After our East African safari a few years, we flew up to Egypt for a
week. We had chosen July to visit Kenya as it is winter in the southern
hemisphere. The weather was balmy and beautiful without getting excessively
hot.
Had we been thinking straight, we would have realized that going to Egypt
at that same time - the height of summer in the Northern Hemisphere - was a
dreadful idea for someone like myself who dislikes the heat. With temperatures
hitting well over 40 degrees Celsius,
and higher again in places like the Valley of the Kings, I was barely
functional.
Flying from Nairobi to
Cairo, we arranged a sleeper train to take us to Aswan. After a quick flight to Abu Simbel,
we boarded our small boat for the cruise to Luxor.
Of the 82 million people who call Egypt home, the vast majority of them live along the banks of the River Nile, where the country's only arable land is to be found.
Of the 82 million people who call Egypt home, the vast majority of them live along the banks of the River Nile, where the country's only arable land is to be found.
This verdant strip covers 40,000 square kilometres, rising south of the
Equator and flowing through northeastern Africa to drain into the Mediterranean
Sea.
The family goats
are nimble at
making their
way along the
walls.
Many boats sail the
river daily, shepherding goods and tourists from place to place.
The traditional
wooden felucca is to be seen all along the length of the Nile.
As we slowly cruised the river, life on the banks went on as usual: craftsmen plied their trade, cattle went to market, women washed clothing at the river, and children played noisily along the water's edge, their joyful laughter the soundtrack for a voyage I will not soon forget.
Entrance to the
Valley of the Kings
I
am linking today's post to the wonderful ABC Wednesday même.
Drop by to see more takes on
the letter 'N'...
