Luxor, Egypt

We left Dahab at 4:00 am and drove the one hour to Sharm el Sheik where we were to get our flight to Luxor. We wanted to get there early as we still had no visas for Egypt and no stamp in our passports to say we had actually arrived. I figured if there was ever going to be a problem, it would be trying to leave an airport. Lo and behold, when we went to check in, they couldn't quite understand how we had gotten there. But it turned out to be a relatively easy fix. As soon as they found out we had arrived in Taba, they seemed to understand that we hadn't officially entered the country. An airport official took me and our four passports through the departure lounge, down the length of the airport, through the arrival gates, literally made me touch the wall on the outside of the airport, welcomed me to Egpyt and then we went back through the whole process as though I had just arrived in the country. It all took about 1/2 an hour, but we got our visas and were officially stamped into the country. The immigration officials agreed on an entry date half way between the day we actually arrived and the day we were flying out of Sharm el Sheik. No one will ever know where we spent those 4 days between leaving Jordan and arriving in Egypt.

We arrived in Luxor early in the morning, but had no problem checking into our hotel. After dumping our gear, we headed out to see the sights.


Our first stop was to have brunch on the banks of the Nile. We found a great restaurant where we ended up eating most of our meals. The river boats docked one on top of the other all along the shore. Just up river from the "cruise" ships were hundreds of feluccas. There was always something going on on the river and always someone trying to sell you a piece of the action.


Between the river and our hotel was the Luxor Temple. It was a huge and fascinating structure. As with the river, there was plenty going on at and around the temple and plenty of people trying to sell you a little bit of everything.

After a night's rest, we headed to the Valley of the Kings. The tombs were very impressive although it was quite crowded and very hot.

Dean was thrilled to visit King Tut's tomb.

On the drive back from the Valley of the Kings, we made a stop at these monstrous statues. It's been quite some time since we were there and I have to admit that I cannot remember what these are statues of. Yet another thing to look up when we get home.

We had a busy, hot day of touring and the afternoon was spent relaxing on the rooftop terrace of our hotel.

That night we took the overnight train from Luxor to Cairo. Campbell was wide awake in his bunk.


Kelly was fast asleep in hers.

Dahab, Egypt

It seems like a very long time ago that we arrived in Dahab, Egypt to relax for a few days. It seems like it because it was! we have had quite a time finding internet access throughout Africa. We have about an hour of access in the Cape Town airport while we wait for our flight to Buenos Aires.

Way back near the end of November, we arrived in Dahab, where we had rented an apartment for 4 days.

It was actually quite enjoyable doing groceries and cooking our own meals, in our "own" kitchen. Of course, it was made nicer by the fact that the boys helped out in the kitchen.

Once we were finished in the kitchen, we had a lovely roof top terrace to relax on. From the terrace we could watch the Red Sea and all that was going on, including some pretty amazing kite-boarding.

And then, the kids were just happy to chill out and take it easy for a bit. The apartment did not include a television, but we really didn't spend any time inside anyway. When we were inside, it was just to lay low.

It was a short taxi ride to the main tourist part of town, where Kelly took a fancy to the ice cream at the Hilton. The ice cream we could afford, I can't imagine paying the price to actually stay at the Hilton.

Campbell and Kelly enjoyed a game of chess on one of the hotel grounds.

Perhaps I shouldn't admit that we took the kids to a shisha shop. Not really the proper thing for a parent to do, but when in Rome... So, we found the infamous Shisha Man and his shop where he taught the kids how to set up the pipe properly and how to smoke it. Campbell had already tried it out in a coffee shop in Aqaba when he thought he had ordered a strawberry milkshake, but was presented with a shisha pipe filled with strawberry tobacco!

The shisha man was also a good salesman!! I have no idea what we will do with a shisha pipe at home, but the kids were obviously thrilled with their purchase and even Campbell was smiling on our taxi ride back to the apartment.

Although we decided not to go horseback riding, Campbell couldn't resist a photo op.

On Kelly's birthday, she convinced me to go tubing with her. We had a blast. The main objective of the boat driver is to make sure he knocks us off the tube. He was successful.

Kelly had a wonderful birthday lunch on the seaside complete with birthday cake and singing waiters from all along the strip.

Campbell and Dean look relaxed, but I don't think they enjoyed Kelly's birthday as much as Kelly did!

After lunch, we headed out on a camel ride. After an hour and a bit on the camels, we all agreed that our rear ends would have been much happier on a horse. It was an experience that you have to do as a tourist, but once is certainly enough.

Kelly and I had so much fun on the water tube that Campbell had to take a turn with Kelly too. And, yes, the driver managed to get both of them off as well.

Just one of our 4 beautiful sunsets from the balcony of our apartment.

On our way to Taba, Eqypt

Part of our tour of Jordan included a driver taking us to the ferry outside of Aqaba. Well...on the way, we saw some of the nicer beaches of Jordan. Too late!! And when we arrived at the ferry terminal, we found some of the nicer resorts of Aqaba. I have no doubt they were way beyond our budget, so it was just as well we didn't know they were there.

Campbell and Kelly take up spots to wait for the ferry,

This is a photo of the harbour where the ferry departed from. Kind of like a Mont Tremblant on the seaside.

Our ferry to Taba, Egypt.

Soon enough the kids got bored with sitting so they had an impromtu game of catch with a ball of socks!! It kept them amused for quite some time.

From the ferry we could see the coasts of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. This is a photo looking back at our departure point in Jordan. The crossing was only about an hour and a half, but Kelly had no problem relaxing on the way.

Coming into Taba, Egypt. When we arrived we have just a few little problems. First off, they had no idea what our electrical converter was. They seemed to think it was some kind of devise used in God-only-knows-what. Trying to explain to somewhat that a converter is to convert electrical current from 220 v to 110 v is not easy when there in a language barrier. However, we finally got through that crisis only to end up in another. It turns out that the only people who take the ferry to Taba are those on a group tour who already have their Egyptian visas. As we were neither on a tour or had Egyptian visas, they had no idea what to do with us. After hanging around the ferry terminal for just over an hour, they finally decided they would let us into the country. We were happy to leave even though we still had no visa and no stamp that officially said we had entered the country. We decided that was something we could worry about some other day and off we headed to Dahab.

Aqaba, Jordan

First off, my apologies for the lack of postings over the past couple of weeks. We have been on safari in Kenya and then climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Internet was non-existant in both places. We are now on the Indian Ocean in Tanzania relaxing for a couple of days. The internet access here is quite slow so I will try to catch up a bit, but make no promises.



It seems like a very long time ago that we spent our last few days in Jordan. After a week traveling south through the country, we thought a few days' rest in the seaside town of Aqaba was called for. It wasn't quite the seaside resort we had hoped for.



The beach in Aqaba is lined with vendors of one sort or another, selling everything from kids slippers to brickabrack souvenirs. These vendors are lined along a pedestrian walkway that runs the length of the beach. Between the pedestrian walkway and the water is a row of thatched-roofed cafes. Not quite the cafes we were looking for. After the cafes is a 15 foot strip of sand. Then there are loads of people swimming in the Red Sea between the beach and the oil tankers that are anchored some 300 feet off the beach. Again, not quite what we are familiar with.

So instead of lazing on the beach, we went to explore the city. Kelly was happy to pose on a wall by a restaurant.

Although the country is generally very dry, Aqaba seemed to have a tremendous amount of green space.

Of course, the hills overlooking the city were as dry as the rest of the country. We spent our time in Aqaba exploring the small shops and the side streets. It was actually a nice little city as long as you stopped thinking of it as a seaside resort.

A desert tour in Wadi Rum

Our next destination was the desert in Wadi Rum. Our tour included a trip through the desert in 4-wheel drive jeeps to see some of the sights.

Campbell and Kelly pose on the road to Wadi Rum. There is a whole lot of desert and not a lot else along the way.

Kelly poses on the remains of a temple wall in the desert. We also visited Lawrence of Arabia's home and will now have another movie we need to watch when we get home. The story was really quite facinating and one I never really paid much attention to. Now I would like to.

After sitting in the jeep for quite some time, the kids were let out to climb a sand dune to let off some steam. It is a tough climb up those dunes - one step forward and almost a whole step back in the sand. The videos of them coming down are great.

Even in the desert, Campbell can find something to improvise with for a game of baseball. I'm not sure how long he would be able to swing a bat made of stone. Could be a good exercise for ball practice.

Kelly was happy to take part in a less strenuous activity - sand angels.

There were rocks for the kids to crawl under.

And there were plenty of rocks for the kids to climb up.

This was our "bedouin" camp where we stayed for the night. Although they try to make it somewhat authentic, I'm pretty sure the real Bedouin do not have bedframes and flush toilets. However, we weren't complaining. The tents were very comfortable and we had a tremendous night's sleep out in the desert.

This was our dining tent where we were treated to an amazing lunch, dinner and breakfast. In the evening hours, our hosts gathered around the campfire to smoke their shisha pipes.

There were plenty of places to wander around our camp. Campbell had a great time climbing every rock and cliff he could find.

And there were lots of nooks and crannies to snuggle into as well.

As the sun set in the desert, the temperature certainly dropped. And once the sun went down all together, the stars were incredible. I don't think I have ever seen so many stars.

It was still cool in the morning when we were waiting for our breakfast. But a nice cup of sage tea certainly did the trick in warming us up.

After a wonderful day and night in the desert, we were sad to leave. We headed back to Wadi Rum and traded in our jeeps for our mini van. Then we headed off to Aqaba and the end of our tour.

Discovering Petra

Our nex stop was Wadi Musa, where we would have a full day and an evening to discover the ancient city of Petra.

After a good night's sleep in an awesome hotel, our guide Haleed met us and started us on our tour of Petra. Haleed was a wealth of information and kept us entertained all day. Here are Haleed, Kelly and Campbell heading down the siq (canyon) towards Petra. It is amazing to think that this whole canyon was filled with sand when the city was first discovered. It has taken almost 200 years to uncover what is to be seen at this time and they are still working on it.

This is one of the most impressive buildings in Petra - the Treasury. It faces you as you come out of the siq into a large square. It is even more impressive than it looks as there is at least one more story to the building which is still underground. They have stopped excavating until they are sure they can secure the building.

Kelly sitting in front of one of the columns gives you an idea of the size of the building.,

Our guide Haleed and a soldier within the city.

The colours in the rock are just amazing. This is just one small example.

There were donkeys and camels everywhere for hire. We chose to walk, but the kids couldn't resist at least petting a donkey.

After a full day of wandering the city with excellent naratives by Haleed, we were ready to make our way back to the hotel for a rest before our evening walk.

We met at the visitor's centre at 8:00 with about 200 other people and headed back towards the treasury building. The siq was lit by 1,500 candles all along the way and the square in front of the treasury building was lit by a further 200 or so candles. We were served tea and listened to traditional music and a story for about half an hour before heading back out through the candlelit siq. It was a really interesting experience. We certainly have more research to do on Petra when we get home.