Nile River

How Safe is Egypt?

 in Egypt / Snowbirding  tagged Egyptian security / Muslim Brotherhood / Nile River / terrorists / tour guards / travel / travel safety by

I gulped at Mom’s suggested trip to Egypt.  The Middle East?  But many reputable companies were offering tours.  Also, the U.S. travel advisory site noted just a couple areas to avoid, which naturally weren’t on the tours.  Obviously, Egypt and the tour companies are highly motivated to protect us golden geese.  They’d be crazy to encourage visitors if they didn’t believe they could keep us safe.  And who would know better than they whether the situation was safe? “Safe” being a relative term, of course. So how safe was Egypt?  I was surprised at how welcoming the people were.  people […]

Egyptian Donkey Ride 4

 in Egypt / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged bread baking / crops / donkey tour / Egypt / New Gourna Village / Nile River / outdoor oven / sugar cane / tomb builders / travel / Valley of the Kings by

A donkey ride in the Valley of the Kings helped sell Mom and I on the tour we booked to see Egypt.  We both grew up riding horses on the family ranch, but neither of us has ridden much in the last 40 years or so.  Also, donkeys are small and quick and can easily turn out from under a rider.  Between those issues and that fact that Mom is under doctor’s orders not to re-break the collar-bone she shattered last year, I couldn’t help being leery about this ride. Our bus delivered us to New Gourna Village where we mounted up on the street with traffic passing by.  The donkeys were tall enough that […]