N is for Nile

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.

            In spite of the discomfort, Egypt captivated me. How could it not?

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.

 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'...

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.ca/

African Windows and Doors

Ensconced in the warm and cozy homes we take for granted in our North American lifestyle, it is easy to forget that neither safety nor comfort are a given for a vast majority of the world’s citizens.

Nairobi





Nowhere has the line between the haves and have-nots been so clearly drawn for me as it was on a trip to Kenya several years ago.  Our safari tour found us lodged each night in beautiful surroundings, with turquoise pools to splash in, and so sumptuous a dinner buffet laid out that we could scarcely make a dent in it.

.

On route to the next lodge in the mornings, we watched schoolchildren and adults emerge from their small houses, impeccably dressed for the day in uniforms and bright shirts. A steady stream of people made their way along each side of the road, often walking long distances to work or class.

Their daily struggle to get by requires ingenuity and tenacity.

.

Outside the city, youngsters carried home jars of kerosene for use in the family cooking pots. Adults set up their sewing machines and shops outdoors…others led donkeys to aid in bringing home precious water...

and at every corner, groups of men gathered together...clear indication of a fractured economy that does not guarantee a job for everyone.

.

I came home with renewed appreciation for what I have, and a desire to share some of that goodness with those who must make do with so little.
.

I will return to Africa, this I know, but not to take...next time it will be my turn to give.

.

I am linking this post to Mary T’s ‘Window Views…and Doors Too.’ Drop by her wonderful page to see more…

http://windowviews2.blogspot.com/

.

Dreams of Africa

What do you want most in the world? What dream sustains you through the everyday, and promises so much joy and satisfaction that you quiver just at the notion of this possibility coming to pass?

As a child growing up in Belfast, my dreams were of Africa. The drab, sparse streets of industrial Northern Ireland were so far removed from the endless sky and rolling grasslands of Kenya to be found in books that my soul was captivated from the start. Eventually, my family emigrated to the West Coast of Canada, putting even more space between me and my heart’s desire.
.

But the dream to see Africa stayed with me. When a chance came in 2006 to make the trip of nine thousand miles to Nairobi, I was warned by well-meaning friends that the reality of the continent could not possibly live up to my decades of anticipation. How wrong they were...

Africa was every bit as magnificent as I knew it would be. I embraced it eagerly...the boundless savannah...the spacious skies...and, of course, the beautiful, glowing children. The shy smiles of youngsters we met in a Masai village is something I call to mind often. It is a memory that never fails to fill me with joy and wonderment.

I have a new dream now...to return to Africa,

this time not to take

but to give back. The chasm between the 'haves' and

'have-nots' looms large in that continent ravaged by AIDS,

mismanagement and corruption. I have taken Africa to my heart,

now I must act on my heart's desire to help. It will not be

this year...it may not be next..but I will return one day to

the Africa of my dreams...