Maşrif Ghaţāţī

Egypt was originally just supposed to be a layover from South Africa to Morocco but we decided early on to extend it for a few days just to see Cairo and Giza. It was a bit more than we bargained for and my least favorite place so far (more due to the nature of the tours)- but still definitely worth the stop.

Our hotel, located in Giza in a non touristy neighborhood off a dirt road, was very unique. It has narrow stairs and hallways was located up on just the 13-15 floors of a large building. This hotel happened to have a spectacular view of the pyramids on its rooftop and we were served traditional Egyptian breakfast each morning - with cooked eggplant, fruit slices, egg and bread.

Our trip happened to coincide with the tail-end of Ramadan and as you can imagine not many restaurants were open during the day. We were lucky we got the breakfast! We had to survive on thai chili Cheetos and way too many cashews and dried apricots for our digestive tracks during the day. In addition, the owner of the hotel was extremely kind in inviting all of us to break fast with them on the last night of Ramadan - so we had a fabulous Egyptian meal while overlooking the pyramids.

However, the tours felt different here. I felt for the first time since a zip lining tour in Costa Rica in January, like we were cattle getting pushed along all day. In Costa Rica, there were tons of people zip lining so while it was super fun, we got pushed on each zip line quickly. There was no rest. Here in Egypt it was the sites - “Go see this quickly and we got the best seat just for you!” “Then let’s go across town and we chose this best thing for you…” “Oh and my manager said that if you want, after this whole day tour, to hop on an overnight bus (12 hours!!) to do another tour tomorrow in Luxor and then another overnight bus back - we can help you pack and go in 2 hours” - ah heck no!! I just want to rest.

While I am surprised frequently by our experiences in new countries, I’m usually happy to encounter these surprises - things that are different from our expectation. Why? Because I like when my preconceived notions are incorrect! If they’re positive or negative - I’m constantly learning and adjusting my way of thinking.

That said, Cairo has 30 million people and it’s massive highways don’t have ANY markings to separate individual lanes - basically their highway reminded me of a bumper car ride where the track starts and cars basically go in which and all merge and sway - except in this case - miraculously no bumping! My eyes were wide open in the back watching this phenomenon / kids asleep on my shoulders. (They have become seasoned travelers for sure)
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Anyhow we just completed ANOTHER overnight flight and have landed safely in Morocco.

Many of you may not know but Brian is cutting his trip short to help out with some things at home…so we are all parting ways on Tuesday April 25th to start making his way home.

The girls and I will continue on for another month and then will head home a bit early as well!Read more