So on November 10, 2017, our group of ten travelled
to Cairo’s Les Meridian Hotel near Cairo Airport. There we
met Abdallah, our Egyptologist, who would travel with us
throughout our two-week journey.
Egypt can get hot even in the fall; so our excursions
typically began very early in the morning. By 4:30 am
the following day we found ourselves flying over the Nile
Valley from Cairo south to Aswan. It was remarkable to see
the dramatic dividing line from the fertile banks of the Nile to
the barren Sahara Desert from the air. We visited the Aswan
High Dam—the second largest in the world. Its construction
created Lake Nassar, the world’s largest artificial lake. It
provides hydro-electric power for 40 percent of Egypt and
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
helps counteract the Nile’s unpredictable flooding. Following
the building of the dam, the great Philae temple was saved by
dismantling it and rebuilding on higher ground.
Our next stay was at the Nile Vision, our boat for our 3-day
cruise down the Nile. That evening we sailed the Nile in a
felucca, a traditional wooden sailing boat. Everyone struggled
to stay awake lest we fall overboard!
Once back on dry land, we took to the air and flew to
Abu Simbel, known for its two magnificent temples that
were originally carved out of solid rock on a mountainside in
the 13 th century BC. An UNESCO World Heritage Site, they
were built to honor the great Pharaoh Ramses II and his wife
Nefertiti. The views were stunning as we flew over Lake Nassar
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