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/

The A - Z April Challenge: N

N is for Nile Crocodile

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I was unable to get a good clear shot of a crocodile whilst on safari. The few we saw were on distant banks, usually lolling at the edge of ponds filled with lumbering hippos.
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Never easy to spot, the crocodile is a master of disguise. His nostrils, eyes and ears are situated on the top of his head, so the rest of the body can remain concealed underwater, and his coloration allows him to blend into the environment.

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The crocodile is an agile and rapid hunter relying on both movement and pressure sensors to catch any prey unfortunate enough to present itself near the water. Most hunting on land is done at night by lying in ambush near forest trails or roadsides.

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The Nile crocodile is the largest crocodile in Africa and is its top predator. While illegal poaching is no longer a problem, crocs are threatened by pollution, hunting, and accidental entanglement in fishing nets.

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Much of the hunting stems from his reputation as a man-eater, which is not entirely unjustified…Nile crocodiles live in close proximity to human populations, so contact can be frequent. While there are no solid numbers, it it believed that the Nile crocodile probably kills a couple of hundred people a year, more than all the other crocodiles combined.
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For more A - Z posts, be sure to pop by Arlee Bird's site and see what others have done with the letter N...
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http://www.tossingitout.blogspot.com/2011/01/very-special-and-exciting

And because its' Saturday, I am also linking up with Misty Mawn's Camera Critters...always a great site to visit!
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http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/

Egyptian Reflections

The Nile River has been the source of life for Egyptians since ancient times. Until the Aswan Dam was built in the nineteen-sixties, only four per cent of Egypt was cultivated. More of the land has since been reclaimed, but now that same dam holds back the rich silt that fed the land for centuries, and farmers must use fertilizers they can ill afford to buy

A great many of the country’s inhabitants live and work on the narrow strip of fertile land on either side of this river that flows four thousand miles from its source in East Africa to empty into the Mediterranean Sea.

For these people, life is hard, with few modern amenities, or machines to assist in cultivation. To see how tightly the vast desert presses up against the river, is to understand the fragile nature of their simple lives, carved out from the riverbanks, one small plot at a time.

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Traveling From Aswan to Cairo on the Nile becomes a trip back in time. Life seems little changed from years past. Graceful feluccas glide beside simple fishing boats; children frolic at water’s edge as children always will, and the family animals are at home drinking deeply of these life-giving waters.

It is easy, here, to imagine oneself at another point in time….

Egypt is renowned worldwide for its many ancient monuments, but what impressed me most about the country was the tenacity and ingenuity of its hardy inhabitants who have made their home in this stark and often inhospitable land. I offer them my praise and my admiration…

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I'm linking this post to the wonderful Weekend Reflections meme, hosted admirably by James at Newton Daily Photo. To see reflections from around the world, just click on the link below...

http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com/
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Sacred Stone

Carved in sacred stone

upon temples of the Nile,

the history of Kings.

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I've just discovered a new haiku meme! When I saw that the prompt word for today was 'sacred', I immediately thought of Egypt.
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For more haiku, may I suggest you stop by
Haiku Heights at the following link...

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http://haiku-heights.blogspot.com/

Egyptian Skies

In Egypt, the sun is unrelenting. With negligible rainfall, few clouds mar the blue perfection of its skies and the heat is a presence you can reach out and touch.

Sunset over the Nile

We visited Egypt at the peak of summer when daytime temperatures were in excess of 40 degrees Celsius, (105 degrees Fahrenheit), and the evenings cooled down only marginally.

The Sphinx
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The capital city, Cairo and its surrounding area, is home to seventeen million people. Roads are a driving nightmare as millions of tightly-packed trucks and cars jostle for space, spreading out in in numerous wide lanes that follow no order we could discern.
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As a result of this density, a blanket of smog shrouds the city always. On the Giza Plateau, we were told this was a good day and we were lucky to have clear skies to see the view.
The Giza Plateau looking across the Nile River to Cairo.
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Of course, stifling heat, traffic madness and the ever-present din of car horns could not detract from the majesty of the Pyramids. It was easy, on that expanse of plateau, to imagine life along the Nile when pharaohs ruled, and these pyramids were built to hold their remains.

The Valley of The Kings lies on the West Bank of the Nile. Ancient Egyptians believed that, as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so should man live on the East Bank of the Nile and be buried on the West.

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The skies here were clearer, and the temperature even higher as the valley held tightly onto the sun's heat.

Climbing ever-deeper into the burial tombs of kings, the air shimmering with the heat and humidity generated by the hundreds of tourists that pressed around me, I felt my heart fill with a delight and satisfaction that surpassed any thought of discomfort.

After a lifetime fascination with Egyptology, I was at last following the footsteps of pharaohs...and it was magnificent!
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I’m linking this post to ‘Looking At The Sky Friday’, graciously hosted by CrAzY Working Mom at the link below. Do stop by for skies that will inspire!

http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/