding and their living conditions really hard. The small children are assigned the task of looking after the camels and one small tot, who couldn't have been more than seven, led me off into the desert on my very own humped back beast. Yes I do have pictures to prove this staggering event. All went well until I tried to get off. Banana, who was out tour guide was shouting instructions out to me but I couldn't catch what he was saying so I leant forward to try and hear. Bad move as he had shouted "lean back'. I nearly went head first into the sand over my spitting beast who I think was enjoying the experience greatly. I was holding on for dear life and finally made a very undignified landing and a most unladylike dismount you could imagine. Luckily no one snapped that (well I hope not anyway).
We were then invited to watch the ladies make bread and were then offered the leavened staple to eat with a cup of aromatic sweet tea but I declined. Into our jeeps again and we travelled up the rocky slopes of a nearby hill across from the settlement to watch the sunset panorama, painted by the sun's last rays fading behind the surrounding mountain tops. The light was fading fast and we had to high tail it out of the area because once dark there was no way of finding your way back to the road. In fact we must have only been a few feet before the road and I still couldn't see it. I have to say it was a very hairy 2 hours drive back to the ship and every orifice was well and truly bumped about but at least we didn't have the ordeal of those that went to Luxor.
They had a 16 hour trip and kept getting turned away by the armed guards. There were riots and uprisings in several villages en route and were trying to find alternative routes. They didn't get lunch until 5.30pm (the tour had left at 7.00am) and limped back to the ship at 11.30pm. This meant we left nearly two hours late, not that it bothered me but I didn't understand why we had to observe the 'blackout procedures' in port. Let's face it we'd been there all day and everyone in Egypt must have known it. The way I look at it is you only have to Google the various british shipping lines to know all the ship's itineraries, which are planned over a year in advance. I have had a hard time, on occasions, trying to get on an anchored ship by tender so I'm not sure how a Somalian pirate could out run us at 23 knots, contend with our wake, align their vessel against ours long enough to throw grappling hooks up, and board the ship. Let's hope I'm right.
I am trying to upload the new video clip to www.facebook.com/michelemonro, it might take a while - be patient.
The Nile flows for over 3000 miles before it ever reaches Egypt, and then for another 900 miles from the bottom to the top of the country, creating the fertile Nile Valley. Below Cairo is called Lower Egypt while the land south of the capital is known as Upper Egypt. 93% of the land is desert and rainfall is utterly insignificant - seven inches on the coast every year, one inch in Cairo and a few drops every five years or so in Luxor. I was here some years ago and was lucky enough to se the main sights including the Tomb of Tutankharnum. He only ruled for 9 years before he died, possibly a violent death, when he was about nineteen. A recent autopsy revealed evidence of a hemorrhage!
Because I'd seen the Valley of the Kings and Queens and also because it is nearly a four hour drive (420 miles) I opted for the Desert Safari. Luckily the weather has changed to a warmer 16 degrees so we left the ship in high spirits. After a drive through the Eastern Desert, with scenes reminiscent to a moon landing this tour offered a real chance to 'get back to nature' with boundless great photographic opportunities. We made a stop to take some shots and it was amazing, just sand everywhere you looked, save one sole Acacia tree. It was the biggest golf bunker I'd ever seen. Then onward to a settlement where we received a warm welcome from the Bedouins. The camp was astounding and their living conditions really hard. The small children are assigned the task of looking after the camels and one small tot, who couldn't have been more than seven, led me off into the desert on my very own humped back beast. Yes I do have pictures to prove this staggering event. All went well until I tried to get off. Banana, who was out tour guide was shouting instructions out to me but I couldn't catch what he was saying so I leant forward to try and hear. Bad move as he had shouted "lean back'. I nearly went head first into the sand over my spitting beast who I think was enjoying the experience greatly. I was holding on for dear life and finally made a very undignified landing and a most unladylike dismount you could imagine. Luckily no one snapped that (well I hope not anyway).
We were then invited to watch the ladies make bread and were then offered the leavened staple to eat with a cup of aromatic sweet tea but I declined. Into our jeeps again and we travelled up the rocky slopes of a nearby hill across from the settlement to watch the sunset panorama, painted by the sun's last rays fading behind the surrounding mountain tops. The light was fading fast and we had to high tail it out of the area because once dark there was no way of finding your way back to the road. In fact we must have only been a few feet before the road and I still couldn't see it. I have to say it was a very hairy 2 hours drive back to the ship and every orifice was well and truly bumped about but at least we didn't have the ordeal of those that went to Luxor.
They had a 16 hour trip and kept getting turned away by the armed guards. There were riots and uprisings in several villages en route and were trying to find alternative routes. They didn't get lunch until 5.30pm (the tour had left at 7.00am) and limped back to the ship at 11.30pm. This meant we left nearly two hours late, not that it bothered me but I didn't understand why we had to observe the 'blackout procedures' in port. Let's face it we'd been there all day and everyone in Egypt must have known it. The way I look at it is you only have to Google the various british shipping lines to know all the ship's itineraries, which are planned over a year in advance. I have had a hard time, on occasions, trying to get on an anchored ship by tender so I'm not sure how a Somalian pirate could out run us at 23 knots, contend with our wake, align their vessel against ours long enough to throw grappling hooks up, and board the ship. Let's hope I'm right.
I am trying to upload the new video clip to www.facebook.com/michelemonro, it might take a while - be patient.