Cruising the Nile.

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The next day was an early morning rise (0445) to get to the airport for our flight to Luxor. We were greeted at the airport by another tour operator and dropped off at our cruise ship, The Festival.

The Nile Festival.

The Lobby of our boat.

The Restaurant where we had all our meals.

Looking from the Lobby upwards where our rooms were.

Yes, we were cruising down the Nile in a 5 star cruiser. In order to get to our boat we had to walk through the lobby of 4 other boats before setting foot on our vessel. That gives you some idea of how many cruisers there are, and this was only one line of ships, there were another probably 6 lines of 4/5 ships! That also tells you how big the Nile is! We quickly unpacked our stuff and then met with our new tour guide, Hani. We developed a good relationship with him as he was a similar age to us and he had a good sense of humour (or maybe just my sense of humour lol).

To get an idea about how the boats are all tied up against each other.

First stop on our long day was The Valley of The Kings. This is an area where most of the New Kingdom Pharaohs were buried in their elaborate tombs. There are currently 62 Tombs that are excavated with plenty more work going on finding others.

Models showing all the tombs and where they are located into the mountain.

The reason for them choosing this site is the mountain forms a natural pyramid and because it is in the west. This is important as the east was seen as new life or birth because the sun rose in the east and the west was seen as the resting place. The Suns journey takes it through the night to be re-born and because the Ancients believed in the after-life they wanted to pass like the Sun. Tombs for Pharaohs start to be built as soon as they take the throne as the time to build these things takes so long! The mummification process itself takes 70 days.

The Valley of the Kings with the natural pyramid located on the top of the mountain.

The first tomb we visited was Thutmes III and in his tomb was a well room just after the entrance. This was to protect the tomb from tomb robbers because they just fell in the well and couldn’t get out. Once again, the entrances into these tombs were small and it also got hot and stuffy as you went further inside. This tomb featured painted hieroglyphics and its just amazing to see the colours and ancient language.


We then went to see the tomb of Queen Tausert and Prince Setnakht. It was a 2-in-1 as mother and son were buried in the same place. The queen died first and then the son put an extension on her tomb to house his own resting place, which makes this the longest tomb. This tomb depicted carved hieroglyphics that were painted whereas the first only had painted hieroglyphics. We also saw Judgement in here from the Book of the Dead.


The next tomb we saw was that of Ramses IV and this had deeper carved hieroglyphics. We got our first introduction into the Coptic Christians here as they use to seek shelter and refuge in these tombs. There is a lot of defacing of the drawings in the tomb and also Coptic graffiti on the walls.



Once again there was another part that you had to pay extra for if you want to see it and here it was the tomb of Tut Ankh Amon. Now I was not going to come all this way and not go and see his famous tomb (even though its famous because it was the only tomb found with everything still in it – reason being is he built his tomb under an existing one). Tut Ankh Amon was Pharaoh from when he was 9 till he was 18 and he died due to an injury sustained after falling of his chariot while hunting. Alisa and her Parents had no desire to see his tomb so I was the only one that ventured down. His tomb was really small and yet so much stuff came out of it. I also stood by his mummy a while but we were in a rush to get round to everything else so I had to make it quick.

Shailen at the entrance of Tut Ankh Amon's tomb.

Next stop was the Valley of the Queens, which is just round the back of the Kings Valley. We went to see Queen Hatshepsut’s Tomb.

Shailen, Mum and Dad at Hatshepsut's Temple.

She was the Queen that considered herself a King and made up a story to convince everyone. She claimed (and had architects paint the story onto the walls) that she is the child of a divine marriage between her mother and a God. She even depicted herself as a man in drawings.

Can you spot the three that haven't been there for thousands of years? The statues are all made to look like men

We then stopped off at the statues of Amenthop III just outside of the Valley of the Kings. We took quick photographs and then made our way back to our boat for lunch – yes, it was only lunchtime!

Shailen with the Statues of Amenthop III. The one on the left is carved from just one block while the one on the right is made using many blocks.

After lunch we were then whisked away to Karnak Temple. Karnak Temple is HUGE; it measures about 1.5km by 800m and is a tribute to the Sun God, Amun-Ra. It was built by the King Seti I and completed by his son, Ramses II (Ramses II was a famous guy because he had 44 wives and about a hundred and something kids! He even married one of his daughters!).

Karnak Temple in all its glory! The sphinx lining the entrance have Ram's heads because the sun god is depicted as a Ram in the evening. In the morning it is a scarab beetle and at noon a sun disk.

It contains the largest Hypostyle Hall in the world and has no equal elsewhere. It consists of 134 columns representing the Papyrus flower and covers an area of 6000 sq meters.

What the temple looked like before restoration.

Some of the 134 columns. Once upon a time they were all coloured. It would have been an amazing sight to see.

This is the small surviving piece of original marble floor.

The two Obelisk at the Karnak Temple.

This video shows tourists walking around a statue of a Scarab Beetle as they are told by the guides that if you walk around 7 times, you will have good luck (I just think its the story the locals make up to have a laugh at our expense LOL).

We then continued on to Luxor Temple, which was built by Amenophis III on the site of an older sanctuary. It was added to over the centuries by Tut Ankh Amon, Ramses II, Alexander the Great and various Romans. There is also a mosque that was just built on top of one of the court walls.

The entrance to Luxor Temple.

Luxor's very own Obelisk.

Statues of Ramses II

The old mosque located in Luxor Temple. The sand used to come up to the door you can see on the photo. They built the mosque here knowing that there was a temple underneath as the obelisk is taller than the mosque entrance.

It was originally joined to the Karnak Temple 4km away by an avenue of sphinxes (only part of this still remains).

On the way back to our “Floating Hotel” we stopped off and got some sugar cane to eat. Coming from Durban, I already had sugar cane many a times but it was the Dewsnips’ first taste of the sweet cane. They seemed to like the taste but didn’t like chewing the fibrous cane.

Shailen (the next day though) teaching us how to eat a sugar cane.

And so ended our extremely long day. We just relaxed for the night to get ready for our 5am departure as we start sailing up the Nile.

We decided to get up at 5am to see the ship leave as we had a little balcony and sliding door in our cabin – but then we went back to sleep LOL.

Shailen and I on our balcony as seen from Mum's.

We were finishing off our breakfast when we started to slow down and lowered the anchor to wait to pass through the locks at Esna. That’s when we saw a whole swarm of locals – in what we thought were fishing boats. They weren’t fishing but selling galabayas (local one piece mans robe), shirts and anything else that tourists will buy. They would stand on their little boats and then throw them up onto the ship for people to look at. We went up to the top deck and because or boat was not full (there were only 20 people on board when it can carry 120) there weren’t many locals around our boat. One local came over while we were up there and kept calling me “New Zealand” and threw up many things. We didn’t buy anything because they were over-priced and bad quality but other boats seemed to be buying quite a lot.

Looking out of the restaurant on our boat at the men trying to sell things.

Shailen looking very Egyptian, Dad not quite as much but still looking cool!

We waited for 2 hours before it was our turn to go through the lock. They take 2 cruisers at a time and these cruisers are built to just fit through the locks. These locks are just like the locks at the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal but on a much much smaller scale – Esna only has 1 lock whereas the others have several. It’s just to compensate for the different water levels.

The squeeze through the locks. There isn't much room for error.

The doors opening on the other side to let us through. We had now been raised about 30m.

While we were waiting to go through, we played table tennis and we also got to know a South African couple that were on the ship too (small world!).

The top of our boat where we spent our time relaxing.

The famous Table Tennis Table among the seats on the top of the boat.

Shailen still waiting for his Rose.... Another Titanic moment!

We then docked at Edfu and had some free time before we went to Edfu Temple so we used that time to perfect our table tennis skills.

Then it was back into tour mode and we travelled to the temple 2km away in a horse and carriage. Edfu Temple is the largest and most completely preserved Pharaonic, albeit Greek-built, temple in Egypt for the God Horus. This temple took nearly 200 years to build. The Coptic Christians also used this place as shelter and there are remnants of their disregard for the place. They destroyed the carvings and statues as well as lit fires in the rooms and black soot can be seen on the roof.

Heading off to the Temple in our Horse and Carriage.

Entrance to Edfu Temple.

Mum and Dad with Horus, the Falcon, God of Protection.

Offerings to the God Horus.

Recreation of the boat used when Horus met his wife each year on the Nile.

Alisa going down into the Nile water level room. Taxes were adjusted according to the level of the Nile. High level = high taxes (more water means more crops).

The crypts where the priests used to reply as the voice of the God.

This is where I met my favourite Ancient God, Amun Men who is the god of fertility. He is depicted with only one arm and one leg and one huge erection!!! The story of how he became a God because when all the village men went away he was left in charge of the woman. When the other men returned they found that all the woman were pregnant or already had his kids so as punishment his leg and arm were chopped off and he was left in the dessert to die. But when he returned to the village alive they saw him to be favoured by the Gods and as such he was revered as the God of Fertility and is always depicted with an erection.

Shailen's favourite god with his erection carved out.

This temple also had secret underground crypts that the priests used when visiting Pharaohs came seeking divine help. They would speak from the crypts pretending to be God! We found this most amusing

We caught the same horse and carriage back and when we got back to the ship we had to tip so we did. But then the guy started arguing saying that it’s too little (we didn’t know at this point that he was paid to take us too by the guide) and so we gave a little extra. The sheer audacity of these guys with tips! We never experienced anything like it. Then shortly after that our guide got into a heated argument (in Arabic) with one of the shop owners because he advised us not to go in as we were getting hassled. I liken the storeowners here to a flock of sea gulls fighting for a piece of bread. We pulled our guide away before anything happened (by this time we had a good friendship with our guide) and went to the ship to enjoy a few cocktails (alcohol free though) provided by the crew.

Mum and Dad getting into the spirit of things!

When we returned to our room we saw that there were scenes made with our towels by the person that turned down our beds. Every night was different and he sometimes used items around the room to create his ‘art’.





At this point I would just like to add quickly that in our room we had the most amazing shower ever! This thing had about 4 different modes (water coming from normal head, ceiling, bottom and foot massager) as well as lights, a fan, radio and phone. What more could you want?

The wonderful shower!

The next day was spent lazing about as we cruised further up the Nile (up the Nile means southwards further into Africa because the Nile flows from central Africa to the Mediterranean Sea). Alisa and I finally jumped into the pool on the Sun Deck. We didn’t go in before because the water was freezing, but it still was when we went in!!! We stopped off at Kom Ombo (which means Place of Gold) to see the Temple for Sobek, the Crocodile God. Sobek shares the Temple with Haroeris because when the temple was built for Sobek, Haroeris was angered and fled the region seizing his protection over them. So in order for him to come back they also put up a Temple for him. Its built on a site where crocodiles used to bask in the sun in Ancient times but due to the dam being built further upstream, they can't travel here. There are also mummified crocodiles that appear here. We also saw the Egyptian calender carved in the walls. There are 360 days plus an extra 5 days for each God, split into three seasons - Flood, Sowing and Harvesting - each consisting of four months. There were 10 days in each week and three weeks to each month. When added altogether, you get 411 which, coincidentally, is the number of workers the Pharoahs working for them - no more, no less.

The crocodile mummies.

The two crazy boys (Shailen and our guide Hani) outside Kom Ombo Temple.

It is also unusual in that, architecturally, everything is doubled and perfectly symmetrical along the main axis of the temple. We also see for the first time that they had dovetail joins between the massive blocks of granite. Another interesting fact was that this temple was also used as a hospital and there are hieroglyphics detailing the medical instruments. The God of Medicine graces the walls here and he is Imhotep. Imhotep is also the 'father' of the first step pyramid in Saqqarah. There is even a depiction of a birthing stool (Yes!! woman gave birth sitting up in those days!)!!

Dove Tail joint that housed the sycamore bark. When it was wet it expanded thus holding the granite blocks together.

Once again we saw the crypts that the priests used.
It was then back to the boat for the final leg of our voyage. We were on our way to Aswan, Egypt’s southernmost city. That night I found my bad luck continued…I realised that my phone was stolen. The last time I had it was when we went through the locks at Esna, which was 2 days ago! I never took it off the boat because it didn’t work here. So now I don’t have my wonderful Nokia 6110, neither do I have my NZ Vodafone sim card! And to put icing on the cake, my watch glass was cracked! No luck at all.

We stayed overnight on the ship and then the next morning left to see the High Dam and the Temple of Philae in time to be back to do our Felucca ride in the afternoon.
First on the agenda was the High Dam (Hydro-Electric Dam) that was built in 1960 and replaced the smaller dam that was built in 1902. It took 18 years to build and is 3600m across, 980m wide at its base and 111m high at its highest point. About 35000 people helped build it with 451 losing their life during construction. It was too expensive for the Egyptians to fund so they looked to foreign countries to help fund it. The USSR agreed to fund it in exchange for free trade of Egyptian cotton. When it was completed the water that collected behind it became Lake Nasser, the worlds largest artificial lake. The lake is about 500km long and at times 7km wide! In creating the lake a number of Pharaonic monuments had to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at new sites above the risen water line. We were disappointed with the Dam because you didn’t really feel like you were on a dam and there were no real views. I guess we just got used to seeing ‘Spectacular’ things lol.

Me, Shailen, Mum and Dad on the High Dam.

The five of us at the monument dedicated to thank the Russians for their support in building the High Dam.

The Temple of Philae is one such Pharaonic monument that had to be relocated from its original island to its present resting place. The temple is dedicated to Isis, who found the heart of her slain brother, Osiris, on Philae Island (now submerged). We had to catch a little motorized boat out to the island and so once again we had to tip the driver!

Philae Temple.

The first Christian Altar in Egypt.

Watermarks can be seen from when part of the temple was under water. Coptic Christian symbolism is prevalent at this site with many crosses carved into the walls. There is even an altar in the hypostyle hall when they converted it into a chapel.

We headed back to our boat and relaxed. Alisa wasn’t feeling to well with an upset stomach that we all seemed to get by the end of our stay in Egypt – at least it didn’t stop us doing any of the activities.

The felucca ride was pleasant but I think we were in too large a vessel for the 5 of us. However, the captain was really pleasant and he was singing and dancing (and yes we had to tip again). We just went out on the water for about an hour and when we got back, once again he asked for more tips. We weren’t even being stingy and giving them small amounts (this applies to all those people that asked for more)!

The many Felucca's on the harbor.

Me, Shailen, Mum and Dad on our Felucca.

That night our ship hosted a belly dancer :D sounds better than it actually was but there was this guy that came on after the lady and he was just spinning round and round for seriously about 7minutes, continuously!!!

That night was our last on our Floating Hotel and the last with our guide Hani. He was a great guide and a good friend and hopefully we meet again.

We arrived back at the Nile Hilton on Friday and when we checked in they offered us their Suite on the 9th floor at no extra charge, so hell yeah we took it! It was a massive corner room overlooking the Nile with a full on lounge and massive 2 bathrooms – it only had 1 bedroom but that was cool, Alisa and I just got roll-away-beds.






When we checked out the next morning, one of the porters (he was a friendly guy that helped us the first time we stayed there) gave Alisa and I a little teddy bear as a departing/Christmas gift. We said goodbye to our lavish living, as that was the end of the tour and the end of Egypt for us…for now…

I was told to prepare myself for some cold weather as we were now on our way to Istanbul, Turkey…

Damage report after Egypt: -

• 4 upset bellies
• 1 stolen mobile phone
• 1 cracked watch face
• 1 mp3 player not working
• 2 large papyrus paintings (although this is also a good thing)
• And a MAJOR dislike for tipping!!! Its gotten out of hand in some places. It used to be that you tipped for great service but now it seems you have to tip no matter what!

Hello Egypt!

Our flight over to Egypt was somewhat pleasant but this was our first International flight that did not have a TV behind the seat. We didn’t watch anything but slept instead, however not before my bad luck started… I was listening to my mp3 player then decided to go to the toilet. When I returned, I tried to turn the player on and it just wouldn’t work! I think I have lost 20Gb worth of songs!!!
We arrived at Cairo International Airport at about 0630 and were greeted by one of the Karnak Tour operators. We finally had someone that held up our names when we arrived, even though they spelt our last names wrong (Deusnip and Sakdhoe). This guy did everything for us! At one point he went off with our passports while I was sorting out our visas. I shouted at Alisa not to let anyone go off with our passports! (Oh and by the way, for any South African travellers – do not bring the Rand at all, it is so hard to exchange it – no one will do it) But all was good and we were shuttled from the airport to our hotel – The Nile HILTON!!!
And for those of you that were wondering…it does flush the other way here!!! LOL
We were staying at the Hilton hotel on the Nile on the 6th floor but our view was overlooking the city and the Egyptian Museum. All we did was sleep when we first arrived and when we woke we decided to explore Cairo a bit before our tour actually starts (Sunday). Crossing the streets here are really a nightmare!! They have no real road rules and the whole road is almost a free-for-all and traffic lights seem to pretty lights that change colours! As well as this, I have to get used to them driving on the opposite side of the road. There are so many times when I look the wrong way and get ready to cross only to be stopped by Alisa. They also love using their horns here. Every driver uses their horns for anything from warning that they are overtaking to just warning a pedestrian not to cross – it makes the streets really noisy. We decided to walk over the Nile on one of the bridges that lead to one of many islands (the Nile is so wide that islands are actually formed!). While crossing the bridge Taxi’s kept slowing down and beeping at us to give us a ride. One actually stopped on the bridge and held up traffic!

Me standing by the Nile with the Cairo Tower in the background.

We made the classic mistake that tourist’s make and pulled out a map and that’s when we met Sammy. He introduced himself and spoke English and when we told him we were from NZ he started talking about how he served in the war with a soldier from Hawkes Bay (he was pretty old). We told him that we were interested in going to the Cairo Tower but he informed us that it was closed for renovation so we told him we would like a bank. He led us further away from our hotel but we trusted him. Being Friday, we were told that most shops were closed due to everyone praying and banks and such would resume service after about 1pm and so instead he led us into a papyrus and perfume store… Here we met Amed and he was the owner (“apparently” Sammy’s nephew) and he stated that they were an official Ministry of Tourism store.

Amed and Sammy.

He offered us Egyptian tea and cola as well as an Egyptian dish that had rice, noodles, pasta, lentils and sun-dried tomatoes. He continued to show us reviews of his store written by Australian and New Zealand travellers. I was a bit suss about this place because he was showing us all these things and also because many of the official documents and plaques has little spelling and grammar mistakes. Someone also told me that everybody in Egypt claims to sell you “original” papyrus paintings but its not. But we stayed on and that’s when he started his sales pitch for papyrus. We had no intention of spending any money at all but decided to see what is available. We ended up really liking a huge piece (roughly 2.5m x 1m) titled Judgement. It depicts the story of how when a person dies he is led to judgement to see if he was good or bad. His heart is then put on a balance scale opposite the feather of justice. If the heart is lighter than the feather then the person was free from sin and was good so the heart was preserved for him for his after-life. If the heart was heavier then he committed lots of sins and his heart was eaten by one of the protectors of the scales of justice. There was another smaller papyrus telling the coronation of Isis that Alisa really liked because of the colours. Amed kept making offers to us for both and because of Alisa’s indecisiveness the price kept dropping and before we knew it, we bought both pieces! But we left the place a bit wiser about how they work and operate.
We got back to the hotel and decided to play squash then take a dip in their slightly heated pool. It’s winter here but the temperature is in the 20’s and still the water is heated! Later that evening we went downstairs to the hotel café and smoked an apple flavoured shisha (hubbly-bubbly).
The next day we just lazed by the pool in the warm winter sun after enjoying a lovely buffet hotel breakfast. After lunch we decided to take a stroll through the city on the other side of the hotel before Alisa’s parents arrived. This time we were a lot wiser and wary of people trying to drag us to their shops. But we were to be taught another thing about these cunning locals. They learn a little phrase from so many different languages that if you tell them you’re from NZ they say “Kia Ora, Haere Mai” and if you say from SA then they say “Goie Dag. Hoe gaan dit?”

That night there was an Egyptian wedding at the Hotel and they had a huge celebration in the lobby so we joined in and had a bit of a squizz...



The next day (Sunday) was when our tour actually started and so did the relatively early mornings… First stop for us was the Egyptian Museum, which was right next to the hotel.

The Egyptian Museum.

We weren’t allowed cameras into the museum, which sucked, but it really was amazing inside. (The following photos are therefore complimentary from the web!)

One of the many vast halls in the Museum.

The Scribe. One of the most interesting statues due to the fact his arms weren't stiff by his side (like most of the others) and the eyes were made from clear stones which were quite real looking.

When they found Tut Ankh Amon tomb there were 3 gold plated wooden boxes inside each other before you finally get to his body. The largest box was about 3m high by 4m long and 3m wide. Above shows a seperate box containing the Alabaster jars containing his organs.

Tut Ankh Amon's body was also found within 3 sarcophagi, each more elaborate. The one above was the outside one made of gold and weighing about 2 tonnes!

The Alabaster jars that held his organs.

We were, however, rushed through the museum due to our tight schedule but managed to do all the important things. If we had to stop for one minute in front of each exhibit it would take more than nine months to see everything so we got the highlight tour. All the exhibits weren't displayed, there are still thousands stored away. We saw all of Tut Ankh Amons treasures and different statues and such. We also realised pretty quickly that all these tourist destinations also have an extra part that you pay for if you want to go and see it and in the museum, it was paying to go and see the royal mummies. We ended up paying and saw Ramses II and some of his descendents as well as many others.

The mummy of Ramses I.

From the museum we drove to Giza to see the world famous Giza Pyramids. We made a little detour though before getting there and went to a papyrus factory to see how papyrus is actually made. We were taught how to spot a fake and Alisa and I started to wonder about our and whether we were ripped off. This guy also scared us by saying that they charge tax at the airport for fakes and then later on he said they confiscate it. This made us doubt his credibility as he was also selling papyrus paintings and so just wanted us to buy from him. The guide is also in on this as he gets commission for anything we buy from the place because he brought us there.

An amazing sight on the horizon.

We finally get to the Pyramids and I am just amazed at how close it is to civilization. I thought it was out in the middle of the dessert because that is how it is always depicted but they are just in the backyard of the city. I was in complete awe at these wonderful structures – to actually see one of the wonders of the world (not all pyramids are on the list of wonders of the world. Its only Cheops Pyramid at Giza due to its sheer size and elaborate chambers and tunnels).

Shailen's expression pretty much sums it up! This is Cheops, the biggest one.

Alisa and her family were a bit disappointed as it wasn’t what they had envisioned – it was a lot smaller than they thought and also because the pyramids were just outside of a town, whereas they thought they would have to drive for miles through desert to get to them.
The Giza Pyramids consist of 3 main Pyramids. The first and largest pyramid (here and all of Egypt) was Khufu’s, otherwise known as Cheops by the Greeks. The second was Khufu’s son, Khafra, aka Khephren by the Greeks. The third and smallest pyramid belongs to the grandson of Khufu, Menkaura, aka Mykerinos by the Greeks. There are 6 much smaller pyramids – 3 next to Cheops’ and another 3 next to Mykerinos. They were used for their partners.
The reason that pyramids were built and the Ancients revered the shape was because the sun always illuminated all sides from above, and they worshipped the sun! The sun (God name: Amun Ra) was seen as a life cycle as such - in the morning, it is born and then makes its journey to pass as sets.

Cheops used to be 10m taller but bits were stolen and used in building other monuments by later conquerors of Egypt.

You can see the outer white limestone still visible on the top. Cheops pyramid also had the same outer cover thus they used to be smooth with paintings and hieroglyphics. It is also thought that the tips were covered with gold.
Notice Shailen sporting his new belt with the spinner!

Once again we found that there was an extra price to pay to go and see something and that was to go into the pyramid. As the entrance into Cheops was closed due to it being full, Alisa and I went into Khephren’s (her parents didn’t want to go). If you are claustrophobic you do not want to go down!!! The walkway leading down is only about 700cm across and 1.4m tall and as soon as you got away from the opening you can feel the heat and it was really stuffy. After walking downhill for about 8m and then uphill for 10m you suddenly come out into this great big cathedral like room. On the wall was graffiti from the Italian discoverer of the tomb entrance, Giovanni Belzoni, stating his name and the date, 3rd March 1882.
When we came out of the pyramid we also decided to take a camel ride as we were told that they would take us to a nice spot to get a panoramic shot of all nine pyramids. Our guide told us that it’s too far to walk there so we barter with the owner of the camel and agree on a price and off we go. We get to the viewing place and waiting there is this guy that has bottles of soft drinks and he just opens them and hands them to us. Later on we find out that he wants us to pay for it but we didn’t have any money so we didn’t – but that’s what they do. We were really disappointed as the vantage point was an easy walking distance away and our guide knew it but instead left us to pay and ride. But we were glad that we had a camel ride in Egypt.

Shailen on Michael Jackson......

And me on Mosses.

That white blip near the bottom is actually Alisa. Guess they are pretty big huh?

Upon returning to the pyramids, the kid that took us blatantly asked for a tip. This was our first introduction into the tipping culture in Egypt. Everything that they do, you are almost expected to tip. We have to tip each guide that takes us, each driver and everyone that does anything for us.

The sphinx was a short walk down from the pyramids and once again the Dewsnip’s were slightly disappointed as they thought it was larger than it actually was.

The Dewsnip Trio at the Sphinx.

Me and Shailen and of course the Sphinx.

This brought an end to our packed day so we decided to relax at a nice authentic Egyptian restaurant. Alisa’s Dad and I went to the toilet at the restaurant before eating and there is a guy minding the toilets waiting for a tip outside. Then after our meals, we got our bill and it says that a 12% service charge has been added as well as a 10% sales tax (beverage and food were charged separately), so we didn’t leave a tip thinking that that was the service charge. The waiter looked disgusted that we left no tip and was about to say something as we walked off but decided against it.

That was our last night in Cairo as we left for Luxor the next morning (we will be back to Cairo though)

Summary of South Africa

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I just want to give a brief summary and also a review on South Africa after being here for 2 months.

For those of you that were wondering (or not – it doesn’t matter :p), my eyes are doing just fine. I have no problems seeing things and it’s so great not having to worry about fiddling around with contacts or glasses.
It was great seeing all my family again but boy do I have a lot! Two months is definitely not long enough to see everyone and spend time with them!
South Africa as a country has a long way to go in terms of becoming a First World Country. Their electricity supplier, Eskom, carries out load shedding at various times. This is when they cut the power to a whole area during peak times. The amount of revenue being lost by stores is huge! They have to close because of no power, but as well as this, traffic lights are down so there’s chaos on the roads. There is not enough electricity for everyone, let alone the demand. Eskom blames the apartheid government but they just didn’t plan well enough.
Another thing is that this is a country that is set to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup so the power outages are not a good sign. Hosting the World Cup brings a lot of tourists and tourist will want to do touristy things and if places like Robben Island needs to be booked up to 2/3 weeks prior then it shows they can't cope.
They are also building new stadiums for the World Cup and the workers are too sharp! They were striking several times demanding more money to complete the stadiums as well as getting a bonus when it’s completed. The authorities have to give in because they need the stadiums built!

But the things that I did like in South Africa varied from city to city.

Johannesburg did not have much going for it. It’s just a over-populated flat land-locked city with no distinguishable features EXCEPT for it wonderful electric storms! The storms there are so powerful and electric they light up the whole sky. The storms in New Zealand don’t even compare to these storms! I used to live in JHB and this is one of the things I really miss.

Durban was a beautiful coastal city but the weather has changed since I last lived in SA. Durban used to be really hot and humid with rain mainly in winter but now there were four seasons in one day. I promised Alisa she could get a tan on the lovely beaches of Durban but the weather let me down.

Cape Town, in both of our opinion, is one of the best cities in the world!!! It’s so picturesque and stunning that words don’t do it justice. You have the glorious Table Mountain behind you and in front of you is the stunning blue water beaches (albeit it’s a bit cold, but still). We definitely could live here! We also felt really safe here compared to the rest of SA, and almost forgot that we were in SA!


There was a great ad on SA TV for coke. I put the link here to go to youtube to check it out. The best seen is when the Indian guy tries to do it!!
Brrrrr - click here to see the video

Goodbye South Africa (sniff)

That Friday we met up with my Aunt, Jean and spent some time with her. This day also marked an important date on Alisa’s calendar – No she wasn’t proposed to, neither was she pregnant! – rather she had a haircut that resulted in her having a different hairstyle than that she has been sporting since 1997!!! She also tried to get some artificial intelligence but even that escaped her lol. No, she had some streaks added in and a cut.
After getting her hair done we caught a taxi to the mall for lunch. Normally there is a driver and another guy collecting the money for the trip, but this ride only had a driver. Somehow, I ended up being the guy that collected the money from everyone! I did not choose this but was rather just given the money by the other commuters – I didn’t even know what the prices were!!! But I managed to do the job, so if any of my career options fail; I know I got a knack for collecting money on South African taxis. Lol! I was thinking that this being South Africa and if there is no collector then that means no-one will pay but I was definitely mistaken. It must only be the kiwis that do this :p

On Saturday, we were suppose to get up early and leave for Cape Point – the south-western most tip of South Africa – but we only hit the road at about 1 or 2pm! It was Alisa, my Dad, Aloma, Tristan, my Aunt Jean and her kids (Sunitha, Rickesh and Kaylesh) and myself so it did take a while to round up the troops. The coastline on the drive over was spectacular! Crisp blue water and sharp cliffs laced the roads.

Happy Troopers at Cape Point.

Cape Point is the peninsula around where the two great oceans meet, the Indian and the Atlantic Ocean and upon arriving at the peninsula we were a little disappointed not to see a distinct division between the two – now before you snicker at this, there are times when you can see a distinct colour difference in the Oceans due to the different temperature as well as the collisions of the different currents. But overall it was a awesome sight to behold.

The new lighthouse at the tip of the Peninsula.

We even got to see some of South African animals out there. We first encountered a baby snake on the path leading to the bottom point of the peninsula. Now for those of you that don’t know, Alisa in PETRIFIED of snakes!!! She freaks out at even a picture of a snake, so luckily some Japanese tourists pointed out the reptile before she actually saw it. You know, I don’t think I ever saw Alisa run that fast before! Lol. On our way back, we saw several Rock Dassie’s, which look like overgrown rats but with no tails.
Before leaving the National Park, we decided to stop at a tidal pool for a swim. A tidal pool is like a big rock pool on the rocky shore that fills up during high tide and retains the water during low tide. Sometimes you get natural occurring pools otherwise they are man-made. The water was surprisingly warm so we stayed for a while and saw an awesome African sunset. It was a really fun day and enjoyed by all of us.

Shailen's Dad, Aloma and Tristan.

The next day we went on a mini wine tour to Stellenbosch – which is just one of the wine regions in the Cape area. Now you can’t come to the Cape and not experience their World Famous Wines. We went to a wine estate called Eikendal first and tried a few wines but nothing really stood out so we left to go to another winery but instead ended up picking strawberries. There is this strawberry field in amongst the vineyards and the owners have got a brilliant idea. They basically let you in to the field and tell you that you can pick your own strawberry and then we’ll charge you per Kg for what you have. Alisa loves strawberries and can seriously go mental and pick a whole boxful but she behaved. The other great thing for us is that you can eat as you pick – “one for me, one in the box, FIVE for me, one for …”. It was a simple activity but an experience none-the-less.




After picking strawberries we decided it was time for more wine, only, I was the only one thinking this. We went to another estate called Zevenwagth, which also had cheese tasting. Everyone tried the cheeses but only I was trying the wines. There were some really great white wines that they had…and I am not a big fan of white wines! We also managed to go on a wine tour of their facilities. We just learnt the history of the wine farm and a little bit of their wine-making techniques.

Picturesque Zevenwaght vineyard.

On our way back home we decided to go to Gordon’s Bay for dinner. We went to a nice little Pizza place on the beach and saw the sunset over the bay.

That week we didn’t really do much except some Christmas shopping. On Tuesday night we met up with Alisa’s South African friend (Charlet) that she met while she was in USA and her husband. It was great for them catching up and it was really nice meeting them.

Charlet and her Husband Jaycee.

On Saturday Jean Mamie, Alisa and I went to play squash. It was Alisa’s first time playing and I haven’t played in a long time. We met up with someone that was allowing us to use the courts for free and he also played with us. I managed to beat him several times but got my butt whipped by Jean Mamie on many occasions! That night Dad and Aloma organised a farewell braai (BBQ) for us. Jean Mamie and her kids and Aloma’s mum also came for it. There was plenty to eat and plenty of stories to go around!

On Sunday we had booked in for a trip to Robben Island. It is known as the South African Alcatraz and it is where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his life locked up. Now, excuse us if this starts taking a political and historical nature but that is what Robben Island is all about.
Now before even getting on the ferry to go to Robben Island we saw quite disappointed with the whole experience already. Not only did we have to wait 2 weeks to actually go to the Island, but also they were running behind schedule on the ferries. Not a good impression of tourism in South Africa. We made our way over eventually and turned back to see that Cape Town is engulfed in a thick cloud when it was sunny when we left.

On the way to Robben Island with Table Mountain in the background and the South African flag.

Once on the Island, you step onto buses that drive you around with a guide pointing out points of interests.


Did we choose the right day and bus to get on!!! We were in a bus full of Australian teenage boys on school holiday. We were making little jokes between ourselves because we knew they were Aussies but they didn’t know we were kiwis until our guide asked us where we were from. Then the jeering started – but it really was great fun. The guide we had restored my faith back in this trip as he was witty, funny and also related and personalised his stories about the Island to us on the bus. He took the dig out of the Aussies and us but all in good humour. The guide was also an ex-prisoner of the Island. Several, if not all, of the people that work on the island have been, or have had family members, that were ex-prisoners. They are not criminal prisoners but rather political prisoners and they were at the forefront of bringing down the apartheid regime. Apartheid was an era in which blacks were suppressed and not given many or any rights at all compared to whites.

One of the mass cells they had. The bunks used to fill the room leaving them with little space. Prior to these bunks they slept on the floor so there were no complaints.

About the Island: -

• It was not always an island. It was connected to the main land thousands of years ago but rising water levels has cut the island off.
• Ever since SA was settled, the island was a place of banishment and exhile.
• Its called Robben Island after the Dutch word ‘robben’ for ‘seal’.
• In 1842 the island was used as solitary confinement and quarantine for Leprosy sufferers. There is a separate graveyard for all the Leprosy sufferers on the Island. After several years, they stopped sending people to the island and as a precautionary step, the island was set ablaze to kill all the germs.
• The island as well as Cape Town was seen as a strong base and changed hands many time from the Portugeuse, to the Dutch, to the British, to the French... Before the Suez Canal in Egypt, the only passage East was around the Cape.
• During the Second World War the island was used as a military defence post for protection against invasion from the Germans or the Japs. On the island there are 2 massive cannons that were built for the war – but the funny part is that they were completed in 1947! 2 years after the war ended! They never fired once, and the tour guide jokingly added, “don’t tell Bush we have Weapons of Mass Destruction!” Lol.
• Robert Sobokwe who was an instrumental person in starting the movement was also imprisoned here. He was kept in a separate house, away from all the other prisoners and was not allowed to communicate with anyone. He was the leader of the PAC (Pan-African Congress) and told all blacks to march to their local police station without their ID books (they were compulsory for all blacks and if found without it, you were jailed) with your hands ready to be cuffed. On March 21st 1962 they all peacefully marched to their local stations but in Sharpeville, Soweto, police opened fire on the blacks, killing and injuring many. Sobokwe was later arrested.
• Anyone that was seen as a threat to the Apartheid government was imprisoned and banished to Robben Island. As such, many organisations operated underground and in secret.
• The vegetation on the Island is largely due to the Aussies. The British planted Australian willow trees on the island. These trees have devastating effect on the environment as one tree ‘drinks’ 30 Litres of water a DAY!!! And they can’t exactly chop it down because it shelters an abundance of bird species…and also because Greenpeace say you can’t.
• The temperature on the island varies quite drastically. There can be really cold nights (especially in winter) and scorching days. Prisoners were also forced to work on the limestone rocks often just moving rocks from one end to another
• Blacks were even discriminated on the island! Coloureds and Indians were given slightly more food than the blacks.
  
  
  
  
• Nelson Mandela was prisoner 466/64 – he was the 466th person to be jailed in 1964.

The famous Nelson Mandela's 2x2 cell, freshly painted and all!

• Mandela’s autobiography A Long Walk To Freedom was smuggled out of the island and sent to a publisher in Britain and the rest is history – the book becomes a hit seller and the outside world first get a glimpse of life on Robben Island. There was a part 2 written that was buried under a tree in the courtyard that was found many years later.
• The Island is now a World Heritage site as of 1996. The last prisoners left in 1994. Mandela has visited the island five times after his release, but didn’t have to stay in his 2x2 cell anymore. Instead, the guards houses are now used as accomodation. Apparently, they host conferences on the island and use the guard houses as accomodation. At least you know everyone will turn up because they have no where to run. LOL.

Shailen terrified at the prospect of being locked up with me for too long!

The island is now synonomous with the struggle for freedom. It also reminds us of our capacity to forgive as Nelson Mandela (and many others) forgave the apartheid government after being imprisoned on Robben Island for 18 years of his life. The last of his 26 year sentence was served in Pollsmoor Correctional Facility in Cape Town. Here he was advising F.W. de Klerk (the then President of South Africa) on a way to integrate the black community into society as equals. de Klerk knew that apartheid was ending and so seeked Mandela’s advice in private. Mandela’s colleagues knew that they were conversing but did not know what about and many of them thought that Mandela cracked in prison and has joined the white Government.

On our ferry ride back we were sitting with the Aussies and they started telling Kiwi jokes and for the first time my mind went blank and I couldn’t remember any Aussie jokes!!! Quite embarrassing, but they were making fools of themselves so it was ok. Everything was in good fun and we enjoyed their company – it made the trip a bit more interesting. I loved one of the jokes they said: “Why are the All Black Rugby Team like sports bras?…….because theres all support but no cup!!!” LOL

On Monday 10th we had to bid adieu to Cape Town but it seemed Cape Town wanted to keep me there a lot longer! Alisa and I booked out flights to Johanesburg on different airlines but leaving at roughly the same time. I was suppose to leave at 1500 and Alisa at 1535 and when I checked I was told that there is a delay of 2 hours due to bad weather in JHB. But when Alisa checked in she was told that theres only 20 minutes delay on hers!? But once again, poor Alisa had another bad airport experience. On her boarding pass they wrote down the boarding time as 1550 but when she went to the gate the plane was taxiing on the runway already!!! Of course we were in resteraunt so we couldn’t hear the announcements. Luckily there were several people also standing there, with the same dilema complaining so they rushed all of them on the runway to the plane. Meanwhile my flight was still saying delayed at 1700 and saying that it will be leaving at 1745. The next flight leaving CT for JHB with the same airline took off before us! It wasn’t until about 1815 that I left, a whole 3 hours later than scheduled, but it was good because I got to spend that extra time with my Dad. Now of course, Alisa and my cousin that was picking me up in JHB were all waiting for me at the other end. I get there in the end but then when leaving, they couldn’t remember where they parked! We spent about 15/20 minutes looking for the car – but on the wrong level! LOL. It was good to finaly get to their place and sleep!
We were planning on going to Kruger National Park for a safari drive but decided not to go as it was another 5 hours drive away from JHB. We instead spent the time relaxing with my cousin, Shereen, and her Husband, Vis and their little bubba Aamani. My Aunt, Dolly Mosie, was also up there so while Shereen and Vis were at work we were looking after Aamani. She is only 1 but is so well behaved! She stayed with us with no problems and was actually hanging on me. She wouldn’t stay away from me – I had to be near her all the time, she didn’t want anyone else! I enjoyed looking after her – I can't wait to have one of my own! LOL!

On the 13th, we headed for the airport again to finally say good-bye to South Africa which was our home for just over 2 months. It was a teary farewell to my cousin and aunt as they dropped us off a little early as they had a function to attend. We checked in early and then went through to claim back on our taxes. We were asked (once she already printed the cheque and signed it) whether we would like to get a cheque or deposit the money straight into our credit card. As it was only a small amount of money (R140 or $25) we took the cheque and went next door to cash it in. Just before giving us the money we were informed that they charge a tax of R40 so all we got back was R100!!! I had to ask her whether we can claim the tax back on the tax that she charged us LOL. We did a bit of duty free shopping. I bought a small Springboks rugby ball, a wooden girrafe for Alisa, some HOT chilli sauce, biltong and a I got a belt with a spinner!!! LOL Alisa calls me silly but oh well :D