Live your dream... Diary

Las Vegas - April 15 to 19, 2011

2011-04-21T11:14:00.003-05:00

April 15, 2011

Friday

Vegas here we come! None of our little family has ever been to Vegas so this should be fun! Our flight left at 10:15am from Ottawa. We landed in Chicago at 1:30pm, their local time (which is an hour behind us) and caught our connection to Las Vegas at 2:45pm. We finally arrived in Las Vegas at 4:00pm. I was surprised that the airport in Vegas is very close to the strip…. But logically, it shouldn’t of had surprised me… By 6:00pm, we were in our “little condo” with Westgate Resort, on Flamingo Road.

Did we go out on the strip that night? Absolutely! We had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and then we headed for the strip with each a drink in our hands… it’s legal here!!! That on it’s own was a good excuse to purchase cocktails and drinks and walk on the streets! Lol. We visited Paris Hotel and went up the “Eiffel Tower”. It gave us a great view of the entire strip! I couldn’t believe all the lights!! I definitely wouldn’t want to see their hydro bill!!!!! … Although I am curious to know what outrageous amount it would be… We watched the water show in front of Bellagio. We visited Caesar’s Palace – and there of course I had to go see the famous chocolate shop… yummy! The rest of the evening we just wondered around, with no specific goals in mind, just for the fun of looking at things and people.

There are these people at every corner slapping cards and trying to give them to you… they’re either strip club or escort cards with very detailed pictures on there… They don’t call it Sin City for nothing… What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas… Out of curiosity I made the mistake of taking one that was handed to me, then all of them almost jumped on me to hand me their cards or flyers…. Wow! At some point, my brother was getting annoyed with them, LOL! He kept saying “Next time, I’ll ask for their entire pack of cards and I’ll just chuck them in the air…see if they’ll pick them up!”… Hihi, I love my brother!

Return time to hotel: 2:00am…

April 16, 2011

Saturday

Started with a relax morning… which was needed. Mom and Dad went grocerie shopping (since we have a kitchen, so we can cook our meals) and I went for a run, while my brother stayed put for more sleep time.

We finally made it to the strip at approximately 2:00pm. Our first stop was the Paris Hotel to get us those famous HUGE drinks in an Eiffel Tower shaped glass… I couldn’t even finish it! There must have been the equivalent of 10 drinks in there! It was a lot of strawberry daiquiri – I could hardly hold the glass with one arm! Of course I brought the glass back home! So drinks in hand, we started walking. We ended up visiting Mirage, Treasure Island, Venetian … Bellagio and Caesar’s Palace again. We took a mini ride in a gondola at the Venetian Hotel. I think this one is my favorite… Then we visited Madame Tussaud, a waxed-celebrity museum where you can take pictures with your favorite celebrity. Some looked very real (especially when you look at the picture afterwards), others weren’t that good. Of course, my favorite celebrity is Angelina Jolie… It’s probably the closest I’ll ever be to her anyway Lol.

We realized today why gambling is so big here…. There’s a casino in every hotel or building you walk in!!!!!!! It’s crazy!! Also very funny and cool to see random movie characters walking in the streets (obviously, people disguised as them).

Return time to hotel: approximately 12:00pm… My brother and I got a little.. let’s just say, intoxicated…

April 17, 2011

Sunday

Today was Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam Day. The Grand Canyon is the number one on the list of “The Seven Natural Wonders of the World”. I’ve seen 4 out of 7 so far…. Not bad! It was an early rise, 4:30am, to have breakfast and get ready for 6:00am – we were being picked up by a bus at the hotel.

Today we started from Las Vegas, the largest city in Nevada and then through the second largest city Henderson Nevada and onto the crossing of Black Canyon, over the new Dam Bridge, just west of Hoover Dam, the Historical Dam, it has been viewed by millions of people of over the years.

Our first stop was in Kingman Arizona for a 15 minute break. This is one of the many small towns built on “Route 66”. The second stop was for lunch at The Grand Depot Café in Williams Arizona, a true Western Town and The Home of the Grand Canyon Train.

Finally, our third stop was The Grand Canyon National Park. An optional hike was offered to us from Mather Point all the way to Bright Angle Lodge… we took it! Took us about 75 minutes…. But there were many stops for pictures, being the “trigger happy” that I am!

The view was just absolutely amazing! Pictures always fail to capture the true beauty and “amazingness” of things! I can just imagine what sunrise or sunset looks in that area… wow!!! The rest of the family was quite in amazement also… who wouldn’t be?!

We came back to the hotel at 9:00pm… It was a big day. We debated to go back on the strip for the evening… but decided not too and just stay put and chill in our “little condo”. We haven’t had much sleep to this point. Tomorrow is our last visiting day…

April 18, 2011

Monday

Easy, relaxing morning. Had my run in again this morning. We had very warm and sunny days so far. Today is warm but cloudy. This is was our last day to visit the strip. We focused on the side of the strip, the one we haven’t seen yet. So we visited New York New York, Excalabur, MGM, Tropicana, Luxor, Monte Carlo… And I couldn’t leave without visiting the M&M Store!! Hehe! Luxor was very cool! The hotel is in the shape of a pyramid and the layout concept from the inside is something to see! We did a little “gambling” today too, mostly the penny slot machines… we all made a profit… mine was 7$... hehe!

By late afternoon, we had pretty much enough of Vegas strip. At some point your realize that all hotels are the same, it’s just the theme that’s different – it’s just a bunch of casinos everywhere. And it’s true when they say that the city looks very different from night and day – it looks like a completely different city at night, and much prettier at night also.

So after Alex’s 64oz mug of beer (which he brought home as well), we came back to the hotel at 6:30pm, had dinner and left for the airport. Our return flight is at midnight tonight.

… There’s even slot machines at the airport…!!!!!!!

April 19, 2011

Tuesday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!!! –xoxox-

Today was just the return back home, from airport to airport. Our connecting flight was in Chicago again. At least from Vegas to Chicago I totally knocked out for the entire duration of the flight. I think I was asleep even before the plane took off! I woke up to the sound of “Ladies and Gentleman, we will now be landing in Chicago. Please bring your seats up and….”.

Flights went well and after a night of flying we were back in Ottawa at 10:00am. After my Dad’s search for his prescription glasses (without any success unfortunately), that left me with just enough time to put my run in, do my banking stuff, do my laundry, take a shower and quickly eat before my evening shift at work… yup, back to work on return day…

All in all, it was a great trip!! Good quality time with the family!! Thanks Mom, Dad and Alex! Love you guyz!!! xoxox

Our Trip Itinerary and Some History...

2011-03-24T08:18:00.003-05:00

Day 0

Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport – Collection via Base Camp and transfer to the L’Oasis – Lodge and Restaurant. D

Day 1

Serengeti National Park is our destination today! The most famous of all wildlife sanctuary’s in Africa! And home to the largest migration of wildlife in Africa. We enter and Game Drive our way to camp near Seronera River inside park. BLD

Day 2

A full day’s sheer pleasure in the Serengeti National Park, Game Driving with over 14,000 square kms to explore in our search for the best nature ahs to offer! We camp at Seronera campsite. BLD

Day 3

In the Serengeti NP we rise at dawn, taking a tip from the wildlife that use this time to hunt. In the afternoon, we are en-route to Ngorongoro Crater. En-route we stop at Oldupai Gorge to visit the “Cradle Of Mankind” and we visit a Maasai Tribe. Tonight we camp at 2,300m on the rim of the crater. It can be chilly! BLD

Day 4

Ngorongoro Crater is a world heritage site! We spend the maximum of 6 hours allowed game driving in this world’s largest Caldera (collapsed volcano). Amongst the circa 30,000 resident animals. In late afternoon return to Arusha overnight L’Oasis – Lodge and Restaurant. BLD

Day 5

Londrossi Gate 2100m – Mt Mkybwa Camp 2800m

Hiking time: approx. 5hrs

Distance: 7km

Habitat: Montane Forest

Drive from our hotel in Arusha to the Mount Kilimanjaro National Park and check in at Londrossi Gate located on the western side of Kilimanjaro. The journey passes through the village of Sanya Juu, which is located on the lower slopes of the mountain. You reach the starting point at the Lemosho glades with the vehicle where you shall see the porters arranging their packs containing the food and other equipment. Make sure that you have all your daypack items with you as the porters travel very quickly. The guides will be pleased to assist with any additional information. You now trek through the main forest on a winding trail to the first camp, which is located at an altitude of 2250m. Lower down, the trail can be muddy and slippery. Gaiters and trekking poles are good idea here. You continue a short distance until you reach the Mt Mkubwa Camp (BIG TREE) officially known as the forest camp rest and enjoy your dinner and overnight. You have now reached an altitude of 2250m.

Day 6

Mt Mkubwa 2800m – Shira Camp 3500m

Hiking time: approx. 5hrs

Distance: 7km

Habitat: Moorland

After breakfast, you leave the heather to continue on an ascending path, through the heather and moorland. Today is a full day trek with an altitude gain of 700m. After lunch you cross into the Shira Caldera, a high altitude desert plateau which is rarely visited. Shira is the third of Kilimanjaro’s volcanic cones, and is filled with lava flow from Kibo Peak. Overnight Shira 1 Camp at 3500m.

Day 7

Shira 1 Camp 3500m – Shira 2 Camp 3840m

Hiking time: approx. 3hrs

Distance: 7km

Habitat: Moorland

After breakfast, you leave the heather to continue on an ascending path, through the Moorland and, to the east across the Shira Plateau past the Shira Cathedral towards Shira 2 Camp. You only gain 340m in elevation – this allows you to acclimatize slowly to the altitude. The views of the plateay are nothing less than spectacular. Overnight at Shira 2 Camp 3840m.

*** N.B. We Combined Day 7 and Day 8 into one day… so Day 7 and 8 combined were actually Day 7!!

Day 8

Shira 2 Campsite 3840m – Lava Tower (4600m) – Barranco Camp 3950m

Hiking time: approx. 7hrs

Distance: 11km

Habitat: Semi desert

From the Shira Plateau, you continue to the east, passing the junction towards the peak of Kibo. As you continue, the direction changes to the South East towards the Lava Tower, called the “Shark’s Tooth”. It is usually at these point where for the first time some climbers will start feeling symptoms of breathlessness and headache due to high altitude and one should walk slowly – POLE POLE as they say in Kiswahili. You now continue downswards to the Barranco Camp at an altitude of 3950m, situated in a valley below the breach and the great Barranco Wall. Here, you rest, enjoy dinner and camp overnight. Although you end the day at the same elevation, as when you started, this day is very important for acclimatization (climb high and sleep low) and will help your body prepare for the successful summit day.

Day 9

(ACCLIMITIZATION DAY) Barranco Camp 3840m – Karanga Campsite 4200m

Hiking time: approx. 4hrs

Distance: 7km

Habitat: Alpine Desert

After breakfast, you will depart from Barranco Camp and continue on a steep ridge passing the Barranco Wall through the Karanga Valley at 4200m and it is the LAST WATER STOP as you shall not find water at the Barafu Camp. Here, one gets a better chance to view the glaciers at a very near distance. You shall have hot Lunch at Karanga Valley. After a short rest, you can view the Mawenzi Slopes as well as the Tanzanian Sugar Plantation farms. (TPC) with a short walk to see the sedimentary rocks which sound like iron when stepped on and return to the Karanga Valley Campsite for dinner and overnight.

Day 10

Karanga Valley Campsite 4200m – Barafu Camp 4600m

Hiking time: approx. 3hrs

Distance: 8km

Habitat: Alpine Desert

After breakfast, you will depart from Karanga Valley Campsite at 4200m, for the junction that connects with the Mweka Trail. You continue to the Barafu Hut, which is located at an altitude of 4600m. You have completed the Southern Circuit, which offers views for the summit from many different angles. There is no water at Barafu Camp, even though Barafu is the Kiswahili word for “ice”. The famous snows of Kilimanjaro are far above Barafu Camp near the summit of the mountain. Your tent will be pitched on a narrow, stony, wind-swept ridge, so make sure that you familiarize yourself with the terrain before dark to avoid any accidents. Prepare your equipment and warm clothing for your summit climb, and drink a lot of fluids. Here you can rest, enjoy dinner and go to bed for a few hours of precious sleep.

Day 11

Barafu Camp 4600m – Uhuru Peak 5895m – Mweka Camp 3100m

Hiking time: approx. 7hrs to reach Uhuru Peak then approx. 8hrs down to Mweka Camp

Distance: 31km total

Habitat: Stone Scree and Ice Capped Summit!

Early morning, you continue towards the summit of Uhuru Peak at 5895m. It can be bitterly cold at night at these elevations, but it will be quite warm by the end of the hiking day. You will want clothing for both extremes with you. At Uhuru Peak, you have reached the highest point of Mount Kilimanjaro and the continent of Africa. Faster hikers will see the sunrise from the summit. You now make your descent continuing straight down to the Mweka Hut Campsite, stopping at Barafu Camp for lunch. You will want gaiters and trekking poles for the loose gravel going down. Mweka Camp at 3100m, situated in the upper forest and mist or rain can be expected during the late afternoon. This part of the descent takes about 7-8 hours. Later in the evening, you enjoy your last dinner on the mountain and a well earned sleep.

Day 12

Mweka Camp 3100m – Mweka Gate 1500m

Hiking time: approx. 3hrs

Distance: 15km

Habitat: Forest

After breakfast, you continue the descent down to the Mweka Park Gate. At lower elevations, it can be wet and muddy. Gaiters and trekking poles will help. A vehicle will meet you at Mweka village to drive you back to your Hotel in Arusha, L’Oasis – Lodge and Restaurant.

Day 13

Collection via Base Camp at L’Oasis – Lodge and Restaurant to drive you to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your flight to Zanzibar. A driver will pick you up at the airport in Zanzibar to transfer you to Langi Langi Resort, where you will enjoy the remaining of your time in Africa.

Day 14 and 15

You enjoy the beach, the great weather. This will be a great opportunity to visit Stone Town, a World Heritage Site.

Day 16

Collection via Base Camp at Langi Langi Resort to drive you to Zanzibar International Airport for your connecting flight to Der as Salaam. From Der as Salaam is your departure for your return to Canada.

The Migratory Path we were in…

The endless plains of east Africa are the setting for the world’s greatest wildlife spectacle – the 1.5 million animal ungulate (wildebeest) migration. From the vast Serengeti plains to the champagne colored hills of Kenya’s Masai Mara over 1.4 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra and gazelle, relentlessly tracked by Africa’s great predators, migrate in a clockwise fashion over 1,800 miles each year in search of rain ripened grass.

There is no real beginning or end to a wildebeest’s journey. Its life is an endless pilgrimage, a constant search for food and water. The only beginning is at the moment of birth. An estimated 400,000 wildebeest calves are born during a six week period early each year – usually between late January and mid-March.

December, January, February, March

The Serengeti National Park/Ngorongoro Conversation Area is arguably the most impressive wildlife sanctuary in the world. During the months December through March the seemingly unending plains of the southern Serengeti and the conversation Area are inhabited by enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra. The great herds graze on rain ripened grass.

In the calving season (late January through mid March) the herds concentrate at the Ndutu and Salei plains (Southern Serengeti/Ngorongoro Conversation Area) attracting the attention of predators like lion, cheetah and hyena.

During this period the migration is best observed from Ndutu Safari Lodge, Kusini Camp or any of several private tented camps used by mobile safaris.

Serengeti National Park…

The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in Serengeti area, Tanzania. It is most famous for its animal migration of over one and a half million white bearded (or brindled) wildebeest and 250,000 zebra. Serengeti National Park is widely regarded as the best wildlife reserve in Africa due to its density of predators and prey.

The Maasai people have been grazing their livestock in the open plains which they knew as “endless plain” for around 200 years when the first European explorers visited the area. The name Serengeti is an approximation of the word used by the Maasai to describe the area. As part of the creation of the park, and in order to preserve wildlife, the resident Maasai were moved to the Ngorongoro highlands. There is still considerable controversy surrounding this move, with claims made of coercion and deceit on the part of the colonial authorities.

The Serengeti is Tanzania's oldest national park and remains the flagship of the country’s tourism industry, providing a major draw to the “Northern Safari Circuit”, encompassing Lake Manyara, Tarangire and Arusha national parks, as well as Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

The park covers 14,763 km² (5,700 square miles) of grassland plains and savanna as well as riverine forest and woodlands. The park lies in the north of the country, bordered to the north by the national Tanzania and Kenyan border, where it is continuous with the Maasai Mara National Reserve. To the south-east of the park is Ngorongoro Conservation Area, to the south-west lies Maswa Game Reserve, and to the western borders are Ikorongo and Grumeti Game Reserves, to the north-east lies Loliondo Game Control Area.

Human habitation is forbidden in the National Park with the exception of staff for TANAPA, researchers and staff of Frankfurt Zoological Society, and staff of the various lodges and hotels. The main settlement is Seronera which houses the majority of research staff and the park’s main headquarters, including its primary airstrip.

The park is usually described as divided in three regions:

Serengeti plains: the endless, almost treeless grassland of the south is the most emblematic scenery of the park. This is where the wildebeest breed, as they remain in the plains from December to May. Other hoofed animals- zebra, gazelle, impala, hartebeest, topi, buffalo, waterbuck - also occur in huge numbers during the wet season. Kopjes are granite florations which are very common in the region, and they are great observation posts for predators, as well as a refuge for hyrax and pythons.

Western corridor: the "black cotton" (actually black clay) soil covers the swampy savannah of this region. Grumeti river is home to enormous Nile crocodiles, colobus monkey, and the martial eagle. The migration passes through from May to July.

Northern Serengeti: the landscape is dominated by open woodlands (predominantly Commiphora) and hills, ranging from Seronera in the South, to the Mara river in the limit with Kenya. Apart from the migratory wildebeest and zebra (which occur from July to August, and in November), the bushy savannah is the best place to find elephant, giraffe and dik dik.

As well as the migration of ungulates, the park is well known for its healthy stock of other resident wildlife, particularly the “Big Five”, named for the five most prized trophies taken by hunters:

Lion: the Serengeti is believed to hold the largest population of lions in Africa due in part to the abundance of prey species. Currently there are more than 3000 lion living in this ecosystem.
Africa Leopard: these reclusive predators are commonly seen in the Monera's region but are present through out the national park with the currently population at around 1000.
African Elephant: the herds are recovering from population lows in the 1980s caused by poaching, and are largely located in the northern regions of the park
Black Rhinoceros: mainly found around the kopies in the centre of the park, very few individuals remain due to rampant poaching. Individuals from the Masai Mara Reserve cross the park border and enter Serengeti from the northern section at times.
African Buffalo: still abundant and present in healthy numbers, but numbers have been somewhat reduced due to disease.

The park also supports many further species, including cheetah, Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, topi, eland, water buck, hyena, baboon, impala, African wild dog and giraffe. The park also boasts about 500 bird species, including ostrich, secretary bird, Kori bustard, crowned crane, marabou stork, martial eagle, lovebirds and many species of vultures.

As a result of the biodiversity and ecological significance of the area, the park has been listed by UNESCO as one if the World Heritage Sites.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area…

The main feature of the NCA is the Ngorongoro Crater, a large, unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera. The crater, which formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself some two to three million years ago, is 610 m (2,000 ft) deep and its floor covers 260 km² (100 sq mi). Estimates of the height of the original volcano range from fifteen to nineteen thousand feet (4500 to 5800 m) high.

NCA is a conservation area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1979) situated180 km (112 miles) west of Arusha in the Crater Highlands area of Tanzania. The Ngorongoro Crater, a large volcanic caldera, lies within the area.

A population of approximately 25,000 large animals, largely ungulates along with reputedly the highest density of mammalian predators in Africa, lives in the crater. Large animals in the crater include the black rhinoceros, the local population of which declined from about 108 in 1964-66 to between 11-14 in 1995, and the hippopotamus, which is very uncommon in the area. There also are many other ungulates: the wildebeest (7,000 estimated in 1994), the zebra (4,000), the eland, and Grant's and Thompson's gazelles (3,000). The crater has the densest known population of lions, numbering 62 in 2001. On the crater rim are leopards, elephants - numbering 42 in 1987 but only 29 in 1992 – mountain reedbuck and buffalo (4,000 in 1994).

However, since the 1980s the crater's wildebeest population has fallen by a quarter to about 19,000 and the numbers of eland and Thomson's gazelle also have declined while the buffalo population has increased greatly, probably due to the long prevention of fire which favors high-fibrous grasses over shorter, less fibrous types.

In summer, enormous numbers of Serengeti migrants pass through the plains of the reserve, including 1.7 million wildebeest, 260,000 zebra, and 470,000 gazelles. Waterbuck occur mainly near Lerai Forest; servals occur widely in the crater and on the plains to the west. Common in the reserve are lions, hartebeest, spotted hyenas and jackals. Cheetahs, although common in the reserve, are scarce in the crater itself. The Africa Wild Dog has recently disappeared from the crater and may have declined elsewhere in the Conservation Area as well, as well as throughout Tanzania according to C. Michael Hogan.

Olduvai Gorge…

The Olduvai Gorge is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley that stretches through eastern Africa. It is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania and is about 48 km (30 mi) long. It is located 45 km from the Laetoli archaeolgical site. The gorge is an important prehistoric site, sometimes called "the Cradle of Mankind."

The name is a misspelling of Oldupai Gorge, which was adopted as the official name in 2005. Oldupai is the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria ehrenbergii, which grows in the gorge.

Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world and has been instrumental in furthering understanding of early human evolution.

Chasing a fancy butterfly in the green wilds of Tanganyika 50 years ago, a German entomologist named (Wilhelm) Kattwinkel tumbled off a rocky ledge and nearly killed himself. When he regained his senses, he found himself in an anthropologist's dream world: an erosion-created rift with layer after layer of fossils, bones and ancient artifacts. The find was named Olduvai Gorge, and Kattwinkel's heirs ever since have been scrambling up and down its sun-baked sides in search of clues to man's earliest awakening. (Time, Friday 10 March 1961).

The stratigraphy is extremely deep and layers of volcanic ash and stones allow radiometric dating of the embedded artifacts, mostly through potassium-argon dating and Argon-argon dating. The base of the Olduvai sediments dates to slightly older than 2 million years,with the first artifacts (pebble tools and choppers) appearing slightly above. Nearby site Laetoli has a much older fossil record.

Kilimanjaro…

Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is an inactive stratovolcano in north-eastern Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at 5,895 m or 19,341 ft above sea level (the Uhuru Peak/Kibo Peak). Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest freestanding mountain as well as the 4^th most prominent mountain in the world, rising 5,882 m or 19,298 ft from the base.

There are sixofficial climbing routes by which to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, namely: Marangu, Rongai, Lemosho,Shira, Umbwe and Machame. Of all the routes, Machameis by far the most scenic albeit steeper route up the mountain, which can be done in six or seven days. The Rongai is the easiest camping route and the Marangu is also relatively easy, but accommodation is in huts. As a result, this route tends to be very busy, and ascent and descent routes are the same.

People who wish to climb Kilimanjaro are advised to undertake appropriate research^[and ensure that they are both properly equipped and physically capable. Though the climb is technically not as challenging as when climbing the peaks of the Himalayas, the altitude, low temperature, and occasional high winds make this a difficult and dangerous trek. Acclimatization is essential, and even then most experienced climbers suffer some degree of altitude sickness. Kilimanjaro summit is well above the altitude at which high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), or high altitude cerebral edema (HACE) can occur. All climbers will suffer considerable discomfort, typically shortage of breath, hypothermia and headaches, and though most young, fit people can make the Uhuru summit, a substantial number of trekkers will abandon the attempt at a lower altitude.

Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and fourth highest of the Seven Summits. It is the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, with Uhuru Peak rising to an altitude of 5,895 m (19,341 ft) AMSL (Above Mean Sea Level).

Kilimanjaro is composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo 5,895 m (19,341 ft); Mawenzi 5,149 m (16,893 ft); and Shira 3,962 m (13,000 ft). Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo's crater rim.

Kilimanjaro is a giant stratovolcano that began forming a million years ago, when lava spilled from the Rift Valley zone. Two of its three peaks, Mawenzi and Shira, are extinct while Kibo (the highest peak) is dormant and could erupt again. The last major eruption has been dated to 360,000 years ago, while the most recent activity was recorded just 200 years ago.

Although it is dormant, Kilimanjaro has fumaroles that emit in the crater on the main summit of Kibo. Scientists concluded in 2003 that molten magma is just 400 m (1,310 ft) below the summit crater. Several collapses and landslides have occurred on Kibo in the past, one creating the area known as the Western Breach.

Zanzibar…

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of the United Republic of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 km (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, informally referred to as Zanzibar), and Pemba. Other nearby island countries and territories include Comoros and Mayotte to the south, Mauritius and Reunion to the fat southeast, and the Seychelles Islands about 1,500 km to the east. Arab and Portuguese traders visited the region in early times, and it was controlled by Omanis in the 18th and 19th centuries. Britain established a protectorate (1890) that became an independent sultanate in December 1963 and a republic after an uprising in January 1964. In April 1964 it joined Tanganyika to form a new republic that was renamed Tanzania in October 1964. (Frommers, 2002) The capital of Zanzibar, located on the island of Unguja, is Zanzibar City, and its historic centre, known as Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.

Zanzibar's main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism. In particular, the islands produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper. For this reason, the islands, together with Tanzania's Mafia Island, are sometimes called the Spice Islands (a term also associated with the Maluku Islands in Indonesia). Zanzibar’s ecology is of note for being the home of the endemic Zanzibar Red Colobus and the (possibly extinct) Zanzibar Leopard.

Stonetown…

Stone Town also known as Mji Mkongwe (Swahili for "old town") is the old part of Zanzibar City, the main city of Zanzibar, in Tanzania, as opposed to Ng’ambo (Swahili for 'the other side'). It is located on the western coast of Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago. Former capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate, and flourishing centre of the spice trade as well as the slave trade in the 19th century, it retained its importance as the main city of Zanzibar during colonial rule. When Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined each other to form the United Republic of Tanzania, Zanzibar kept a semi-autonomous status, with Stone Town as its local government seat.

Stone Town is a city of prominent historical and artistic importance in East Africa. Its architecture, mostly dating back to the 19th century, reflects the diverse influences underlying the Swahili culture, with a unique mixture of Moorish, Arab, Persian, Indian and European elements. For this reason, the town has been included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites in 2000.

Due to its heritage, Stone Town is also a major visitor attraction in Tanzania, and a large part of its economy depends on tourism-related activities.

Dar es Salaam…

Dar es Salaam [translation: "house of Peace"] formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: Kinondoniw to the north, Ilala in the center of the region, and Temeke to the south. The Dar es Salaam Region had a population of 2,497,940 as of the official 2002 census. Though Dar es Salaam lost its official status as capital city to Dodoma in 1974, it remains the centre of the permanent central government bureaucracy and continues to serve as the capital for the surrounding Dar es Salaam Region.

Tanzania…

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in central East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.

The United Republic of Tanzania is a unitary republic composed of 26 mikoa (regions). The head of state is President Jkaya Mrisho Kikwete, elected in 2005. Since 1996, the official capital of Tanzania has been Dodoma, where parliament and some government offices are located. Between independence and 1996, the major coastal city of Dar es Salaam served as the country's political capital. Today, Dar es Salaam remains the principal commercial city of Tanzania and the de-facto seat of most government institutions. It is the major seaport for the country and its landlocked neighbours.

The name Tanzania derives from the names of the two states Tanganyika and Zanzibar that united in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which later the same year was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania.

Maasai Tribe…

According to their own oral history, the Maasai originated from the lower Nile valley north of Lake Turkana (Northwest Kenya) and began migrating south around the 15th century, arriving in a long trunk of land stretching from northern Kenya to central Tanzania between the 17th and late 18th century. Many ethnic groups that had already formed settlements in the region were forcibly displaced by the incoming Maasai,while other, mainly southern Cushitic groups, were assimilated into Maasai society. The resulting mixture of the Nilotic and Cushitic (Hamitic) populations in the area came to be referred to as Nilo-Hamitic peoples, and also include the Kalenjin and the Samburu.

The Maasai (also Masai) are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the most well known of African ethnic groups, due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa. They speak Maa, a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to Dinka and Nuer, and are also educated in the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania: Swahili and English. The Maasai population has been variously estimated as 377,089 from the 1989 Census or as 453,000 language speakers in Kenya in 1994 and 430,000 in Tanzania in 1993 with a total estimated as "approaching 900,000”. Estimates of the respective Maasai populations in both countries are complicated by the remote locations of many villages, and their semi-nomadic nature.

The Tanzanian and Kenyan governments have instituted programs to encourage the Maasai to abandon their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, but the people have continued their age-old customs. Recently, Oxfam has claimed that the lifestyle of the Maasai should be embraced as a response to climate change because of their ability to farm in deserts and scrublands.

Swahili…

Known in Swahili itself as Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Indian Ocean coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoros Islands. Although only 15–20 million people speak it as their native language, Swahili is a national, or official language, of three nations: Tanzania, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Within much of East Africa, it is often used as a lingua franca.

Tanzania: February 23 to March 12, 2011

2011-03-24T07:30:00.009-05:00

Kilimanjaro - Serengeti – Zanzibar

February 23, 2011

Wednesday

I booked this trip exactly a year ago thinking “wow, a year… it’s so far away!”… and here we are at the start of this great adventure thinking “wow, where did the year go?!” I’ve been looking forward to this!! It’s been a long time since my last travel… too long… This is my time to breathe, reflect on things and just enjoy being.

We are currently on our flight from Montreal to Amsterdam: Christiane (my aunt), Christine and Therese (buddies), and myself – with 5 hours of flight time still ahead of us. A 2-hour wait awaits us in Amsterdam for our connection to our final destination… Kilimanjaro… let the fun begin :-)

February 24, 2011

Thursday

We are on our way to Kilimanjaro, with a 45 minute delay in our departure from Amsterdam. The sky is crystal clear and sun is blazing its’ warmth. We had the sweet pleasure of flying over the Alps… what a beautiful sight!! On a funny note, Aunty just discovered that Amsterdam is in Holland.. not England.. hehe. She left Canada with Pounds in currency in prevision for our day-trip in Amsterdam on our return… a little geography review wouldn’t hurt hihi!

10:05pm

Arrived in Kilimanjaro!!! Oh yeah!!! Our guide, Abdul, was waiting for us at the airport exit to drive us to our lodge, where we will spend the night. All our luggage made it except Aunty’s backpack… :-( . I had a feeling about missing luggage when we left Montreal… but decided not to give it too much attention… instincts were right. With luck it will be here within the next 4 days – it is of major importance since all her gear to climb Kili is in that bag!

Our lodge is cozy and cute, very Africa style :-) Can’t wait to see it in the morning. It is called the “L’Oasis”. The sky is completely filled with stars…so beautiful! The “milky way” is very visible!!

Looking forward to a nice long night of sleep in a bed! Wake up call 6am tomorrow.

Oh, and, my phone doesn’t work here… need to find internet ASAP in the morning before we set off for our safari.

February 25, 2011

Friday

Our first breaky in Africa at 7am this morning – a good veggie omelet with coffee. We had an extra friend to give us company at our table… Henry the bird with a very funny hairdo! ;-) Although we slept in beds, the night was everything but peaceful… dogs barking, trucks honking the horn, people partying (or something) and roosters at 4am… even my earplugs did not suffice… oh well.

Abdul was waiting for us at 8:30am (well we were waiting for him… he was late) in the L’Oasis parking lot. Off we go for our 4-day safari! Little pit stop first: visit to Achmed (our guy responsible for the booking of our trip) in order to give him the details for him to retrieve Aunty’s backpack. I was very focused on putting my paws on internet also before leaving… without any luck in that regards! I was getting a little stressed… but fortunately, Achmed lend us his cell phone so I was able to put in a couple of calls at home. Pfiouf, what a relief!

So at 9:30am we were officially “en route” for the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. On our way there we passed a little village that looked sufficient on it’s own, with it’s own school and all. That’s when we learned that this little village was one family… yup, one family! It’s created by one man who married 18 women… yes, 18 (I know it’s a culture thing so I won’t add my opinion on this one)… and that was sufficient in creating so many kids that the country decided to have a school built for him in order for the kids to be able to attend school. To put things in perspective… their school looks like our barns (or worse even in some cases).

Shortly after that we saw our first African animal by the road, the zebra :-) We finally got to our campsite, Pimbi campsite, at 7:00pm – a little later then planned but we’re on holidays, who cares. We were just in time to see the remainder of a beautiful sunset. Have you ever sat a washing machine while it’s spinning? Well, try it, multiply the “shakingness” by 20 and that’s how we felt sitting in the jeep, driving for the most part of the day. By the time I laid down in my sleeping bag to sleep, I was still shaking! But it’s all good fun. We had a lovely meal ready (cooked by our guide Zachary) and our tents set up (by Abdul) by the time we had all tended to our bodyly-cleaning and little hygiene. That’s when we discovered that going for a pee is a skill mastered here – “squat-aim-shoot”… some shoot right, some shoot left and some shoot so crooked they pee on themselves… We eventually stopped at a little side-road market for a quick lunch, ditch our trailer and onward we continued.

Animals seen today: zebras, elephants, hippos, gazelles, giraffes, wallabies, and other weird cool looking birds.

February 26, 2011

Saturday

Early rise this morning, 5am, for a morning safari before breakfast. I loved it! Slept well also. Quick coffee and off we went! Sunrise was absolutely gorgeous! I don’t know if it’s just me but the sunrise seem so much more amazing here then back home and they are so much more spectacular then sunsets here… maybe my perception plays tricks on me… who knows.

We came back from the morning safari at 11am… we had planned to come back a little earlier for breakfast but we saw so much! So brunch it is. We went back for another drive after brunch and came back for late lunch at 2pm. Abdul was being a little of a joker and we didn’t think he was serious when he said “There’s a giraffe in front of your tent…”… So happened that he wasn’t kidding around, there really was one! So cool! So we took a chair and sat down to watch the giraffe until she left. Not something I typically do back home ;-)

So here’s what we saw so far today: Giraffes (other then the one upclose and personal by our tent), zebras, black face monkeys, buffalos, hippos, 2 leopards (which you rarely see!!) and elephants (upclose!!! – saw them swimming, playing, fighting, eating… they are absolutely amazing to watch!!).

I had a little snooze after lunch and some time to write in my journal before we were back in “safari mode” at 4pm. I was hopping to see lions but no such luck today. But we did have a friend waiting for us in the jeep, waiting patiently to get a ride or tag along.. hehe… a Baboon was sitting on the back seat! Never saw anything so funny… well maybe Abdul chasing him away was equally funny haha!!

We saw elephants, giraffes, zebras, ostriches, many birds, gazelles, baboons, wild boars (Pumba!) and stripped bandits (Timmon!) and massive pad of hippos!! (can’t believe the size of those teeth!!).

Today’s temperature was close to 30 degrees Celsius. Mornings and evenings are perfect – just cool enough to wear pants and comfy fleece, but not cold.

A shower was very much appreciated after those 2 days of driving in this never-ending dust!

Sky is fully lit of stars again.. so dreamy to look at!

Thank you: “Asante”

Thank you very much: “Asante sana”

You’re welcome: “Caribu”

February 27, 2011

Sunday

I slept really well last night… until I heard the hyenas around my tent! That must have been sometime around 3am and just when I needed to go pee… I held it until morning this time! I was fully undressed in my sleeping bag but when I heard those hyenas I got dressed rather quickly. I figured if I had to bolt out of that tent in a hurry at least I won’t be butt naked!

It was an early rise again this morning, 6am. Funny how I dislike early rise back home but on a trip, I love them! ;-) So today was our last safari in the Serengeti NP before we head to Ngorongoro Conservation Area (the volcano crater). But we definitely ended in a bang in Serengeti!! To top off the breathtaking sunrise, we started our morning by seeing not one, but 2 coupled lions (females and male)!!!!! I was thrilled! I love big kitties!!! Then we saw another leopard…! What are the chances of that?! As if the lions and leopard wasn’t enough, we had a pack of elephants come to the jeep so close that if I would have extended my arm out I would have touched them surely! … It was amazing!! And this is all before 11am!!!!

We came back at 11am for breaky/brunch, then we left Pimbi campsite at 1:30pm.

On our way to Ngorongoro Crater, we stopped to visit a Maasai tribe and their village, where we were fortunate to experience some of their rituals and learn a little culture. Each tribe/village is formed of a Chief (generally the eldest man) with his wives, along with their sons and their wives. Each man can have more then one wife, if they have enough cattle for them (one cattle in exchange for the wife). The Chief goes to another tribe/village to choose a wife for the man – the wife must leave her tribe to come and live with her new/only husband. Aunty asked him at that point “What if you fall in love with another woman and the Chief doesn’t allow you to marry her or makes you marry another one?” He just looked at her in a way that was saying “What do you mean? What has love got to do with it?”. I wonder if they know what love is… But for them, marriage is about creating and nothing else. That’s what they know. Tribes migrate with the seasons (dry vs rainy). When they travel, they drain for their blood and mix that blood with cow’s milk in order to feed the children and the men. There are 4 categories in a tribe: Warriors, Men & Young boys, Elderly and Women (in order of importance). If a man with many wives is away or had trouble performing his “duties” has a husband (meaning the act of creation), another man of the tribe is expected to lay with the wife (the wife has no say). If that woman becomes pregnant, it is considered the child of the husband, not the “helper”. After hearing all this… I’m a VERY happy Canadian woman!!! We saw the kids at their school also. They sang the alphabet to us, soooo cute! The only downfall to this was that I felt a little pushed into donating money…. Not that I mind donating money, I just find it odd when it’s being “pushed”. They said that the money we were donating went towards kids future schooling and women of the tribe… but somehow, unfortunately, I doubt it does…

Stopped at Odulpai Gorge Museum (Odulpai Gorge – “The Cradle Of Mankind”) where the first homosapien skull was found, dating 1.5 millions years ago, by a German scientist who was in search of a butterfly. He led the first expedition, excavation (in 1911) and found bone remains of species dating 1.75 million years ago! When looking at the gorge, different layers of different colors are visible. Each color signifies a time/period: lower layers and darker colors represents the older periods of time.

We finally arrived at Ngorongoro’s Crater campsite. We had the luxury of having a hot shower this evening…. Nice! And a surprise appearance of an elephant by the washrooms…! That was sweet!! A giraffe by the tent, an elephant by the washrooms, tomorrow what? A lion at my tent door? … hehe.

I haven’t had a run in what? 4-5 days? …!! I miss it today! I can’t wait to start climbing Kili and start moving a little, get that heart pumping. I’m getting fidgety from just sitting, driving around, eating and not moving much… not used to that. On the other hand, I can’t believe I’m here… so beautiful and amazing! Such a different landscape and wildlife then back in Canada… The night is a little cooler. We are sleeping at 2700m in altitude tonight… which is great for some acclimatization before Kili…

Dinner time…

Christine loves dogs and made a friend today… he stayed by her tent all night! He started barking in the middle of the night. Therese figured out if was an elephant that walked by… and then had decided to destroy our pots and pans from the kitchen… hehe.

February 28, 2011

Monday

I had to go pee during the night again… I didn’t make it to the washrooms, only because I was too “chicken” to go that far alone… I made it as far as the big tree (which is about mid point)… neighboring tents must have heard me if they weren’t asleep… hihi!

So this is our last safari day ;-( . We had breaky at 6am and a beautiful sunrise over the crater! At 7am, we started our drive down into the crater. We drove around for a total of 4 hours… time flies when you’re having fun! I was just in awe with the scenery and the view… I know I’ve said it a million times by now but…. AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING!!! We saw the Big Five, today: buffalo, elephant, rhino, lion (3 females and 2 males), leopard (in movement this time, not in a tree!). We also saw the wild cat, cheetah, antelopes, zebra, giraffes, gazelles, eagles, hippos, hyena (with a fresh kill!), ostriches, etc. Awesome way to end a 4-day safari!!

We had lunch at 12pm on the top of the crater. As we are sitting and chatting, Christine starts to unwrap her cooked chicken only to have it snatched up out of her hands by a nearby eagle…. We were so stunned and surprised that it took us a few seconds to process what had just happened, then it was ongoing laughing!!

As we are driving back to Arusha to spend the night at L’Oasis, we stopped at a local market for Abdul’s lunch. I took the opportunity to get myself 2 local paintings. I even met the artist who was making the paintings! ;-)

So we are still crossing our fingers for Aunty’s backpack… I must admit I had an episode of being “impulsive-impatient-irritated”… As we arrived a L’Oasis, we met with Ben, our Kili guide for the next 8 days. Poor Ben, so did not see the best side of me on our first time meeting… I can just imagine what he was thinking! Achmed came to join us for a few beers later in the evening as well. After a long hot shower, re-organizing my backpack, and a glass of wine, I felt much better – back to normal mood!

I know we all have our moments but I was wondering if either I don’t “go with the flow” as easily as I used to… or is Tanzania truly different from the rest of Africa that I’ve seen and lived….? I just get so annoyed with not being given a clear schedule fo what we are about to do or where we’re about to go… everything is always a surprise… everyone assumes that you will assume things… maybe I’m just a control freak… they say that your trait of character become more apparent as you grow older… hmmm…

I was able to send an email tonight! Woohoo!

March 1, 2011

Tuesday

We are ready to go and sitting for breakfast at 7am. We left the L’Oasis at 8:30am. Kilimanjaro here we come! And… We got Aunty’s backpack!!!! It arrived last night, so we will make a quick stop at the airport (which is on the way to Kili anyway) to pick up her bag!! Woohooo!!!

I must say, other then the occasional weird tingly sensation in hands and feet, those altitude pills are very much entertaining… we called them the “happy pills” now. I don’t remember the last time I laughed this much!! Our drive to Kili was an “abs-toner” for sure! … but I won’t make mention of our topics of conversations though… just in case kids read this… LOL!

Before we could even start hiking we had to drive to a “organize-meeting point” were all our gear would be weighed, our food organized, etc. We saw and met with all our team, our family for the next 8 days. It took a long while and we left later then planned but not a big deal. We lost a piece of suspension on the way… they just took the piece out not bothering to replace it… well then… hehe!

The hike was great today! Felt soooo good to move and sweat a little!! We went through the rainforest for our entire 4-hour climb today – soooo beautiful and lush! We arrived at our first campsite at 5:45pm. It gave us time to organize our things, quickly clean up and change. After seeing our first “washroom” tonight… not so much promising… I felt better walking straight in the forest!

Dinner was over by 8pm, and what an amazing meal it was! We learned a few new words in Kiswahili… learned the funny way… this will remain for the duration of the trip I’m certain of it… hehe. We were talking amongst us in French and at some point someone said “Ah f***!”. So one of our porter (which will be our waiter for the trip) took the plate away. So we looked at him and asked why he took the plate away, clearly, the person wasn’t done eating. For a moment there was looks of confusion going back and forth between Ben, us, our waiter, our cook (oh, which I forgot to mention is Zachary!! …our cook from the safari!! ;-)) and, some porters. Finally, Ben explained that “Afuk” (pronounced “Ah f***”) means “I’m done”… well that started something!!!!!!!! We learned other little words also.

We were in bed, in our sleeping bags, by 9pm. We are sleeping in the rainforest tonight, at 2600m. We should exit the rainforest by 1pm tomorrow. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Wake up call is 6:30am and we are aiming to start our ascent at 8:30am…. But “African time” can sometimes be different… so we shall see… Our expected climbing time tomorrow is 5-6 hours, where we will rest at 3600m at Shira 1 campsite.

I must say I’m surprised at the amount of pee that comes out of me! I got caught 3 times today in very “not so well timed” situations where I literally had to bolt and squat right on the spot to pee… Not looking forward to the night in that regards…

My amazement for the day: We are a team of 4 women…. We have a team of 17 in order to climb Kilimanjaro!!!! Can you believe it!?? 14 porters, 2 guides and 1 cook…. I would love to know the numbers for teams of 20!!!

I’m done: “Afuk” (pronounced “Ah fuck”)

Brother: “Kaka”

Sister: “Dada”

Hi: “Jambo”

What’s up: “Mambo”

Cool: “Poa”

Peak of Kilimanjaro is called the “Crown of Africa”

Road to Serengeti (and through) is called the “Tanzanian massage” … more like being in a blender!!!

March 2, 2011

Wednesday

Well Mom, you wanted a close-up picture of a flower, I think I found the perfect one today! It’s called a Fireball Lily, red-pink-orange in color, very pretty! (and just because of the name Dad will like it too ;-))

Slept well all things considering – no mattress and had to pee in the middle of the night… I ended up going in the woods since there were still some people up and roaming around… Seriously, I’m sure those “happy pills” (altitude pills) are making me pee this often – cause I never do! Hope this won’t continue for the rest of the hike… I need my uninterrupted sleep. Oh well…

I was a little disappointed with the big number of people ending up at the same campsite – just too many. It makes it hard to have a real connection with your surroundings and the experience. Maybe it will be better at the other campsites.

There was a girl who had her alarm go off in the middle of the night. Her alarm was in her own sleeping bag but she wasn’t hearing it. It rang for a good 20 minutes before someone from another tent got up and went to turn it off. I think all the campsite heard it but her. Although annoying at the time, it is pretty funny!

So I woke up at 6am with this urgent need to pee… of course! Breaky was ready at 7:15am and off we went at 8am to start our days’ hike.

The trek was a little more challenging today but very pleasant. The scenery and landscapes are absolutely gorgeous! Therese started having a headache today, and she expressed a loss of appetite… signs of altitude sickness. I hope they don’t increase! Everyone else is ok.

We arrived at campsite Shira 1 at 3pm, so that’s a total of 7 hours of hiking. We have an amazing view of Kili’s peak! We were in bed by 8pm. Since the night is definitely cooler, I took your down jacket to sleep Sabrina – this is keeping very warm so thank you!

Change of schedule for tomorrow. We are supposed to have a 3-hour hike on flat ground to Shira 2 campsite but we have decided to bypass it and hike on to the next campsite. Our hiking time should be something around 10 hours. We will climb to 4600m in altitude during our hike and then come down to 3995m to sleep. This change will leave our final day much shorter so allowing us more rest and acclimatization time before our final ascent to the summit. We all agreed that it was better to do harder work now in order to make the last day easier as possible…

Another moment of “I can’t believe I’m here..”. I’m getting anxious to get to the summit. Intensity of the experience is starting to show – emotionally, physically, mentally…. I’m sooo looking forward to this! I’m so accomplishing this! Also had a “re-questioning everything and everyone in my life” moment… What and/or who needs to be changed, dropped, added…? And again, my work seems to be the glitch… something needs to change in that regards but when I think about it all that comes up is a big wall… me and my on-going search for my purpose in life… well not exactly. I know what my purpose is, it’s the “how to accomplish that purpose” that I need to figure out…

Women’s genitals: “Kuma” (pronounced “coma” – but bad word in the sense that it equals saying “cunt”)

March 3, 2011

Thursday

Last night was cold! My own fault though – I didn’t have enough layers, mostly for my legs; the rest was fine. I did have to get up 3 times to pee during the night!! … Really??!! But the view of Kili at night with the sky filled with stars was worth it!

Weather has been great so far! We caught a little hail today but it lasted maybe 10-15 minutes so not worth mentioning really.

We entered the clouds today… so cool! It’s like walking in constant fog. Our total hiking time was 11 hours today… yeah! At lunch our group was split – Therese would go with Lazaro (our second guide) at her pace. Her headache had increased. So her hike time was about 12 hours.

Since we modified our route, we felt like we were alone on the mountain. We didn’t cross anyone… it was so peaceful. I went into some sort of trance at some point – forgetting where I am and what I’m doing. Hurray! for legs knowing what to do without the brain ;-).

We walked through Lava Tower before getting to Barranco campsite. So we climbed to 4600m before going back down to 3950m. We got to our final destined campsite at 6:30pm – which I think is pretty darn good for an 11-hour day hike! Therese got in shortly after and we were all seating for dinner by 7:30pm. It didn’t take us long to go to sleep after dinner.

Tomorrow is a shorter day since we covered most of the ground today… Yippee! My body feels like it got a total body workout… LOVE IT!

March 4, 2011

Friday

I slept well last night, didn’t get cold – modified my sleeping arrangements a little (like adding more layers!). I still had to get up for a pee during the night, no surprise there, but at least I wasn’t cold.

Everyone was up early this morning. Breaky was at 8:00am but everyone was sitting and ready to eat at 7:30am… except Ben hehe! We left the campsite at 8:30am. I had to stay behind to sign in for everyone (we need to sign in at every check point). I caught up with them a little later.

Our climbing time was about 3h30min today to Barafa Campsite (4100m altitude). Our first 2 hours of climbing was a modified version of “extreme wall rock climbing”… with no ropes… it was awesome!! I loved it! I think this will be my favorite part of the entire climb on Kili – the view was also amazing! We had to split up again – Therese got in an hour after us at the campsite. She’s absolutely amazing!! She’s definitely the hero of this trip!!

Since this was a shorter day, we arrived at campsite before lunch, therefore meaning we have a warm lunch this time ;-) and the rest of the day to ourselves. I’m taking advantage of it and nap and write. Our campsite is facing “Peanut Valley” (don’t ask me why it was named that way) which gives us a view above the clouds over Tanzania – town of Moshi is located directly in front of us. There is a storm currently pouring down on Moshi and I get to see it from above with the sun shining… such a cool sight and feeling!

Summit day is tomorrow… there was a short moment last night where I had doubts, I was anxious, scared, nervous… “can I really make it?”, “what if I don’t?”, “why am I doing this?”… but after a 30min of self-talk treatment I was at peace again with the adventure and myself. Today, I couldn’t be more certain – I couldn’t be more eager to reach that summit! Everyone goes through that self-questioning process at some point or another during the climb. I’m very grateful and happy to see that I’m acclimatizing very well to various oxygen levels – no signs or symptoms of altitude sickness whatsoever. The only sign I’ve seen is an increase in my resting heart rate when we increase in altitude. I have quicker shortness of breath at the beginning of any activity but it settles quite quickly and nicely.

Aunty was experiencing a headache and some nausea today – it came and went and it was tolerable so that’s good. Our appetite is still there and we are sleeping very well. Therese is experiencing heavy but short headaches on occasions and still hasn’t regain any appetite. Christine is doing well – light occasional headache and light headed at times but that seems to be it. So I think everyone is good and will make it to summit!!

Big feeling of gratitude today… I’m extremely fortunate to be here, to have the opportunity, the health to experience this… soooo grateful… I’m still looking forward to a nice long hot shower and clean clothes though ;-)

So dinner is at 6pm. Nothing else planned for the day so maybe I’ll check-in again later on if new updates are worth mentioning ;-) I feel like doing yoga… the view would be awesome!

Nephew/Niece: “Binamo”

Breast: Titi (singular)

Breasts: Matiti (plural)

March 5, 2011

Saturday

As part of my routine, I had to get up to go for a pee during the night… but the view was worth it again! We could see a perfectly lite sky with many Tanzanian cities illuminated by night light, amongst them Moshi. I slept well.

We hiked for 3 hours this morning and gained 500m in altitude. We are now resting at our final acclimatization point, base camp, 4600m. It is currently 3:00pm – just after late lunch. We are attempting summit this evening, at 12:00am. Therese is not feeling better – her headache is worse, if that can be possible. Lunch was a little emotional… serious questions needed reflected upon and answered… The possibility of Therese and Christine not summiting together need to be considered… They had to decide what they wanted to do. Neither one of them wanted to summit without the other but on the other hand no one wanted to prevent the other from summiting. Aunty and I had discussed and agreed on this prior to the trip in case that situation occurred but we are good.

I’m feeling good, great actually – shortness of breath on activity but that’s normal at this altitude. Hopefully things will remain this way. The summit is at 5895m in altitude – we make a final climb of 1300m in altitude to see the sunrise on Tanzania – Uhuru Peak is the ultimate goal! Uhuru means “Freedom”. It is also called “The Roof of Africa”.

Rest time for me – I’ll need it for later… wish me well!

March 6, 2011

Sunday

We woke up at 10:45pm last night to start prepping for our final ascent. We had a last hot chocolate/hot tea and some biscuits. We started our ascent at 12:15am, March 6, 2011.

We started very well. We had a good pace and kept it for a long while. We surpassed many teams. Ben had predicted 6-7 hours of climb before we reached the summit. This would put us just in time for sunrise. We reached Uhuru Peak in 6 hours and 30 minutes. At 6h15am, March 6, 2011, Kilimanjaro was summited, Uhuru Peak was reached!!!

Therese has decided not to attempt the final ascent. Her headache wasn’t better and she was totally exhausted. It made for a tearful departure for our ascent. She is so strong to have made it this far! It’s not that she couldn’t or wouldn’t, but her body just wasn’t responding well to lack of oxygen levels – which makes it hard when your mind says “go” and your body says “no”. Therese, I admire you!

Aunty had started experiencing some symptoms at midpoint – nausea, dizziness and very cold. There was a brief moment where I was afraid she wouldn’t make it. But I did not doubt her perseverance and determination – all my thoughts were going towards her at this point. Eventually, we made a stop to rest a little, and just naturally we leaned our heads together... it was so comforting and encouraging - it brought us that much closer. It both gave us a boost to keep going! I knew she had told herself to make it to Stella Point (second highest point on Kili) but when we got there, she looked at Uhuru Peak and said “I’m here, there’s no way I’m going back down now.” Then she noticed a shadowed path forming on the clouds, formed by light, pointing towards Uhuru Peak... that was our sign from Grand-ma (Aunty's mother) we were certain. So off we went and what an accomplishment it was!!!!!! I'm soooo happy she made it! I admire her and I am so proud of her!! Go Aunty Go!!! Woohooo!!!

I don’t think there is any words to describe this final ascent. You have to live it to fully understand it. Picture yourself climbing 6-7 hours in the dark, not seeing anything except the ground and the feet of the one in front of you… and don’t attempt to admire the beautiful lite sky, you’ll end up tripping and falling on your face. You exchange a few words with your fellow climbers, not full conversations, since everyone is trying to preserve their energy. You have no music to listen to (in my case I didn’t). So you are left with you and your thoughts for 6-7 hours… To this point I can’t tell you exactly what where my thoughts for those 6-7 hours. I visited my “happy place” very often. I found myself in a meditative sate for a major part of the ascent. After about 4 hours of climbing, I was fighting to stay awake – somehow my legs still knew what to do…! That’s when I started having full conversations in my head with people I missed – I would choose a topic and try to imagine what they would reply, knowing how I know them. I thought about my new training schedule I had made myself before leaving… yes, only me would think of training while climbing one of the highest mountains in the world. I thought of my next trip…. So many things go through your head in 6-7 hours! But there was never a moment where I doubted the success of my climb!

Overall, it’s physically not that demanding. If you are in reasonably good physical condition, there’s nothing to it. And I’m fortunate to not have experience in altitude sickness symptoms… but if you would ask me if it was a challenge my answer is a definite “YES!”. The challenge is in the mind, and mostly during the final ascent.

As we reached Stella Point, the sun started to show it’s colors and we saw some glaciers… The view was nothing like I’ve ever seen before! As we reached Uhuru Peak, a few tears made their streaks along my cheeks… the view, the experience was just breathtaking! Ben and Lazaro were as excited as we were, jumping around and giving us hugs and big pats on the back ;-). I got so excited with taking pictures that I started running in order to get in caption the reflection of the sun on the glaciers.. I was very quickly reminded that I was at 19560 feet in altitude!! I was out of breath in no time (seriously, I made maybe 20 meters). I didn’t have a choice to stop, stand still and admire the sunrise in all its glory and colors… My grandmothers came into thought at this point, very strongly… and I cried again – what can I say, I’m an emotional one. I miss them but they are always with me. I know they would love to hear about this trip.

So after a few silly pictures it was time to go down… time spent on top can’t be much more then 20 minutes L It was very cold up there but at least the wind we had picked up half way the ascent had died down and the warmth of the sun was making its way. It took us 2.5 hours to get back to base camp and join Therese. I was exhausted. Ben told us we ha 2 hours to rest and get ready to start our descent to another campsite… I just remember sitting in my tent, not wanting to move an inch and just wanting to cry at the thought of hiking back down. I just wanted to collapse on the floor of the tent and dose off… I had an hour of sleep but it didn’t make things feel much better. Regardless, we made it anyway. I was probably the longest 4 hours of my life hiking down but it got done. At some point you just have to tell yourself “take a step at a time, don’t think about it, just keep going and you’ll get there when you get there”.

We had our last dinner all together on Kili and I’m now resting in my tent for our last camping night. I definitely enjoyed the experience on Kili and will treasure it and remember it forever – it’s an experience of a lifetime!!!

Time for sleep. It’s our last 3 hours of hiking tomorrow… but I’m looking very forward to a nice hot shower!!!

March 7, 2011

Monday

Happy Birthday Day Grand-ma! She would be 85 years old today…

I slept really well last night and no getting up to pee in middle of the night woohoo!!!

This was our last morning with the team… We gave our farewells, blessings and, gratitude for our time spent and all the hard work they’ve put in for us!! They sang us songs and danced for us as a farewell gift… we were touched! We had become part of their family…

We started our last 3-hour hike at 8:30am. It was much smoother and enjoyable versus yesterday’s descent. Weather was amazing and it was nice to finish in the rainforest… smells so fresh and looks so lush.

We got greeted at the “finish line” by a crowd of locals selling their goods… was funny even though it was a little over whelming. I got my Kili badge to sow on my backpack (I have a badge of every country I’ve visited sowed on my backpack… it’s like my little trophy ;-)) and 2 bracelets. Ben handed us our certificate stating our official successful climb of Kilimanjaro to Uhuru Peak.

After a 2-hour drive, we arrived at L’Oasis Lodge. It was the most amazing shower of my life!!! We spent the rest of the day reading, drinking wine (or beer), checking emails, organizing our bags and just relaxing. Achmed joined us in the evening over some food and drinks to go over the details for our time in Zanzibar – final part of our trip… time just flies… It seems like a month has passed since I did a safari…

March 8, 2011

Tuesday

I hardly slept last night… somehow knowing we had little friends, lizards, walking on our room walls and ceiling didn’t help… but it doesn’t matter, soon I’ll be lying on the beach ;-)

Relaxing morning – repacked everything and slowly made my way to breakfast. Our driver picked us up at 8:30am to drive us to the airport for our flight to Zanzibar.

We stopped at a primary school on our way. Aunty had some toys to give away… They were so cute!! I had 2 kids per hand, each holding 2 of my fingers with their little hands. One of them was this cute little girl… she told me she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up… you should have seen her eyes open wide when I told her I was working in the medical/health field also… I told her to never stop dreaming, about anything.

On the way to the airport, we were over looking at Mount Kili for the last time… I will never look at Mount Kili the same way again – it seems unreal that we were on top of it…

It was an hour flight from Arusha to Zanzibar. Our driver was late to pick us up at the airport but no biggy. He said the resort wasn’t far… now, typically, when African’s say “not far” it’s always in terms of time and not distances and, “not far” for them is a 90 minute drive in this case… J By 2pm, we had finally made it to Langi Langi Resort, by the Indian Ocean… WOW!!! Never seen water so blue! And weather is fantastic – about 30 degrees Celsius at the moment.

I spent the rest of my day lying on the beach, reading and sleeping… so not much J And I plan to do the same thing tomorrow!!! Feels so good to sleep in a bed after spending the last 2 weeks in tents and on rocks!

The top porch of the resort is located above the sea – you can hear the waves crashing against the land underneath. I spent the evening writing my postcards. The evening was warm, with a nice gentle breeze… so peaceful. I’m so craving my “solitary time”. I’ve never really travelled with anyone before, so it’s different for me. Although it requires some adjustments on my part, I still very much enjoyed the company of the ladies I was with – they are very pleasant, fun and easy to travel with. I just hope they can say the same about me…

March 9 & March 10, 2011

Wednesday & Thursday

I’ve decided to combine these 2 days since activity wise, both days are very similar… My days consisted of having early coffee by the ocean (only because I was waking up at that time. I was trying to purposefully sleep in and wake up late but latest I slept in was 7:00am..!), followed by lying on a long chair by the beach with my book – alternating between sleeping and reading. I also went for an occasional swim in the ocean and walk on the beach. From 6-8:00pm was “happy hour”, followed by a light dinner. I would finish my evening by the ocean shore, listening to the crashing waves… Very stressful days, don’t you think? ;-)

Tomorrow is our last day before making my way back to Canada… I wish I could stay here for another couple of days… These past couple of days have been very relaxing. Other then the lack in quality of communication and the food, everything is great here – all I needed was the ocean, great weather, a clean beach, a nice bed, and good coffee and I had that so I can’t complain. I’ll get to enjoy the beach a little more tomorrow before we make our way back to Canada… at least we’ll have time to visit Amsterdam… something to look forward too!

We wanted to visit Stone Town, which is a Heritage Site, here in Zanzibar but honestly, I just felt it would ruin my relaxing time, which I very much needed. When our driver told us it was about 2 hours from the resort, I realized I didn’t feel like spending 4 hours of my day driving in this heat… I did want to see it. Usually I’m all about visiting new cities and World Heritage sites but I just didn’t have the energy and the patience to deal with the locals… The other ladies felt the same. So we ended up not going.

My goal was to relax, sleep and read my book… mission accomplished… but I’m still not ready to go back home :-( …

March 11, 2011

Friday

This is the day we start making our way back to Canada… L Our connecting flight to Dar es Salaam was at 2:40pm this afternoon so we got to enjoy the beach all through morning. I made my way to my early morning coffee as usual.

We are currently waiting at the airport in Dar es Salaam. Unfortunately, our flight to Amsterdam is not until midnight this evening… :-( And, we probably have the worse airport to wait 10 hours! The waiting area is outside, there is no lounging area, no shopping area, no little cafes or anything really… But what can you do – not much. There was a little restaurant in air conditioning so we took turns in going in to have a bite. Three hours before our flight we were able to check in our luggage – at least that was off our hands! Then we decided to go through costumes right away since there wasn’t much to do anyway. At least here in the waiting area, there’s little shops and one little café so some improvement here.

I just wish I could lay down on a comfortable bed…

March 12, 2011

Saturday

Well, what an “interesting” return home this was… I am now lying in the comfort of my bed at home. Just as we were boarding in Dar es Salaam, I started feeling a little discomfort in my stomach but didn’t pay much attention to it since I hadn’t eaten a few hours and I figured I was just probably hungry… Wrong! As the plane took off, the more altitude it got, the worse I was feeling – until the feeling of nausea started creeping in. But I wasn’t sick – I had this pain in my stomach and digestive system, dizzy spells, nausea and one shot of cold sweat where I fainted for a brief moment… I couldn’t eat anything, I couldn’t even tolerate water (but forced myself on that one because I didn’t want to be dehydrated… but I probably already was). My flight to Amsterdam was the worse flight I’ve ever survived – I did not sleep for one second (that was a 10-hour flight during the night).

Needless to say when we got to Amsterdam, I was in no condition to visit the city for the day… I was totally bummed out!!! I was sooo looking forward to this!!!! But I could barely walk without wanting to faint… I felt so weak. I felt so bad for Aunty! She stayed with me and that totally ruined her day… We found lounging chairs (thank you Amsterdam for having an amazing airport!!!) and laid there until it was time to catch our flight to Montreal. I slept a little and then when I couldn’t tolerate the pain anymore, I went to the medical clinic in the airport. Good thing I did! Malaria was ruled out (Yeah!), possible food poisoning, virus, bacteria, or parasite suspected. I would need to see my family doctor pronto on my return and get some testing done if things haven’t passed. Doc gave me a shot for the pain and to eliminate the nausea feeling. My flight to Montreal, and then my bus ride to Ottawa, were much more tolerable – almost comfortable. I was able to sleep and drink water. But I couldn’t eat yet… just the thought of food was giving me nausea…

Finally, I made it to Ottawa and got greeted by my lovely darling who was very much excited to see me ;-) When we got home, my parents and aunt Gin made a surprise visit ;-)

I was able to eat a bowl of veggy broth with rice noodles. It made quite the difference in energy level! Hopefully I can be much better tomorrow.

March 16, 2011

Wednesday

Well, going back to reality is always a shock… going back to reality sick and jetlagged is worse… I returned to work on the Monday with a full schedule… I still couldn’t eat at that point. Monday my Doc put all through these series of tests – 1-2 weeks before we can get the results.

I’m feeling much better today. My appetite for food has returned – I just need to be careful with the size of the meal, it can’t be too big.

As much as my trip ended not in the best way, it doesn’t take away of the amazingness of my trip!! These things happen and I’ll be fine. I’m lucky it never happened before with all my travels. First time to everything ;-)

As much as it is fun to see everyone I’ve missed dearly… I’m already pondering my next trip… Peru… Europe… which one will it be? …. Stay tuned and we shall see… In the mean time, a family trip to Vegas is coming up in a few short weeks… woohoo! Thanks Mom! ;-)

Walt Disney Orlando - May 24 to 30, 2009

2009-05-31T19:46:00.002-05:00

Sunday
May 24, 2009

Disney, here we come! My parents had their honeymoon there 30 years ago… So, yes, we are going to Disney World in order to celebrate their 30th anniversary!! How awesome is that!? We’ve never had a trip all together, the family, and I’ve never been to Disney, so bonus!
We were at the Ottawa airport for 8:00am. We had a stop-over in Newark before arriving to Orlando. Flights went smoothly. Car rental and check-in at the Westgate Villas was another story… Piece of advice: DON’T BOOK THROUGH EXPEDIA!!! Or, at least, if you do, be extremely careful and double check everything and have them confirm in writing the agreement you signed up for!!! We were totally lied too and mislead and, on top of that there wasn’t any apology on their behalf for the mistake and confusion!! They didn’t even try to accommodate us at all. Rating for clientele service = a big 0 ! I was disappointed and angry. This is my parents 30th anniversary. They deserve the best they can possibly get, and this isn’t it! We were fortunate that Westgate Villas were very welcoming, generous and understanding. They upgraded us without any surcharges. And what a condo we had!! Absolutely gorgeous! Couldn’t have asked better. I absolutely fell in love with the shower… everyone did! This is going in to my new house! Jacuzzi in the master bedroom, ceramic all over, leather sofas, marble counters and tables (we had a kitchen), big screen TV in all the rooms, view over the Disney parks and the resort… just stunning!
After all this commotion, we finally met with our guest service rep who escorted us to our condo and, she gave us a tour of the surroundings. We did our groceries at a local super market before having diner and retiring for the night. Well, let me tell you something… food is very different here!

Monday
May 25, 2009

Animal Kingdom was our first park to tackle. We were at the gates for opening, bright and early, at 9:00am. Weather is fantastic! WARM is all that matters to me! What a day it was. It’s a good thing the park closes at 6:00pm. We were exhausted by then. We were a little disorganized, trying to figure out how to best be effective with time, rides (fast passes) and all. We’ll be ready for tomorrow. We still managed to fit in everything we wanted to do today; with a lot of walking back and forth. There is just one ride we haven’t been able to do: Kali River Rapids (and that is a big one!). After standing in line for almost 2 hours, the storm beat us to it, therefore the ride was cancelled!!! Oh well, not much we could have done at this point.
Still we had our pictures taken with Goofy, Minnie, Mickey, Donald, Turk, Koda the Bear and, Pocahontas. Alex (my brother) got cruised on by Minnie! Haha! She even checked if he had a ring on his finger! It was hilarious! Even more so when she realized that Sarah is his girlfriend (yes, Sarah is with us on the trip). Priceless moment!
Here are the rides/places we covered today:
· Primeval Whirl
· Tree of Life (spectacular tree! Even though it is made out of ciment.)
· Dinosaur Land
· Expedition Everest
· Maharajah Jungle Trek
· Kilimanjaro Safari (Reminded me so much of my trip to Africa!! – saw some lions, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, gazelles, antelopes, elephants, etc.)
· Pangani Forest Exploration Trail (saw some awesome Gorillas)
· Minnie & Mickey World
· It’s Tough To Be a Bug (from the film A Bug’s Life – it was a funny show)

At some point during the day, we made a stop for some drinks and some rest. I had a “Yak Attack” for drink… Wow! Imagine mango smoothie, with white Baccardi rum, Peach Snapp, Orange juice mixed with cherries… Just yummy! Needless to say I was a little tipsy after that one drink!
We were back at the condo by 7:30pm. We had diner then headed for the pools (there’s 13 pools in our resort…!). It started raining shortly after we got in, but it was very nice. The rain was cool, but the water was very warm.
It didn’t take us very long to fall asleep that night!

Tuesday
May 26, 2009

Since we were still feeling energetic, we decided it was a good idea to do Magic Kingdom today. We were told it is the most popular and the busiest of all. And I believe it!!! But I absolutely loved it! I felt like a child all over again; especially when seeing all my favorite Disney characters!
From the parking lot, we took the ferryboat that would take us across the lake to Cinderella’s Castle ground. It was already quite hot when we arrived so we started with the ride “Splash Mountain”. We quickly discovered it was a good idea to have Alex in front to divert all the water… with his face! We were all either behind him or beside him, and since he’s the tallest (around 6’4”!), he really did prevent us from behind soaked with this face!! Hilarious! His head was completely soaked… we had a couple of drops! Hihi! But with the hot weather, he dried up in just a couple of minutes!

Here are the rides/places that were covered today:

· Walt Disney World Railroad
· Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
· Haunted Mansion (Loved that one!!!)
· It’s a Small World (My parents say it is very different from when they first came! The changes are not for the better but it was still quite nice to see all the different settings for each country.)
· Cinderella’s Castle
· Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel (There I felt like a child all over again!)
· Fairytale Garden
· Ariel’s Grotto (The line up to “meet” Ariel was too long so I didn’t bother, but yes I did wanted a picture with her. She’s my all-time favorite Walt Disney character man, come on!)
· Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (Funny!)
· Pirates of the Caribbean (that was a cool one too!)

The ride “Space Mountain” was on our “Absolute Must Do” list but it was under repair for the week… Bummer!!
We took a break in the late afternoon and went back to the condo for diner. It was pouring rain and thunderstorms were raging so there was no point in staying anyway.
We came back later in the evening for the fireworks and the parade that was to take place at 10:00pm and 11:00pm respectively. It was still pouring rain by the time we got back. We quickly realized this seemed to be the tendency so we decided to buy some Mickey Mouse ponchos. I was very happy we did. Time came when fireworks started and, the rain had stopped. The seen was just magical! My eyes glittered with little white sparkles I’m sure! (I know, I’m such a kid!). The castle in its every changing colors was a beauty and, all the more with the fireworks lighting just above it. I must have taken 30 pictures on top of filming almost the entire show! The parade was something as well! They had turned off all the lights from the park; just the light from the parade floats remained. No wonder kids love it here!! I sure as heck did! Everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves today, especially my parents. I was glad to see that!
We came back to the condo at around 1:00am. We were quite pooped out!

Wednesday
May 27, 2009

We took it easy this morning, and took the time to sleep in a little longer. A free breakfast was offered to us by one of the pools, but it wasn’t much of a breakfast if you ask me. I was quite happy I had brought a canister of IsaShakes with me! Since we could rent bikes for free, we took advantage of that too. We made our self-tour of the premises (much quicker by bike then by foot – and it was nice to do a different exercise too). We also swam and sun tanned for a little while and, had lunch before getting out there and hitting the parks.
So Epcot, land of the famous big shiny silver ball, was our chosen park today. We were lucky in avoiding all rain today; no need for our ponchos! It wasn’t crowded today like it was for the 2 previous days! We started with the ride “Mission: SPACE”… It all made us feel “queezee” because of the spinning (except for Sarah). I wasn’t feeling to good prior to the ride, and now it was worse. We still managed to do the remaining of the rides we wanted to do.
· Ellen’s Energy Adventure
· Soarin (cool one!)
· Test Track (got to 66mph on a racetrack… awesome!)
· Spaceship Earth
· The Seas with Nemo & Friends

The remaining time we spent in each “country replicas”. They were very accurate replicas too!! We started with Canada of course. They had a video, “O’ Canada”, made for entertainment. It was quite good! Then came United Kingdom, France, Morocco, Japan, United States, Italy, Germany, China, Norway and, Mexico. Mom had some wine in France. Dad and Alex had some beer in France and then in Germany once more (with a bonus of a German mug!). These two came up with an idea of having taffy and, maple syrup with “21 years and over pancakes” and “21 and under pancakes” in the Canada section… the “21and over pancakes” would have Fireball in them… If you don’t know what that is, I dare you to try a shot of it! What a Goof and funny family I have! Can’t help but love them!
By 9:00pm, Sarah had found her popcorn (almost had to walk across the entire park to get it!); I was even more sick from the Chinese food we had for diner (it was just rice, shrimps, pees and carrots… but what was it cooked in, I don’t know) and, we were all settled to watch Illuminations: Reflections of Earth – a show of fireworks, colors, lights and music. It was very very nice! I can’t believe they do this every night!!
I felt like such crap today but still had a lot of fun. My stomach is so sensitive, especially when I travel. It’s so annoying. My resolution for the remaining of the week: stick with Isagenix and fruits and veggies!!!! Fruits & veggies are somewhat easy to find but they cost you an arm and leg and, they don’t seem as fresh and tasty. But I’ll do whatever to not feel sick in my little tummy!

Thursday
May 28, 2009

We had our complementary breakfast this morning with our Guest Rep, Windy. What I thought was going to be a breakfast was really an information session about “advantages of owning time shares”. It brought us to 12:00pm… Breakfast was at 8:00am!!! We were all getting anxious to get to Hollywood Studios Park. Alex and I were acting really silly and couldn’t stop giggling after a while. We were coming up with stupid, funny stories… this is were I inherited the nickname “Zebra Butt” (from the marks that remained on my butt after sitting so long on those darn chairs!!).
Finally, we got to Hollywood Studios by 2:00pm. We started in the rain, but it didn’t last long at all. First ride: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Only Sarah and I did it. This is the famous one where they drop you from 13 floors… 4 times! But the way it is made, there is no way to know when they will actually drop you. I’m a big fan of big rides and big adrenaline rushes, and never have I screamed in a ride out of pure fright… until this one! I was actually screaming my head off, and I’m sure I sounded like a girl. Sarah and I were shaking when we got out of there! We so wanted to go back. This is definitely going as one of my top rides ever!
Second ride we did (everyone did this one) was Rock’n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aero Smith. That was an awesome ride too! Totally didn’t expect the start of it at all! This is definitely a must do when you go to Disney!
The other rides/shows we did/saw:
· Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show (with cars, seadoos and motorbikes… cool!)
· Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (but they only showed half of it for some reason we still haven’t figured out yet…)
· Studio Backlot Tour (walking/tram tour of movie making magic).
· New York City setting.

We had a quick diner (finally found a salad!) before lining up for the Fantasmic show (light, fireworks, music and water jets). The line up started 2 hours before the show!!! We entered 90 minutes before and found some great seats right in the middle… and get this: We sat outside, through a thunder/rain storm for 90 minutes, with our little freggin ponchos, only to have the show get cancelled on us…!! Hahahaha!! The funny thing is, we had so much fun! This was probably the most fun days of all. I haven’t laughed this much, this hard in very long!
So we decided to try our luck again tomorrow for the show.

Friday
May 29, 2009

Today was our “free day”. We all slept in. Then we pretty much headed out our own separate ways. Alex and Sarah went out for breakfast at one pool, then went pedal boating on the lake. Mom and Dad went to another pool for breakfast, then went for tanning/swimming. I read a little, then I hit the gym for an awesome 2-hour workout!! Felt so good! A complete one-hour cardio, with a one-hour total body weight workout! I hadn’t trained all week, so I had the most amazing adrenaline and endorphin rush afterwards! I was in heaven! I know, I know, you think I’m nuts. But I do crave the endorphin rush my body creates after a workout. And no, I’m not a druggy.
We all met back at the condo for a late lunch and a game of mini-put afterwards.
Downtown Disney was the only park we hadn’t explore yet so we decided to go and have a peak in order to celebrate Mom & Dad’s anniversary and, Sarah’s birthday (which is technically tomorrow). We took a look at getting some tickets for the Cirque du Soleil show, but they were not performing that week. So we just walked around, looking at the shops, stores, bars and restaurants. We ended up having diner at Captain Jacks by the Lake. If you want some good shopping and great nightlife, Downtown Disney is the place to go! And you can’t miss the Disney World Shop… It’s insane!! I surely as hell wouldn’t bring my kidz in there! I had trouble restraining myself from buying everything!
After figuring out how the shuttle bus system worked between resorts and parks, we decided to venture out back to Hollywood Studios to get a second chance at viewing the Fantasmic Show. So we arrive, get in, go to the washrooms… only to find out that the show is a “no go” on Friday nights…!!! That’s the quickest “in and out” we’ve done for a park!
We had a relaxing last evening; late diner, reading, writing, swimming, early packing and a some TV.

Saturday
May 30, 2009

Well, time as come for us to leave… back to reality. We all had an amazing time together! And we all felt like kids all over again at some point. When my parents came 30 years ago, only Magic Kingdom and a start of Epcot existed (They also had done Space Kennedy, Sea World and Bush Gardens during that time.). All the other parks were new to them. Magic Kingdom and Epcot have changed a lot! They expended, many new rides, themes, and even the old rides have changed. They were quite amazed.
My top 3 rides were Haunted Mansion (Magic Kingdom), The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Hollywood Studios) and, Rock’n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aero Smith (Hollywood Studios). These are “must does” in Disney. I’m sure Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom) and Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom) would have been awesome as well, but unfortunately we didn’t have the chance to experience them. The fireworks at Epcot and, the fireworks and parade at Magic Kingdom are “must sees” as well! So all in all: AWESOME! One thing I would of loved to visit is Universal Studios… Next time!!! ;-D
Happy Birthday to Aunt Gin and Sarah today!! All the best to 2 amazing persons! And congratulations to my parents for their 30th anniversary! What a beautiful and inspiring thing to see; so much love and respect for one another after so long! You guyz ROCK!
Mom, Dad, Alex and Sarah, Thank you for the lovely trip and the wonderful memories! Love you guyz lots! xo

Germany - March 16 to 24, 2009

2009-03-31T07:18:00.001-05:00

March 16, 2009
Monday

I just love being at airports! I can relax now, feels nice. It is kind of ironic when you think I need to pay a plane ticket out of the country in the means to get some sleep. So there you have another reason why I travel. Otherwise, knowing myself too well, I just wouldn’t stop working even if I collapsed to the floor.
To my Isagenix buddies, I just savored my last chocolate shake with a ounce cleanse drink until the end of next week. Just before getting a parking ticket while picking up my mother at work…. The shake was still very yummy!!
I’m so looking forward to seeing Nayla and Philipp! And Germany of course!

March 17, 2009
Tuesday

I’m here! I arrived at 10h am this morning (4h am Canada time). I hardly slept on the plane but that’s fine. After zigzagging back and forth on the Tram through the city (because I kept going the wrong way), I finally got to Nayla’s work place. We had lunch with two other of her colleagues. Then I got to go off wonder through the city.
I got to witness the memorial they held for the victims that died in the Stuttgart shooting. I could hardly understand a word but it was moving.
I climbed up the 85m tower of the Neues Rathaus on Marienplatz, to the Glockenspiel, where I had a great view of the city. The weather was great today! Nice sunny day with clear blue skies.
Early evening, I met Nayla on Marienplatz and walked back to her flat for a nice diner. I had a “long-waited-for-hot” shower to crown off the day.
A few things I’ve seen today:
· Englischer Garten
· Marienplatz (of course… kind of hard to miss!)
· Glockenspiel (“carillon”) – with 3 levels: 2 portray the Schäfflertanz and the other the Ritterturnier
· St-Peterskirche
· Fischbrunnen
· Gothic Altes Rathaus (in its south tower is the city’s Spielzeugmuseum – toy museum)
· Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit)
· Hofbräuhaus
· Alter Hof
· Münzhof
· Maximilianstrass
· National theater
· Bavarian King Max I Joseph
· Residens – Huge palace that housed Bavarian rulers from 1385 to 1918
· Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady – 1468-88)
· Michaelskirche
· Karlstar (modern fountain)
· Sendlinger Tor (14th century southern gate)
· Asamkirche (1733-46)
· Maypole (center square)
· Viktualienmarket (one of Europe’s great food market)
· …and more!

March 18, 2009
Wednesday

This is by far the longest and nicest sleep I’ve had in a very long time! And even better, I didn’t have anywhere to rush to, let alone attend to! Awesome!
I visited Schleissheim, in Munich’s northern suburb, mainly to have a look at Neues Schloss Schleissheim (palace). Beautiful doesn’t cut it! Prince-elector Max Emanuel dreamed up this pompous palace, modeled after Versailles, in 1701. Inside, you are treated to stylish period furniture and a vaulted ceiling smothered in frescoes by the prolific Cosmas Damian Asam. This is the palace that marked me the most so far. It’s the kind where you enter and immediately feel the air of those times, and can’t help but to imagine and dream about the magnificent gardens in immense courtyards with fountains and waterfalls; horse carriages; taking picnics in the park; ball rooms full of women in their luscious gowns…OK, well I dreamt of the last one anyway! ;-) Have you ever had the feeling of having lived a past life? Well, that’s exactly how I felt today in the palace. I’m almost certain I’ve lived through those times. Who knows? It would explain my longing for it.
Nearby was the Renaissance Altes Schloss Schleissheim, which houses exhibits on religious festivals and on Prussia. On a little island at the eastern end of the Schlosspark stands Schloss Lustheim.
Drastic changes in atmosphere in my afternoon visit: Dachau concentration camp, located in town of Dachau. This was the first concentration and extermination camp to be built by Heinrich Himmler (What a wacko! Apparently that guy had crazy satanic rituals going on. Have you heard of the “Vrill” in 1918?…not certain if that is written correctly. I’ll look it up.) in March 1933, as a result of Hitler’s rise to power. Another crack-head! It “received” more than 200,000 prisoners, and 31,531 were reported killed here. In 1933 Munich had 10,000 Jews. Only 200 survived the war. Outside the hall a monument, inscribed in English, French, Yiddish, German and Russian, reads “Never Again”. Nearby are large stakes onto which prisoners were hanged, sometimes for days, with their hands shackled behind their backs.
Inside the main hall there are photographs and models of the camp, its officers and prisoner, and of the horrifying “scientific experiments” carried out by the Nazi doctors. There’s also a whipping block, a chart showing the system for prisoner identification by category (Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Poles, Tomas, and other “asocial” types) and exhibits on the rise of the Nazi party and the establishment of the camp system.
Also on the grounds are reconstructed bunkers, the crematorium and a gas chamber disguised as showers. Outside the gas chamber building is a statue to “honour the dead and warn the living”. Several religious shrines are also nearby.
The tour was not recommended for children under age of 12. Ya, no kidding! I had my stomach tied in knots and a massive headache by the time I got out of there. It took me four visits to Germany to finally sum up the courage to visit one.
It’s insane to think of what all those people endured and how much they suffered! The methods of torture, the gas chambers, the incarceration rooms… The air of the site had a heavy weight to it, like if something was lurking around watching, like ghosts with unfinished business. I’m glad I’ve seen it. I would recommend anyone who has the chance to see one to do so. It sure makes you think and aware of what has happened in this world and what is still happening today. What insane and cruel creatures humans can be, even more so towards their own kind.

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial
“The way to freedom is to follow one’s orders; exhibit honesty, orderliness, cleanliness, sobriety, truthfulness, the ability to sacrifice and love the Fatherland.”
Inscription from the roof of the concentration camp at Dachau

Nayla had some friends over from Mainz, so we went out to a pub for some drinks in the evening. I just love cycling through the city! This summed up the day quite nicely!
Grand-ma was very much in my thoughts today. She is every day, but more so today. Especially while I was visiting the palace. It felt like she was with me every step. I miss her but I don’t at the same time. She is always in my thoughts but I miss the physical part of her, especially giving her a hug. Hopefully she can visit me in my dreams and give me a big hug then!

March 19, 2009
Thursday

I felt like a Queen this morning so I took the liberty of taking all the dearly time in the world to get up and ready to go.
I spent most of my day in Tegeinsee, located one hour away from München by train. It’s a beautiful little town, surrounded by the Alps with its beautiful blue lake. Unfortunately, it was snowing today so the view of the mountains wasn’t really clear but you could still see them a little. I was debating between visiting Chiemsee or Tegeinsee. But after asking a few locals here, they all had sugested Tegeinsee. Now I know why! I got back in München at 6pm. I walked around a little more, mostly around Wies’n (Wiesen), where the famous Oktoberfest takes place. It is located at two blocks from Nayla’s flat, which is quite kool!
Speaking of Oktoberfest, we went to the Starbierfest (Nockherberg) tonight. I was with Nayla, Sven and Sebastien. This one is smaller then the Oktoberfest and is for the stronger beers (Even though smaller then the Oktoberfest, it still seemed very big to me!). I tasted some but what an after-taste! Yurk! I keep trying beer but never seem to get around in liking it. After some wine (now that I like!), I still managed to dance on those tables like the majority of the crowd. I so have to come to Oktoberfest! It must be crazy! You can’t expect to come out of there all dry and clean that’s for sure! And I so gotta get one of those mugs for my brother!!

March 20, 2009
Friday

What a nice and relaxing day it was! Took my sweet time to get up… again. I checked my emails and then went out for a good ninety-minute run around the Wies’n. I had a nice, long hot shower afterwards and prepared my stuff to spend the weekend in Mainz. Can’t wait to see Philipp!
I met Nayla and two other girls at 3pm so we could car-pool to Mainz (much cheaper then the train!). I didn’t know but car-pooling is quite popular in Germany among strangers. What a great way to meet people! After some “German Highway Traffic”, we got in Mainz at 8h30pm. After a surprise from Philipp in the grocery store, we quickly had diner and head out to a party of one of Nayla’s friends on Uni campus. We finished the evening at Kuz, a famous bar by the Rhine. Well, let me tell you this is not the bar scene I’m used to in Canada! Huge and ridiculously packed with people… Awesome!

March 21, 2009
Saturday

Haha! Woke up at 12 today! I don’t remember the last time I woke up that late. Nice! I even had the pleasure of indulging in my famous Schoko Müsli for breakfast. I’m so bringing a box back to Canada (no, we don’t have them!).
We had a coffee later in the afternoon with Nayla’s friend and her little daughter (so cute!) on a terrace. It was such a beautiful warm sunny day!
After diner I spent quite some time on the internet, trying to catch up on emails and later, watched a movie, “L’Auberge Espagnole”… so good!! I’m so buying this movie!
Tomorrow’s plans…Who knows? Ain’t that fantastic!???

March 22, 2009
Sunday

Woke up at 12 again today..! I could get use to this.
We were lucky to catch some tickets for the soccer game in the afternoon, Mainz vs Köln (or some team close to Köln). It was awesome! They are fanatics I can tell you that. There is even divisions in the stadium to separate the fans of the visiting teams from the fans of the home team. The divisions are made of tall, sturdy, thick, plastic walls with metal spikes on top… That’s serious stuff! Kool!
Nayla met with some of her closest friends for diner. Kristina, I think was her name (so sorry if I get this wrong), is moving out of the flat. This flat was Nayla’s former flat. So they had decided, all of them who had lived in that flat and that had remained friends, to have a last diner/reunion there. They made some amazingly delicious crêpes!!! I felt so happy and grateful to be a part of it! They are all such wonderful gals! Thanks girls!!
I find it so amazing how everyone (or almost) share apartments here! There is no such thing as having a place of your own here. Well, it’s not the norm anyway. It think its awesome! Such a different mentality then North America!

March 23, 2009
Monday

I’m going to share something that is really important to me.
I had an interesting dream last night. I feel like it wants to tell me something. I dreamt of my Grandmother. (Some of you know, but for the rest, my grandmother passed away February 5, 2009.) She felt so real, so present and her image was so clear… I was at a golf course, at the bottom of a big hill. There was a green on top of the hill but I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t see my grandmother but I knew she was there. I saw everyone there, the entire family but no one was going up to her. I had to see her. I climbed that hill so fast it seemed like nothing. Just as I was about to reach the green, one of my aunts grabbed my leg preventing me to get to the green. I pulled myself away and finally reached the green. And there she was. Everyone was sitting all around us. I was alone with my grandmother on the green. She was holding the flagpole, fighting away something dark, located on my right hand side. The only light was the light of a fire that seemed to be all around the green, with the exception of the area she was “fighting off”. I stood there for a few seconds, looking at her. Her expression was so clear. She was walking and running and jumping… she was so agile but still in her 70’s like I remember her. Then, I yield to her “Grand-ma, it’s me. I’m here!” She immediately stopped and turned to look at me. The expression on her face was total joy and relief (I imagine for seeing me), and suddenly an expression of frustration. Angry that I’ve seen her like this?… I’m not sure what it meant. She started walking away. And I looked at her go. I got this strange feeling from her telling me that her job was done.
It became all pure white light all around. No one was there anymore. I was alone. But just for a brief second. I had this intense feeling of wanting to hug my grandmother and felt her wanting to hug me. But she couldn’t. A beautiful man appeared in front of me. He was wearing a white rob and had long black curly hair tied at the back, and deep dark brown eyes. Looking at him, physically, I could guess he was about 25 years old, but looking into his eyes was another story. I couldn’t put an age to him. His face was perfectly shaped and the skin so smooth and evenly toned. He was beyond aging. Anyway, he stepped forward and hugged me. Almost instantly I felt a great sense of relief and peace. It felt like I was hugging my grandmother. I felt that link between her and me. Without saying a word, he was saying everything was now going to be ok. At that moment, I burst out in tears. And I woke up at that moment crying for real. My first thought was: “What the ….?! Why a golf course? What’s the meaning with the golf course? And that guy?? Who or what was that? My grandmother’s expression of anger or frustration…what did it mean?

This is my last full official day in Germany… Scheisse! I really gotta get crakin on my goal! I’ve been wanting to take courses to learn German since the last two years. So now my goal is: “By the end of 2009, I will have started some course to learn German.” There! I’ve put it down. I’ve put it out there! People can read it, so now I have to do it!
I took a stroll downtown Mainz during the afternoon. I did a little bit of shopping, trying to find that beer mug for my brother. I took a “pause café” to have a nice cappuccino at a local coffee shop. The coffee (especially the cappuccinos) is so good here! The taste is so different then back home. But Cindy’s cappuccinos come quite close! I’ll give her credit for that.
At 5pm, it was time for me to say goodbye to Philipp and to Mainz. We met up with another girl to car-pool back to München. I slept most of the way. We arrived in München at 9pm. I had a good, long, last run in München before packing my stuff for my return to Canada. I need to be at the airport at 10am tomorrow morning.

March 24, 2006
Tuesday

I said goodbye to Nayla this morning… It tweaks my heart every time! She was so nice to leave me with a nice big bag of Swiss Hot Chocolate powder for me to take home…yummy!!
My flights have been good so far. I’ll be landing in Ottawa in about 30 minutes. Let us see if my luggage meets me there.

Going back to my dream about my grandmother… I figured out the meaning of the golf course. I got a call as I arrived at the Ottawa airport, to inform me that the father of one of my best friends, Marc, had passed away on Sunday night. Each year, a golf tournament is held as a fundraiser for Marc. His father, Marcel, was an incredible man with a heart of pure gold, and was, is, an incredible support. His memory will definitely be remembered and cherished by many. He certainly will remain in my heart for the rest of my life! Marc and family, my heart and my thoughts goes out to you! I want you to know I’m here for you.
Enjoy every moment. You never know when it will be your last.

Jewels of Egypt - August 24 – September 7, 2008

2008-09-20T19:22:00.019-05:00

August 23, 2008
Saturday

I don’t know how to start. I’m a little overwhelmed. I just spent an amazing week (and birthday) with my friends Nayla and Philipp. They were down from Germany to visit Canada. Technically, my trip started a week earlier! Of course, my heart felt “squeezed” when they left to continue on with their trip. It was also time to look forward to mine.
I got a little teary-eyed when Mom dropped me off at the train station. I took a bus from Ottawa to Montreal. I’m currently on my flight from Montreal to Paris. I’ve done quite a few flights before but this is the biggest plane I’ve even been on! I’m flying with Air France my entire trip. We have a 747-400… it’s a double-decker man! It can seat 474 passengers! Anyway, a first one for me. Once I get to Paris I have a 4-hour wait for my connecting flight to Cairo. Someone will be waiting for me at the airport in Cairo to take me to the hotel.
I haven’t fully realized I’ve left yet. I’m very nervous, which is a little unusual, but it’ll pass. What have I got to be nervous about..? There’s always this feeling of peace, tranquility and freedom that settles in once the plane takes off. I love flying (like driving). I’m free to do as I wish. I don’t have to care about what people think, or say, or do (not that I should in the first place but I do… I’m working on it). I’m free to think all the things I couldn’t afford thinking. This is a time for me. This time is all mine. Finally, I feel like I can breathe. Now all I have to do is sit back, relax and see what wonders Egypt has to offer…
I had a few goals in mind with this trip. Besides breathing, my main goal is not to run for 2 weeks... I didn’t bring my running gear… Already I’m thinking “What were you thinking!!?”. Knowing me, I’ll probably succumb to temptation and addiction and run bare-foot somewhere… I’ll try not too. It would do my body (especially knees) good to have a rest for 2 weeks.
For people who are new to reading me, I will apologize, or warn you, of my “writing-diarrhea”. I’m aware that this can annoy or bore some of you so hence why I’m apologizing. Then again, I’m not forcing you to read. As much as I don’t talk a lot, I tend to write quite a lot. I love things that are rich and deep in experience and I generally live things to their fullest. I don’t like the superficial and fake stuff.

A little history on Egypt
Most of Egypt’s landmass consists of deserts, with the nation’s lifeblood, the Nile River, a green band shivering along the length of the country, drawing to it the nation’s settlements, including the disproportionately large capital, Cairo. The delta area in the north became known as Lower Egypt, and the area upstream of the delta was called Upper Egypt..
Ancient Egyptian history comprises three principal kingdoms. The pyramids date from the Old Kingdom (2670-2150 BC), when lively trade made building projects possible. Ruling from the nearby capital of Memphis, Pharaoh Zoser built the pyramid at Saqqara. Subsequent Pharaohs constructed ever larger temples and pyramids, culminating in the mighty pyramids of Giza built for Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus.
The Middle Kingdom (256 – 1650 BC) was marked by the rise of a new and illustrious capital at Thebes (Luxor). It was during the New Kingdom (1550 – 1076 BC), however, that ancient Egyptian culture blossomed. Wonders such as the Temple of Karnak and the West Bank tombs were the visible expression of a rich culture that established Egypt, under de great dynasties of Tuthmosis and Ramses, as the greatest regional power.
From 1184 BC, Egypt disintegrated into local principalities and it wasn’t until Alexander the Great arrived in the 4th century BC that the country was reunited. For the next 300 years Egypt was ruled from Alexandria by the descendants of his general, Ptolemy. The Romans arrived in 31 BC, leaving behind little to show for their occupation except the introduction of Christianity in AD 2.
The 1980s were marked by violence, partly in response to the country’s dismal economic situation. Between 1993 and 1997, Egypt’s largest Islamist opposition group targeted foreign travelers in its campaign to overthrow the government, culminating in the massacre of 58 holidaymakers at the Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor.
Today, Egypt is in serious economic turmoil, and with an ever-burgeoning population, rising unemployment, and a decline in tourism resulting from continuing violence, the future looks precarious.
Egyptians are often teased by neighboring nationals for being work-shy. “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?” Emphasis is placed instead on quality family and social experience rather than on the secondary task of earning a living. Most families in Egypt live a conservative life based on traditional Islamic values. It may not look like it, but for most urban households, women rule the roost. They are expected to keep house and govern children, but men are kept in abeyance on a wish and a promise and are very often seen as a resource. Women who work are entitled to keep their money rather than share it with their husbands.
Egypt has the second-highest population in Africa. Growing at a rate of 2% annually, it places enormous strain on infrastructure and the national economy. Unemployment is officially 10%; unofficially it’s much higher. There are three main racial groups: the Hamito-Semites of the Nile; Bedouin Arab nomads, who migrated from Arabia and live mostly in Sinai; and the Nubians, who inhabit the Aswan area. About 94% of Egypt’s population is Muslim; the remainder is Coptic Christian. The two communities peacefully coexist.
Egypt’s central feature is the Nile Valley, either side of which are barren plateaus punctuated by occasional escarpments and oases. The highest mountains are Mt Sinai (Gebel Musa; 2285m) and Mt St-Katherine (Gebel Katrin; 2637m), in the Sinai Peninsular.
Environmental awareness is not top priority in Egypt: Cairo is thick with smog; the Red Sea coast is threatened by opportunistic development and freshwater lakes are blighted by agricultural toxins.
A combination of Arabic and Mediterranean influences, Egypt’s cuisine is focused on minced, seasoned meat, locally made cheese and fresh vegetables such as tomatoes and aubergines. Staples include fuul (fava beans cooked with oil and lemon), ta’amiyya (felafel), kushari (mixture of noodles, rice and lentils) and unleavened bread. Fish is also and important part of the diet. Although beer and arrak are produced locally, fresh fruit juices are the favored drink. Sweet mint tea and Turkish coffee are indispensable punctuations to any social interaction.

August 24, 2008
Sunday
Day 1 – Cairo

This is arrival day in Cairo. In many ways, Cairo is Egypt, a top-heavy capital that dominates the country as it dominates Arabic culture. Visitors ten to enjoy Cairo in proportion to their tolerance levels. On a hot summer’s day, surrounded by a mangle of horn-blowing cars, buried under clouds of exhaust fumes, elbowed into the crowd, and tricked into being guided where you didn’t want to go, it takes a special patience to enjoy the city. Cairo is a relatively modern capital, founded in AD 969 by the Islamic Fatimid dynasty over the ruins of earlier Roman and Islamic settlements. Although the pyramids are now almost engulfed by the city, they more properly belong to the capital of ancient Egypt at Memphis.
I’ve met the rest of my group today. It is currently 10p.m., local time in Cairo. I’m staying at Salma Hotel for the night. Honestly, I’m not too impressed with the quality of the Hotel… not too promising for the rest of the trip. But I didn’t come for 5 star hotels, so it won’t bother me too much. A representative from Imaginative Travelers picked me up at the airport to drive me to the Hotel. Is Cairo ever a big city! There’s some insanely crazy driving going on here! Lanes? What lanes? Signals? What signals? Isn’t that an option on a car? And horn honking? Isn’t it to create a musical orchestra to entertain the passengers…?? I don’t get it. I’m curious to know how frequent accidents happen here!
I flew in by the pyramids tonight. Wow! Spectacular! They’re ginormous! It just seems strange with the city’s border so close. It takes away of the “natural” state of the pyramids, but oh well. There isn’t much I can do about that. They have discovered 110 pyramids in Egypt, so far. Did you know that 95% of Egypt is desert? And, that 75 million people live on the remaining 5% (25 million live in Cairo)? Well, good for you if you did. I didn’t. That’s crazy! There isn’t half that amount of people in Canada and look at the size of our country!!!
We just finished our group meeting. I arrived a bit late because of my flight delay earlier today. I was suppose to arrive in Cairo at 6pm, but got in at 8h30pm. Our tour leader is Siobhan, from South Africa but has been living in Egypt for 3 years now. The rest of the group consists of Sarah, Helen, Angela, Kathy and Robert, Leigh and Barbara, all from Australia! How cool is that?! On first impression, everyone seems quite nice. I think we’ll all get along. It should be a great tour.
Sleep tight everyone and sweet dreams. Grand-ma, my thoughts go out to you. I love you!

August 25, 2008
Monday
Day 2 – Cairo

A very full day; feels like 3 days into one. We started by visiting the pyramids at Giza this morning. Built on a desert plateau encroached upon by the modern city of Cairo, the pyramids here are the last remaining wonder of the ancient world. They were built as the mausoleums of Pharaohs to help their souls on the path to heaven. Representing more a celebration of life (and a desire for life to continue) than a preoccupation with death, they were constructed by thousands of artisans (not slaves as previously imagined) mindful of their part in the creation of something extraordinary.
Completed around 2600 BC, the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) is the oldest pyramid at Giza, and the largest (146.5m high). Although here there isn’t much to see inside, climbing the steep, narrow passage to the heart of the pyramid is an unforgettable, if intensely claustrophobic, experience. The neighbouring Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren) was built by Khufu’s son. In deference to his father, he built a slightly smaller pyramid but located it on higher ground, giving the impression of greater size. At a height of 62m, the Pyramid of Menkaure (Mycerinus) is the smallest of the three pyramids; it was built by Khafre’s son, Menkaure, from blocks of granite floated along the Nile from Aswan.
Known in Arabic as Abu al-Hol (Father of Terror) and guarding the Pyramid of Khafre, the Sphinx is carved from a single piece of wind-eroded limestone. It has the face of a man – perhaps that of Khafre – and the body of a lion. It was buried by sand several times since it was built in 2500 BC, and Napoleon’s army shot off its nose (now in the British Museum) in the 19th century. Despite these “mishaps”, it remains one of the most evocative monuments of the ancient world. And I got to kiss it…!! ;-)
Man was it ever hot! It was 42 degrees Celsius in temperature! It was only 9am!! It’s a real live sauna here… awesome! The pyramids and the Sphinx where spectacular. It’s one of those things where it feels surreal. When you look back on your pictures, you think “… I was there?…” I hope I get a chance to go back to the pyramids and grasp the experience and the moment fully this time. They truly are a wonder of the world! I had a chance to walk inside one of the pyramids. I walked to the tomb, located perfectly in the center of the pyramid. Apparently, in the center of the pyramid is where things never rot. It is believed to be the center of the universe, the center of eternal life. I couldn’t take any pictures unfortunately, but I got a good mental one! Getting in there wasn’t all that easy. If you’re claustrophobic, forget it. You had to crouch down in a little tunnel, crawl down for about 5 minutes in that tunnel. Eventually, you could walk standing for a short distance, and then you had to crouch down again in another little tunnel, going upwards this time. Finally, after a few minutes, you get to the room where the tomb is kept. Only when you finally get there you realize that you have to go back the same way…! It was so warm inside. And just to give you an idea: my first thought when I walked back outside was “Feels cool outside, feels nice.” (May I remind you that it was 42 degrees Celsius outside!!). We got to a good spot to get a great panoramic view of the 3 pyramids. Amazing!
There was also a ship to visit. They recently discovered it. Apparently it was made for the Queen and is said to be 5000 years old… Canada just celebrated their 400th anniversary for Quebec City…
We then visited the Papyrus Museum. They explained us how Papyrus was made and how to distinguish the “real” from the “fake”. There were amazing paintings displayed; paintings made on the papyrus.
Eventually, lunch time came. It was so hot, I wasn’t hungry. I had a little bowl of rice topped with a tomato sauce and humus. I didn’t even finish it. I think I must have drunk a total of 3 liters of water by lunch! I don’t even drink that in a day normally. I had a croissant with a piece of cheese this morning. I’m skeptical about the food. I’ll be careful with what I eat for the next few days until I can get “accustomed” to it… if I ever do. One thing I’m already annoyed with are the washrooms. You have to pay to go, and you can’t even flush your paper with it! That will be a luxury when I get back home.
Immediately after lunch, we drove all the way to Alexandria. It was a 3-hour drive in total. I tried staying awake but I didn’t succeed. But apparently I didn’t miss a whole lot since the drive was mostly though the western desert. We arrived in Alexandria at 6h30pm. My room, at the Regency Hotel, has a fabulous view of the ocean and its beach. It’s very beautiful. In the evening, I went walking around with Helen and Angela. Seriously, I don’t think we crossed another tourist!! And did we feel like pieces of meat! It was hard to keep my mouth shut and not tell them off on some occasions… don’t worry, I didn’t. I have to keep in mind that their culture is not like ours. Even though I don’t agree with it, or wouldn’t accept it, I still have to respect it during my time here. And do they ever hassle you for sales! As soon as you walk by, they practically grab you and bring you in the shop, or they shove something in your hand. But it’s quite fun to bargain with them when you do have the intention of buying something. We weren’t hungry for diner so we just sat down at a coffee shop and took a drink while watching and observing people walking by. Apparently, it’s a popular and common thing to do in Alexandria.
The city Alexandria was named after Alexander the Great. Alexandria (Al-Iskendariyya), with its belle époque buildings and grand squares, good coffee and French pastries, has a faded charm that few visitors can resist. Established in 332 BC by Alexander the Great, the city became a major trade center and focal point of learning for the entire Mediterranean. Its ancient library held 500,000 volumes and the Pharos lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Alexandria continued as the capital of Egypt under the Roman and Byzantine Empires until the 4th century. The city thereafter went into decline until the 19th century, when Napoleon revived Alexandria as a major port. Something of the city’s cosmopolitan character remains.
Everywhere I would see “Alex” this or “Alex” that, I was reminded of my brother. I thought of my brother for an entire day! Don’t worry, that’s a very good thing! I love him more then anything in this world! I’ll call my brother “Alexander the Great” now… hihi! The city makes me think of Aladdin (Walt Disney film). It’s got a Roman-Egyptian style to it.
This was day 2 without running… I just spent the last 45 minutes doing crunches, sit-ups, reverse sit-ups, pushups, squats, etc. It helps a little…

August 26, 2008
Tuesday
Day 3 – Alexandria

My aim today was to get postcards. And internet had to get done as well. I had to give a sign of life! I don’t like to make my family and friends worry. Both my goals were obtained today, plus one more… I got chocolate!! Woohoo!
Our first thing on our agenda this morning was a visit to Alexandria’s National Museum. We got the general history of the city and its creator. Following our visit of the museum was the visit of the Catacombs…awesome! Dating from the 2nd century AD, the honeycomb Catacombs of Kom Ash-Suqqafa once housed 300 corpses – and a rather macabre funereal dining chamber used for wakes. Due to the time period, many of the features of the Catacombs merge both Roman, Greek and Egyptian cultural points; some statues are Egyptian in style, yet bear Roman clothes and hair style whilst other features share a similar style. A circular staircase, which was often used to transport deceased bodies down the middle of it, leads down into the tombs that were tunneled into the bedrock during the age of the Antoine emperors (2nd century AD). The facility was then used as a burial chamber from the 2nd century to the 4th century, before being rediscovered in1900 when a donkey accidentally fell into the access shaft. To date, three sarcophagi have been found, along with other human and animal remains which were added later. It is believed that the catacombs were only intended for a single family, but it is unclear why the site was expanded in order to house numerous other individuals. The Catacombs is, according to some lists, also one of the seven medieval wonders of the world. One of the more gruesome features of the catacombs is the so called Hall of Caracalla. According to tradition, this is a mass burial chamber for the humans and animals massacred by order of the Emperor Caracalla. We couldn’t take any pictures inside. So annoying!!! I tried finding postcards but couldn’t find any.
Afterwards, we visited the famed and misnamed Pompey’s Pillar, the top of which once hosted a party of 22. Louis XIV of France nearly took it home as a plinth for his own statue. It is the best-known ancient monument still standing today. It was originally part of a temple colonnade. Including its pedestal, it is 30 m (99 ft) high; the shaft is of polished red granite, roughly three meters in diameter at the base, tapering to two and a half meters at the top. The structure was plundered and demolished in the 4th century when a bishop decreed that Paganism must be eradicated. "Pompey's Pillar" is a misnomer, as it has nothing to do with Pompey, having been erected in 293 for Diocletian. It seemed so majestic, standing alone in the middle of a sandy-land. It was a five-minute walk from the catacombs.
We had lunch in a local resto, Calence. I shared a pizza with Sarah. It was really good! They make the pizza thin crust here! Awesome! We had an hour to wander around the city after lunch, before heading back to Cairo. That’s when I was able to get email done. Leigh, Sarah and I found a McDonald with wireless internet access. Leigh had his laptop and was kind enough to let us use it! That took the full hour. I was a little disappointed with the fact that I didn’t have the chance to take pictures of the city. But, oh well, it’s all good. We made our way back to Cairo to catch our over-night train to Luxor. I’m now on the top bunk and it’s currently 10 p.m. The train was a little late… Egyptian time. We should be in Luxor by 6:30am tomorrow morning. Luxor was built around the 4000-year-old site of Thebes, and then ancient capital of the New Kingdom, contemporary Luxor is an eccentric combination of provincial town and staggering ancient splendor.
I saw some more crazy driving here in Alexandria. People cutting; three on a motorcycle for one; twenty sitting on top of each other in a truck cab… just crazy!

Pictures of the Catacombs (found on the Internet)

August 27, 2008
Wednesday
Day 4 – Luxor – Edfu

We woke up at 6am this morning to have breakfast and get ready to board off the train. The train is running late. Since it was late, we had to take a taxi to get transferred to our Melodie ship for our Nile Boat Cruise. We checked in to our rooms then headed out to wait for our horse-drawn carriages to pick us up and carry us to the great Temple of Karnak. It’s much more than a temple. It describes a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings. It’s a spectacular complex of sanctuaries, pylons and obelisks. Begun in the Middle Kingdom, the complex was added to, dismantled, restored, enlarged and decorated over 1500 years. This was ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut ("The Most Selected of Places"), the main place of worship of the Theban Triad with Amun as its head, in the monumental city of Thebes. The temple is the largest ancient religious site in the world. It is probably the second most visited historical site in Egypt, second only to the Giza Pyramids. It consists of four main parts (precincts): Precinct of Amun-Re (This is the largest of the precincts of the temple complex, and is dedicated to Amun-Re, the chief god of the Theban Triad.); Precinct of Montu (Dedicated to the son of Amun-Re and Mut, Montu, the war-god of the Theban Triad. It is much smaller in size.); Precinct of Mut (This precinct was dedicated to the mother goddess, of the Theban Triad, Mut. It has several smaller temples associated with it, and has its own sacred lake.) and, Temple of Amenhotep IV (The temple that Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) constructed on site. Its full extent and lay-out is currently unknown.). The temple of Karnak is famous for its 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows in the Hypostyle Hall. 122 of these columns are 10 meters tall the other 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of over three meters. There are several colossal statues including the figure of Panejem which is 10.5 meters tall. It also has one of the largest obelisks weighing 328 tones standing 29 meters tall. The key difference between Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Construction work began in the 16th century BC. Approximately thirty pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity not seen elsewhere. Construction of temples started in the Middle Kingdom and continued through to Ptolemaic times.
It was amazing! It is also the first temple I ever see. Things always appear more amazing the first time. It seems like a entirely different world. All the stories and history engraved on those walls; it’s just amazing. I can just imagine what those temples really looked like in their times. How wonderful they must have been.
The horse drawn-carriages took us back to our ship. We are sailing until tomorrow morning. We have an overnight in Edfu. The rest of the afternoon was ours to do as we please. Guess what I did? Yes, I made myself a little training routine. Felt good. A nice shower came shortly after. The rest of the afternoon consisted of chatting with Helen, Angela, Siobhan, Sarah, Kathy and Robert over some tea (or coffee). Leigh was resting… sick with the runs…
Eventually diner came around, crowned with a gorgeous sunset. I learned how to play charades after diner. It’s hard to think of topics to mime. It’s hard for me anyway. But it was really fun. Helen was miming topics that mostly resolved around “marriage”; Siobhan, around “happy things” and; Sarah, around “horror”. We were able to guess what they were trying to act out before they had the chance to do anything! I think everyone had a good laugh!
We are now docked in Edfu for the night. We went through locks this afternoon. I’ve seen how things work but had never really gone through one while being in a boat.
The heat seemed more tolerable today; less humidity. It was still 42 degrees Celsius. The night is absolutely perfect. I’m sitting on the top deck of the boat, by the pool. The sky is lit with stars like you wouldn’t imagine! It’s funny how you don’t realize where you are until you stop and think about it… I’m in Egypt, on the Nile… That’s so awesome!
I learned something today… well, I learned many things but the one that comes to mind now is this one: Giza = valley of dead and Memphis = valley of the living.
I think I forgot to mention that we have the entire ship all to ourselves! How awesome is that? There are 3 others joining for a few days but that’s it. It’s nice in a way. Sometimes you feel like you’re alone on the ship, just like I’m feeling now…

August 28, 2008
Thursday
Day 5 – Edfu – KOM OMBO

I woke up late this morning. I almost missed breaky. I had a workout and a shower afterwards. I spent the rest of my morning, until lunch, chatting with Sarah, Leigh and Siobhan. I finally was able to send out those darn postcards today!
I wasn’t feeling too good this morning, but I wasn’t sure. I was having a “queasy” feeling in my stomach. It got worse by lunch. I wasn’t sure if I should eat or not. I ate a little of rice. Shortly after, it started feeling more like a cramp in my upper right quadrant. Then, I remembered I had two coffees for breakfast. I don’t drink coffee normally. That could have been it. After gulping down four Advils (only suppose to take 2 every 4 hours, maximum of 4 per day… so that was a good dose just there), the pain magically disappeared (ya, no shit!). I can’t afford to get sick on this trip. No one can.
In the afternoon, we visited the Temple of Sobek (fertility) and Haroeris (health), in Kom Ombo village. It is dedicated to the crocodile god and falcon-headed sky god respectively. In ancient times sacred crocodiles basked themselves in the sun along the river bank here; these days, crocodiles are unable to swim past the High Dam at Aswan. The drawings and carvings are much better preserved in this one then the previous one we visited. It just amazes me how many details and carvings there are everywhere!
There was a little shop on our way out of the temple. I bought Sarah and Chris’s gifts… I hope they’ll like it…
So all this took us to diner. An Egyptian Party was held tonight. Surprisingly, for a party of maybe 15 people, I think the majority had a good time. Kathy and Robert were pleasant to look at dancing. Barbara had good “swings” with Bob (the manager). We had a show from the Egyptian dancers… no, not those kind of dancers! One kept spinning and spinning and spinning… He must have been spinning for a good 5 minutes! I was dizzy just looking at him! I had a little “booty incident”. At some point I danced with Bob, and his hand “accidentally” “fell” on my right butt cheek… I gently took his hand off and placed it in the low of my back. I just wanted to make clear that this was a “no-touch zone”. So no harm done. To my surprise he felt just a tad more guilty then I expected. He must have told me “I’m sorry” fifty times! Then he kept saying he would give me a drink of my choice on the house. I was getting annoyed. I told him it was ok, to forget about it. Then I just told him I would just take the drink tomorrow. As much as the Egyptians are pushy to sell you something, then can be pushy at apologizing for something too! That’s a good thing. Better to apologize to many then not apologizing at all.
We have a big two days coming up! Lots of activities to choose from… Let us see what I shall choose…

August 29, 2008
Friday
Day 6 – KOM OMBO – Aswan

It’s daylight savings time today so we back up one hour… I’m so confused in time. My biological clock is out of wack! But it doesn’t matter, I’m on vacation!
I woke up last minute for breakfast. The day was ours to do as we wished in Aswan. Aswan, Egypt’s southernmost city that sits on the banks of a particularly beautiful stretch of the Nile, decorated with palm-fringed islands and flotillas of white-sailed feluccas. Associated with the Nubian people, a distinct ethnic group with their own language and customs, the town is more African in character than the cities of the north.
Since we have 3 days here, no rush in doing everything all at once. I went to McDo with Leigh and Sarah this morning to do some Internet. We spent all our time until lunch on it. It was a good fifteen-minute walk from the boat to McDo so a little exercise got done. I can’t believe how many locals asked us for taxi rides, horse-drawn carriage rides, etc. Even after saying “no” ten times, they still asked. My answer is still going to be no, whether you asked once or a hundred times!!! They are so persistent! I was getting impatient. But that’s how they work here. It’s not an easy way of working. After lunch, yes, I trained a little, followed by a shower. I spent the rest of the time talking to Leigh and Sarah, until half-tea. I borrowed what seemed like a good book from the boat, and then had the chance to get a good hour and a half of reading before we all went out for the Sound and Light Show on the Philea Temple. It was built by the Ptolemies and Romans and relocated to a different island after the building of the High Dam in the 1960s. It is a romantic sight.
The show was nice. I really enjoyed it. I found the voices, the ones telling the story, kind of alluring and appealing. It is certainly different from seeing the temples during the day. It gives a more “mystical” air to it. I saw a big shooting star during the show. Yes, I made a wish. The temple is dedicated to the Goddess Isis (beauty and faith), who found the heart of her slain brother, Osiris, on Philae Island (Aglikia Island). Early Christians later turned the hypostyle hall into a chapel. Our little boat ride back to main land brought a little romanticism to the air.
I tucked into bed immediately after the show. We’re getting up at 3am to drive to Abu Simbel. It’s probably the most striking temple in Egypt. It was cut from the hillside to honor the gods Ra-Harakhty, Amun, Ptah and the deified Pharaoh Ramses II. Discovered by Burkhart in 1813, protruding from the interring desert sands, the four famous colossal statues of Ramses II sit majestically facing east. Each statue is over 20m tall and flanked by smaller statues of the Pharaoh’s mother and his beloved wife, Nefertari. The neighbouring Temple of Hathor is guarded by six further standing statues of Ramses and Nefertari. In the 1960s both temples were winched to higher ground to avoid the rising waters of Lake Nasser in an ingenious feat of engineering.

August 30, 2008
Saturday
Day 7 – Aswan

I woke up with the worse feeling ever… I don’t want to go back home! More precisely, I don’t want to go back to the routine I had… Don’t you ever get the feeling you should be somewhere else, doing something else? Well, that’s what I’m feeling now. I’ve been thinking about Germany more and more lately… I’ll figure out something. On the other hand, I love and cherish my family and friends so much. I would miss them immensely… Well, time will tell. One thing I’ve learned recently (the hard way) is don’t rush or force things to happen. Things will fall into place and happen on their own time, but necessarily on your time!! Enough with the dark stuff.
Like I said, we woke up at 3 am, only to take our pillows and blankets into the bus and fall asleep again. It was a 3 hour bus ride to Abu Simbel; a bus ride of complete desert! I wouldn’t want to get stuck out there! There’s hardly anything along the road.
Abu Simbel is a highlight of my trip. It’s gigantic! Just wonderful! We spent 2 hours on the site visiting both temples. It was worth the drive.
On our way back I chatted with our guide, the one assigned to us for this site. Amir was his name. I was surprised that he spoke French. He’s waiting for his visa to enter Canada. He wants to move to Canada, study and get a job here. It was interesting talking to him. I gave him my email so that he could give me a shout when he gets in. I told him I could show him around Ottawa.
We where back to the boat at 2pm. We had lunch, then I did my regular exercises and, shower. I had some extra time to read a little. At 4:30pm, we left for the Felucca ride on the Nile. I loved it! It was so peaceful! Very lovely. Rob, Angela and Helen had a swim in the Nile. I just dipped my feet in. The water was quite refreshing.
We came back for diner, only to discover that nine or so more people were new onboard. I played UNO with Helen and Angela afterwards. That’s when I met James, from the UK. He joined in the game with us. We eventually made our way out for a stroll in the market. I got to walk with Helen a little while. I got to know her a little more. She just couldn’t get the fact that I spoke French but had no relative connection with France… So funny!!! Once in the market: the hassle!!! At the beginning, it’s kind of fun and funny, but then it comes to a point where it’s just annoying. Then, you know its time to get out. They are very quick at proposing, that’s one thing. Whether they are serious or not… I’m not sure. I walked mostly with Sarah and Siobhan. Sarah got most of what she was looking for. Some of the shop owners where quite rude on occasions. Siobhan told them off quite nicely! We were back by 11:30pm, at the boat!
Camel ride tomorrow morning!

August 31, 2008
Sunday
Day 8 – Aswan - Edfu

We started our day with an early camel ride in the desert. How better and different can it get then that? It was fun. My camel was named “Bob Marley”… Yes, he was on the slow mode and walked all over the place. He cuddled with every camel he passed or that passed him. He wasn’t going fast enough for me but still a lot of fun. I felt like I was walking funny after the ride. I think everyone did. Helen and Leigh had a race going on. Even though Leigh will disagree, sorry buddy, but from my point of view, Helen clearly won!!!
The rest of the day was ours. We set sail from Aswan to Edfu at 12h30pm. We’re spending the night in Edfu. I did my exercises and shower. I had planned to catch up on the book I started and write in my journal but did neither. Our spare time seems to be filled with the game UNO. It was Angela, Helen, James (now re-baptized “James Jason Jonavan Justin Richard”… long story… since Helen is quite distinct with her memory… she kept calling him Jason instead of James. Eventually, others got confused and other names started coming out… Poor guy. He’ll be traumatized after this trip!), and me playing.
After a while, the girls went sun tanning and we went to eat some ice cream by the temple. It was good to get out of the boat a little for some hot fresh air and a little walk. I met Walleed (so apologize, I don’t know how to spell his name!), the other tour leader from Egypt and, Olivia from Brazil. Sarah, Leigh, Siobhan, James and I were also there. Even our boat captain was having a break smoking up his… thing (I don’t remember how they call it there but we call it a bong. Only, they don’t smoke pot; just tobacco.).
After diner, we had games going on between the two groups. They were sort of quizs and the team with the most right answers won. There was some dancing involved for extra points… “musical chair” sort of dancing. Our team finished second… close call. Eventually, Jason (aka “James”), Helen, Angela, Leigh and I where the last ones left. We took a few drinks and spent the rest of the evening/night on the top deck. Angela went to bed a little earlier, and then Helen was the first one to cave in (even though she was having five minute naps…!). It must have been three in the morning.
My drinks were free tonight….

September 1, 2008
Monday
Day 9 – Edfu – Luxor

We had an early rise this morning; 5 am. After a three hour sleep and a night of few drinks, needless to say I didn’t feel 100% “fresh”. But it doesn’t matter, I had a great time. We visited the Temple of Horus, in Edfu. It’s the most completely preserved temple in Egypt. Built by the Ptolemies over a period of 200 years, it was, dedicated to the falcon-headed son of Osiris. It didn’t take long. By 8:30am, we were back on the boat to have breakfast. We were then off, by sail, to Luxor. We’ll spend the night there. My plan was to get a few hours of sleep in but it didn’t happen. I did my exercises (because we all know they are more important to me then sleep…) and shower. I had some laundry done. Then we played some UNO until lunch. Angela, now known as “Habibi” (I think it means “my darling” in Arabic… not sure) and let me explain why. That woman just cracks me up. “Habibi” is the beginning of an Egyptian song that we keep hearing frequently on the boat. Angela just spontaneously and unexpectedly sings that beginning of song… It cracks me up every time! She puts a passionate tone to it that just makes it hilarious! I tell you that woman is awesome! She always has the perfect thing to say at the right time to make people laugh. You’d never think she’s an accountant… lol.
After lunch, I watched Hancock on Siobhan’s laptop. She was so kind to let us borrow it. James watched it also. Helen lasted fifteen minutes because she couldn’t hear well, so she got annoyed. The movie lasted until half-tea. It was also the time we arrived in Luxor. We had a stroll in the market before diner. We say the Luxor temple quickly from the outside, and then we entered the “famous” jewelry shop. I had mom’s present made there. I wanted to have Alex, Sarah, Dad and Gin’s present made there too but it was getting a little expensive… Another time. So that took us to diner.
We had a “meeting” after diner, in order to discuss tomorrow’s events. Then, yes, we played UNO. We eventually ended up on the top deck talking, taking a few drinks and, planning Angela and James’s wedding… It will be held tomorrow night, and Helen and I are bridesmaids so far… Now you’re wondering what the hell I’m talking about. It just started out with a random funny idea. Angela and James, and the rest of us, just got into it and played along. Although I don’t think Juan and Walleed were following too much. They probably just thought we were insane or something. I thought it was funny. The four of us, Angela, Helen, James and I, decided to sleep on the tanning beds by the pool. It was three in the morning and we had to get up at quarter to five a.m. …

September 2, 2008
Tuesday
Day 10 – Luxor

Ramadan starts today. I’m happy to be here during a part of it. From what I’ve been tolled, they pray 5 times a day, they fast during the day (no water and no food). They can eat in the evening, at sunset, which is usually around 6pm. By 4 am the fasting starts again. I don’t know if could do it. I don’t think I would have a problem not eating during the day, but no water in this heat?? That I probably wouldn’t be able to do. But who knows. My religious beliefs, customs and motivations aren’t the same.
Ramadan or Ramazan is a Muslim religious observance that takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting (swam), in which participating Muslims do not eat or drink anything from dawn until sunset. Fasting is meant to teach the person patience, sacrifice and humility. Ramadan is a time to fast for the sake of God, and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramadan Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance into the future, ask for help in refraining from everyday evils and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam and to avoid obscene and irreligious sights and sounds. Sexual thoughts and activities during fasting hours are also forbidden. Purity of both thought and action is important. The fast is intended to be an exacting act of deep personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to God. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. Properly observing the fast is supposed to induce a comfortable feeling of peace and calm. It also allows Muslims to practice self-discipline, sacrifice, and sympathy for those who are less fortunate. It is also intended to make Muslims more generous and charitable. The elderly, the chronically ill and the insane are exempt from fasting, although the first two groups must endeavor to feed one poor person each day that they miss fasting. Also exempt are pregnant women, women during the period of their menstruation, and women nursing their newborns, all of whom must make up the days they miss at a later date. While fasting is not considered compulsory in childhood (which ends at puberty), many children endeavor to complete as many fasts as possible as practice for later life. Lastly, those traveling are exempt, but must make up the days they miss.
Like I said previously, we had to get up at quarter to five this morning. It’s a good thing “Habibi” (aka Angela) had brought her alarm clock. Other wise we would have just slept through. I’ll need a vacation from my vacation when I’m back home! I woke up with a soar throat (tired or diesel from the boats around?… probably combination of both). I took three coffees to try to wake me up, along with a cold shower.
We took the motor boat across the Nile to the West bank of Luxor so we could go meet our donkeys. We had a donkey ride all the way to the Valley of the Kings. It’s couched in a sun-ravaged ravine of Al-Qurn (Horn) escarpment. It’s the last resting place of the Pharaohs.
It took approximately one hour. I really enjoyed it! Siobhan had the perfect shirt for the event. It wrote “Donkey Day” on her shirt. I thought it was quite cute. Leigh fell off at some point… so funny! I wanted to take a picture but I was more preoccupied by not stepping on him. Just be careful not to have your leg or foot close to a donkey’s behind!! They pooh a lot, and it’s more in a liquid form then a solid one… sorry for the description, I just had to say it!!! The little shits tend to follow in a pack so can’t really avoid being in another donkey’s behind at some point…
We met with Mustafa in the Valley of the Kings, our guide for that sight. We visited the tomb of Ramsey I, Ramsey III and Ramsey IV and, some visited the tomb of Tut Anka Maun (the only tomb, discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, to be discovered intact).
Unfortunately, you can’t take pictures inside the tombs… It’ll be hard to prove I was in Egypt! You can’t take pictures everywhere! I’m exaggerating. I was good until today. Did I take a picture? Yup. Did I get caught? Yup. What happened? The guard confiscated my camera. I was freaking out (If you know me, you know what my camera means to me and, more importantly, the pictures on my card!). But I was lucky. My “Canadian Status” saved me. It got me off the hook. I got to keep my camera and the picture I took and, only five Egyptian pounds (equivalent of 1$) had to be given to the guard. Mustafa wasn’t impressed and I felt stupid. I felt like a criminal. Then I realized that everyone does it, the difference is I got caught. The reason they don’t allow cameras is because of the flash, which can damage the paintings on the walls. I didn’t have the flash on when I took my picture, so really no harm done on my part. Hey, I have to justify a little to ease my conscience a little. Many teased me about it so by the end of the day I could honestly laugh about it.
Anyway, moving on. After that little incident, we visited the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. It rises out of the desert plain in a series of terraces. It’s a spectacular sight. It was vandalized by Hatshepsut’s bitter successor, Tuthmosis III, but retains much of its original magnificence, including elaborate friezes. I think it’s my favorite temple, simply because the architecture is different from the rest. It’s built in the face of a mountain.
By the time we were done, everyone were tired and fed up with the heat. Initially we had the choice to ride back on the donkeys or not. I’m the only one that decided to go back with the donkey. At this point, I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea anymore. But I had made my choice and was sticking to it. How often will I get to ride a donkey anyway? It turned out to be an awesome ride! I can’t believe how strong these little guys are! We barely walked during the entire trip back. I was so preoccupied trying to stay on the saddle that I hardly paid attention to the heat. The West bank of Luxor is very lovely. There’s little ponds and streams everywhere, with beautiful white and pink flowers. You see the locals little houses, which really contains the very minimal. It’s a really cute area! Unfortunately, due to my “trying to stay on the saddle”, I wasn’t able to take a picture. My mind won’t forget though.
The shower felt fantastic! I’m skipping exercises today… Shower was followed by lunch. We then discovered that 13 or so more people got on board this morning… I’m just glad to get off the boat tomorrow morning. It’s funny how you get into a level of comfort quickly and when that comfort is disturbed you feel irritated. Well, I do anyway.
This is our last night on the boat. Honestly, I’m a little sad. This means the trip is coming to an end and, I don’t want it to end. But things don’t and can’t last forever.
I took it easy this afternoon. I finally took the time to catch up on my journal, I’m four days behind… (With Helen constantly distracting me and then blaming it on James… Funny girl. She’s not as innocent as she looks! I like it when people like to tease other people.). I did the rest of my laundry, the last load of this trip. Then I had to take a nap, otherwise I don’t think I could have stood up any longer. The girls where gone to the orphanage to see the kidz, so I didn’t miss out on UNO. Later on, before diner, I’ll go visit Luxor Temple with Sarah and Leigh. Largely built by the New Kingdom Pharaoh Amenhotep III, it was continually added to over the centuries. In the 13th century, the Arabs built a mosque in an interior court.
The evening is still a mystery. I’ll let you know what happened tomorrow.
One thing I would of wished to see are the tombs comprising the Valley of the Queens. Apparently they contain some exquisite wall painting.

September 3, 2008
Wednesday
Day 11 – Luxor – Red Sea

Like I said, I visited Luxor Temple yesterday before diner, with Sarah and Leigh. We also went to McDo to do some internet. We came back just in time for diner. After diner, everyone packed up their stuff and paid their bills. Once that was done, I took a drink and waited for James to finish his group meeting. We couldn’t find the girls, Helen and Angela so we went for a walk. We went to the bank exchange and then walked to the temple in order to see it lit at night. I like the guy. He’s physically active and likes to train, he’s respectful and open and, he’s not afraid to speak his mind and heart. I hope we’ll keep in touch after this trip!
We joined Helen and Angela on the top deck afterwards. We assumed that they would be there. Angela was asleep though. Don’t blame her. I felt like collapsing any minute. The remaining three of us had some drinks and interesting discussions. We had some intense conversations going on there! Like Helen so nicely said, “A circle of trust has been created”. The topics of conversations will remain mine to know. We talked until three in the morning, then decided to join Angela’s side and sleep on the tanning beds one last time. James had to get up at quarter to five; us at 6:30. Breakfast was at 7am and, we were off the boat by 7:30am. Bye bye ship!

Finally, after a five-hour drive, we arrived in Hurghada. It caters for more than 96,000 tourists annually and comprises environmentally disastrous resorts. Even its once-glorious coral reefs have been degraded. The only compensation for travelers is that it offers an alternative route to Sinai from the Nile Valley.
During our drive there, I saw a woman with her donkey. The donkey had a goat on top of him. The goat was jus standing on the donkey’s back, eating something, like if it were on the ground. I found it funny. I took a picture, obviously. The woman wanted me to pay her for the picture I took… obviously! Our hotel is amazing (well, if you compare it to the other ones we had so far)! There’s a gym!!!!! It’s maybe just a little too touristy for my liking but it’s ok. The pool looks nice; big enough to do some laps! We checked into our rooms then we went out for lunch. We had a little free time before driving to the Red Sea for some snorkeling. We had a bottom glass boat so we got to see some corals and fishies. It was really windy so that made the snorkel a little rocky but still had a blast! The water was just wonderful (and salty)!
Afterwards, I wanted to go to the gym… obviously. But the guy wanted to charge my 25 Egyptian pounds! What?? I pay to stay in this hotel and he wants to charge me to run on a treadmill?! I chose plan B: run outside. I should have said to someone that I was going outside though but I came back safely. Since I didn’t have my running gear, my run was cut a little short (about 45 minutes). I had major chaffing in between my thighs! But the run was still really nice. I ran mostly along the ocean. The breeze and the view where great. At my return, I found Helen, Angela and James sitting by the pool. James had just arrived. James and I had a swim. I was lucky to add a couple of laps to my little workout.
We all met at 8pm for diner. The local resto was good. Helen, Angela, James and I went to a local pub afterwards for a drink. We ended up sitting by the hotel pool, soaking our feet in the water. We stayed there until we had to leave. We had to leave at two in morning for St-Katherine. There was a change of plan. The initial plan was to take the ferry across to St-Katherine, which would of taken about two hours. But because of bad weather, the ferry was cancelled. The plan is now to drive there. Because we have to go all the way and around the point and back down to St-Katherine, this adds about five hours to our travel time. That’s why we are leaving at two in the morning. But it’s ok. Things can’t go perfectly smooth all the time. Really, I don’t mind. It doesn’t change anything really (except we sleep in the bus instead of the hotel). We’ll be able to see James on Saturday, when both groups are back to Cairo.

September 4, 2008
Thursday
Day 12 – Hurghada – St-Katherine

We left at 2am last night. The drive was a total of 13 hours. We had a few stops on the way for “nature calls” and lunch. We arrived at 3:30pm at Morgan Hotel (or Village?), at the base of Mount Sinai, in St-Katherine. This one is even nicer then the one we had yesterday. I was amazed by the pool! I must have been 60 meters in length and 25 meters in width! After we settled into our rooms, I spent a good hour doing laps, then another hour sitting by the pool drying up. We all met at 7pm for diner. It was buffet style. I’m getting sick of bread and rice and weird cheese (especially since they aren’t things I usually eat). I miss my cereals.
After diner, everyone rushed to their rooms to get a few hours of sleep in before climbing Mount Sinai. We’re waking up at 1:30am. We’re aiming to start climbing at 2am. Cool huh? How many people can say they started hiking a mountain at 2 in the morning?? It’s just to beat the heat. You wouldn’t be able to climb it during the day. Maybe you would but it wouldn’t be very pleasant.
Sinai is the most atypical part of Egypt. From 1967 to 1982, it was occupied by Israel, and shared more with Asia than Africa. Though disputed by historians, Jews, Christians and Muslims believe Gebel Mousa (Mt Sinai) marks the spot where Moses received the Ten Commandments. It remains an important pilgrimage site.
There are two routes to the top of Mt Sinai, both of which meet at a plateau known as Elijah’s Basin, 300m below the summit. One trail takes about two hours to ascend. The other trail comprises the 3750 Steps of Repentance, laid by a monk as a form of penance. The steps – 3000 to Elijah’s Basin – are ferociously steep and uneven. From Elijah’s Basin, there are a further 750 steps to reach the 2285m summit. The extra half-hour effort is worthwhile as the views are spectacular, particularly in the blood-red late afternoon.

September 5, 2008
Friday
Day 13 – St-Katherine – Cairo

We started climbing at approximately 2:30 in the morning. The climb is estimated at three hours and is rated as an easy one. Personally, it was easy and it took me under two hours. I started off with the group but quickly found my own pace and kept it. Soon I had passed everyone that was climbing Mount Sinai that morning. On September 5, 2008, I was the first one on top of Mount Sinai. This is probably my favorite climb I ever did. I was alone with my flashlight. The sky was lit with stars. It was perfect silence. I was alone with my thoughts, listening to my breathing. So peaceful, so serene. I just loved it. This will be the highlight of my trip. Once to the top, I found what I thought was a good spot at the time. But it was dark so I couldn’t see very clearly. Only when daylight started to appear did I realize where I was lying. I was lying by the edge of the cliff. I moved away from it and sat a little higher… after taking a picture of course. The rest of the group appeared a while after. I was happy to see that they all made it! Then, sunrise came. It rose at about 5:35am. It was beautiful, very picturesque. After a few pictures, we started our decent back to base. On the way down some spotted a woman with no bra… clearly she would have needed one… Here are a few comments that were made: “Who needs a flashlight when you have headlights??” “Moohooo!”. Maybe a little disrespectful but still funny.
We had a choice of 2 routes: one more steeper but shorter (steps like) or the same way we came up (easier but longer). I took the easier and longer way. Since I have a record of ankle sprain descending mountains, I decided to play it safe. By 8am, all and all was done and we were back to the hotel for breakfast. I took a short swim (Helen had the same idea), a good shower, then packed my stuff. We left at 10:30am to visit St-Katherine’s Monastery. At the foot of the mountain where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments, lies the monastery. St. Catherine is among the oldest Christian monasteries, and the smallest diocese in the world. I had to put a sarong as a skirt to go in. It’s been a place of pilgrimage for Christians since the Middle Ages. It was built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian. After her visit to the impressive site of the Burning Bush Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, decided in 330 AD to let a chapel be build at the site. She dedicated it to the Virgin Mary. Many early pilgrims reported about massacres among the monks. In residence are 22 Greek Orthodox monks whose order was founded in the 4th century AD by the Byzantine empress Helena. She built the monastery chapel beside the burning bush (still thriving) from which God allegedly spoke to Moses. The chapel is dedicated to St-Katherine, the 4th-century martyr of Alexandria who was tortured on a spiked wheel. Her body, according to legend, appeared on top of the highest mountain in Egypt, near Mt Sinai, which was renamed Gebel Katrin in her honour.

The Legend of St. Catherine

The legend tells, that the virgin Catherine died a martyr death in the 4th century. It is said, that she was the daughter of a noble family from Alexandria. Beautiful and sophisticated in philosophy, poetry, mathematics and languages she tried to convert Emperor Maximanus. She astonished him with her knowledge, her rhetoric and logic. She succeeded to convert many of those in his closest circle. He sentenced her to death. Catherine was attached to four wooden wheel rotating into opposite directions. Like a miracle she survived, and finally Maximanus decreed that she should be beheaded. The church of St. Catherine in Alexandria is said to be the place of her martyrdom. Five centuries later a monk had the vision of angels carrying the celestial body of St. Catherine upon the highest mountain. On top of this mountain, which later was named Mount Catherine, monks found the intact body of St. Catherine emanating sweet smelling myrrh.
Today the skull and her left hand remained in the Church of Transfiguration. Every year on Nov 25th the monks celebrate the anniversary of her martyrdom, and her relics are

At 11:30am or so, we left and we are now making our way back to Cairo. This is the final destination of our trip. Boy does time fly! I do miss my family and friends, but I don’t feel like going back. When I think about it, I get a sick feeling in my stomach… so how about I don’t think about it?
We arrived in Cairo at 8pm. We went to Steak House for diner. This was our last diner all together. Kathy and Rob are leaving in tomorrow afternoon. I had a mango juice… Oh my goodness! I thought that was the most orgasmic thing ever! They basically take the mango, put it in the blender, poor it in a glass and there you go! I gotta have one of those tomorrow!
I went straight to bed afterwards.

September 6, 2008
Saturday
Day 14 – Cairo

This is the “unofficial” last day of the trip… Scheisse! I woke up in a hurry this morning, thinking it was quarter to nine. But I forgot that time had to be backed up one hour. Really, it was quarter to eight. I still had a great sleep! I think this was my longest night of sleep during this entire trip.
We left at quarter to nine to go visit the Egyptian Museum. Wow! Huge museum! A bewildering number of exhibits (over 100,000) are housed in there. The museum is old, chaotic, label-less and lack-lustre in its display of treasures. Should you bother going? Hell yes! You may find the spectacle of the unwrapped, exposed and belittled bodies, viewed in glasses cases at close quarters, a rather intrusive experience. You could spend three days in there and still not see everything! It’s amazing all the antiquities they have there! Too bad we couldn’t take any pictures. We saw mummified animals and mummies… kind of creepy, but cool! I learned more about Queen Nefertiti. After the museum we went back to the steak house for a late lunch. Bonus! I can get another mango juice!! I fell in love with those!
Kathy and Rob left at 4:30pm. They are continuing to Morocco. I said my good-byes with big bear hugs!! We’re supposed to do a “house swap exchange”! lol That would be cool!
Some of us went to the market in Cairo (Hannah Alili…? I have no clue how to spell that… I’ll try to look it up). Huge market! I finally got something for Dad. We came back to the hotel with one hour to spare before leaving again. I met up with James (he was waiting in the hotel lobby). He arrived in Cairo this morning. We were all still stuffed from our late lunch so we decided not to have diner. At 7:15pm, Sarah, Helen, Angela, James, Juan and I left to go see the Sound and Light Show on the Pyramids. I like these shows. We said goodbye to Siobhan and Leigh before leaving. Once back to the hotel, said goodbye to Sarah. This is probably my favorite day simply because I get to hug a lot of people! I love hugs!
Around Cairo, there’s Saqqara where you’ll find a massive necropolis strewn with pyramids, temples and tombs where once Pharaohs, generals and sacred animals were interred. The star attraction is the Step Pyramid of Zoser, the world’s oldest stone monument. South of Saqqara is Dahshur, a 3.5km-long field of pyramids, including the Bent Pyramid and the mystical Red Pyramid.
While I was taking a shower, preparing myself and packing my stuff, James, Helen and Angela went to get some take out at the Steak House. I was hoping to get a mango juice to-go… but no luck. Helen surprised me in even thinking of asking for hot chocolate, but no luck either. They took some chicken strips, fries, cheese sticks and, onion rings to go instead. Our cab, which would bring us to the airport, was scheduled to pick us up at midnight. We spent our time left in Angela and Helen’s room, eating the take-out while watching SVU (and trying not to fall asleep).

September 7, 2008
Sunday

We took our cab at midnight. Everyone’s flight was departing from Terminal 2, except for mine (Terminal 1). Helen and Angela’s flight were departing at quarter to three… I think. Mine was initially supposed to depart at 4:30am but got moved to 6:35am. James’s flight was leaving at 7:35am. So James and I said goodbye to the girls and made our way to Terminal 1. I probably won’t see those girls again, but I hope I’ll get to talk to them again. Who knows? At least, I was happy to get a hug and kiss from Helen ;-) Helen the Greek Queen! ;-) (I hope she reads this!)
James and I eventually made our way to Terminal 1. We had a drink in a little coffee shop, then we fell asleep on the benches for almost two hours. We woke up in time for my check-in time. I waited an hour more just so James could be in company until his check-in. James eventually took the shuttle bus back to Terminal 2 for his check-in. It was time to say goodbye again. That’s too many goodbyes in one day. It’s too emotional, or maybe I’m just too tired. Now I have someone to go visit in the UK!
I finally checked in at 4:30am. My boarding time was at 5:35am. I’ve never seen that much security screenings for a flight! Seriously, I was so annoyed (and it didn’t help that I was extremely tired)! I went through 3 bag screenings, 7 passport checks, 1 luggage drop in and 5 ticket checks… To think my plan was to sit in the waiting lounge and sleep… never mind that idea! When I leave the flights are always fun and exciting. When I go back, they are just annoying.
I’m currently on my flight to Paris. And now, I’m going to let myself collapse into the seat and sleep!
*****
Well, my flight to Paris went quite quickly! I didn’t have my breakfast. I fell asleep before the plane even took off! I only woke up when the plane started to land!!!
I’m now on my flight to Montreal. I can’t wait to run! And I can’t wait to give everyone their presents! I love that part!

Final words:

September 7, 2008
Sunday 9:30pm

I’m officially back home. I stopped over my grandmothers’ on the way back.

Am I happy to be back? Yes and no. Yes to see family and friends, to be back at my training routine. No because I’m passionate about travelling and would like to keep on going.

Did I have a good trip? Yes I did. I loved the people I was with. We had a great group!! Rob and Angela just cracked me up! Both awesome sense of humor! Kathy the warm-hearted wonderful and sweet lady! Helen, who forgets your name and forgets things quickly but who is very observant, attentive and considerate of others around her. Another warm-hearted one. Sarah, our professional photographer, which I found to have very similar taste in style, art, colors and anything with. Leigh, our food critic, so passionate about his food! You knew if a restaurant was good if Leigh loved the food! Generous guy (but not with his food… ;-) And last, but not the least, Barbara, our 10-month traveler, who salts absolutely everything… except hot dogs. ;-) Very respectful and so many good stories to tell!

What was my favorite part? I think I have to say the climb up Mount Sinai. But the time spent with Helen, Angela and James on the top deck, and our nights where we slept on the deck was also a favorite.

Would I go back to Egypt again? Now that I’ve been there, no. There are other places I want to see.

What is my next trip? I’m aiming for Mount Kilamanjaro with my aunt Christiane. Then, it will be South America (The Inca Trails for one part).

A Little Knowledge on Goddesses, Gods, Queens, Kings and Pharaohs of Egypt…
(Information taken mostly from Wikipedia on the internet)

Khufu (Cheops) was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 B.C. Khufu came to his throne in his twenties, and reigned for about 23 years. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. He is generally accepted as being the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. Khufu was the son of King Sneferu and Queen Hetepheres. Unlike his father, Khufu is remembered as a cruel and ruthless pharaoh in later folklore. Khufu had nine sons, one of whom, Djedefra, was his immediate successor. He also had fifteen daughters, one of whom would later become Queen Hetepheres II.

Khafra or Khafre (Chephren) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty, with his capital at Memphis. According to some authors he was the son and successor of Khufu, but it is more commonly accepted that Djedefra was Khufu's successor and Khafra was Djedefra's. Khafra's two chief wives were Queen Meresankh III and Queen Khamaerernebty I who was the mother of his successor, Menkaura. There is no agreement on the date of his reign; some authors say it was between 2558 BC and 2532 BC. Khafra built the second largest pyramid at Giza, is thought to have built the Great Sphinx, and built a temple which is the only surviving example of a temple of this Dynasty of the Old Kingdom.

Menkaura (Mycerinus) was a pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt (c. 2620 BC–2480 BC) who ordered the construction of the third and smallest of the Pyramids of Giza. His main queen was Khamerernebty II. Some authors date his rule between 2532 BC–2504 BC or 28 years but 18 years for him is regarded as being closer to the truth. According to Herodotus, Menkaura was the son of Khufu. Other conflicting sources state that Menkaura was not the son of Khufu, but of Khafra, who in turn was the son of Khufu. Through his shrewdness, Menkaure was able to rule a total of 12 years. Menkaura was not succeeded by Prince Khuenre, his eldest son, who predeceased Menkaura, but rather by Shepseskaf, a younger son of this king.

Sobek was the deification of crocodiles, as crocodiles were deeply feared in the nation. Egyptians who worked or travelled on the Nile hoped that if they prayed to Sobek, the crocodile god, he would protect them from being attacked by crocodiles. The god Sobek, which was depicted as a crocodile or a man with the head of a crocodile was a powerful and frightening deity; in some Egyptian creation myths, it was Sobek who first came out of the waters of chaos to create the world. Gradually, Sobek also came to symbolize the produce of the Nile and the fertility that it brought to the land. The ferocity of a crocodile was seen in a positive light, Sobek in these circumstances was considered the army's patron, as a representation of strength and power. Sobek's ambiguous nature led some Egyptian to believe that he was a repairer of evil that had been done, rather than a force for good in itself. He was also said to call on suitable gods and goddesses required for protecting people in situation, effectively having a more distant role, nudging things along, rather than taking an active part.

Haroeris (or Harwer), one of the earliest forms of Horus, derived from the combination of the falcon-god with the indigenous deity Wer, "The Great One", a god of light whose eyes were the sun and the moon. Trough increasing emphasis was put on the right eye, the sun, Haroeris, was worshipped as Mekhenti-irty, 'He on whose brow are the Two Eyes' or, on moonless nights, as Mekhenti-en-irty, 'He on whose brow there was not eyes' - in which aspect he was patron of the blind. Haroeris, or Horus the Elder, was said to be the son, or sometimes the husband of Hathor. He was also the brother of Osiris and Set. There is the myth of Horus having a great fight with his brother Set over the succession, in which his eyes are torn out; this myth was carried over in various form to Horus, son of Osiris, in which version Horus handed over one of the eyes to Osiris as a token of life, taking back only one eye for himself. Horus then ascended the throne, justified by the tribunal of gods.

Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife, patron of nature and magic; friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, as well as listening to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats, and rulers. Cultures leaving evidence of religious beliefs in images, existed in many parts of what became unified as Ancient Egypt for almost 10,000 years. Shortly after 2,500 B.C., during the fifth dynasty, the first written records concerning their worship of Isis appear. Later myths about Isis are more familiar to modern readers than the early ones because her cult survived until well into the Christian Era, with temples remaining in existence until the middle of the 600s A.D. Isis is one who retained a unique Egyptian nature while being worshiped in other cultures. The goddess Isis was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the Overarching Sky, and was born on the fourth intercalary day. At some time Isis absorbed some characteristics of Hathor a powerful deity who was the mother of Horus. He represented the pharaohs, and as a deity provided them with protection. In later myths about Isis, she had a brother, Osiris, who became her husband, and she then was said to have conceived Horus. Isis was instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris when he was murdered by Seth. Her magical skills restored his body to life after she gathered the parts of it that had been strew about the earth by Seth. This myth became very important in later Egyptian religious beliefs. Isis also is known as the goddess of simplicity, from whom all beginnings arose, and was the Lady of bread, of beer, and of green fields. In later myths, Ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile River flooded every year because of her tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris, relived each year in rituals. The worship of Isis eventually spread throughout the Graeco-Roman world, continuing until the suppression of paganism in the Christian era. Literally, her name means she of the throne. Her original headdress was a throne. As the personification of the throne, she was an important source of the pharaoh's power, being her child who sat on the throne she provided.

Tutankhamun (1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty (ruled 1333 BC – 1324 BC in the conventional chronology), during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. His original name, Tutankhaten, means "Living Image of Aten", while Tutankhamun means "Living Image of Amun". The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter of Tutankhamun's intact tomb received worldwide press coverage and sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun's burial mask remains the popular face.Tutankhamun was only eight or nine years old when he became pharaoh, and reigned for approximately ten years. In historical terms, Tutankhamun's significance stems from his rejection of the radical religious innovations introduced by his predecessor Akenhaten and that his tomb in the Valley of the Kings was discovered by Carter almost completely intact -- the most complete ancient Egyptian tomb ever found. As Tutankhamun began his reign at such an early age, his vizier and eventual successor Ay was probably making most of the important political decisions during Tutankhamun's reign. During Tutankhamun's reign, Akhenaten's Amarna revolution (Atenism) was being reversed. Akhenaten had attempted to supplant the traditional priesthood and deities with a god who was until then considered minor, Aten. In Year 3 of Tutankhamnen's reign (1331), while he was still a boy, probably about 11, and under the influence of two older advisors (Akhenaten's vizier Ay and perhaps Nefertiti), the ban on the old pantheon of deities and their temples was lifted, the traditional privileges were restored to their priesthoods, and the capital was moved back to Thebes. The young pharaoh adopted the name Tutankhamun, changing it from his birth name Tutankhaten. Because of his age at the time responsibility for these decisions can be attributed to his advisors. King Tutankhamun restored all of the traditional deities, and restored order to the chaos created by his uncle Akhenaten.

Menpehtyre Ramesses I (traditional English: Ramesses or Ramses ) was the founding Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's 19th dynasty. The dates for his short reign are not completely known but the time-line of late 1292-1290 BC is frequently cited as well as 1295-1294 BC. While Ramesses I was the founder of the 19th Dynasty, in reality his brief reign marked the transition between the reign of Horemheb who had stabilised Egypt and the rule of the powerful Pharaohs of this dynasty, in particular Seti I and Ramesses II, who would bring Egypt up to new heights of imperial power.

Usimare Ramses III (also written Ramesses and Rameses) was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty and is considered to be the last great New Kingdom king to wield any substantial authority over Egypt. He was the son of Setnakht and Queen Tiy-merenese. Ramesses III is believed to have reigned from March 1186 to April 1155 BC. During his long tenure in the midst of the surrounding political chaos of the Greek Dark Ages, Egypt was beset by foreign invaders (including the so-called Sea Peoples and the Libyans) and experienced the beginnings of increasing economic difficulties and internal strife which would eventually lead to the collapse of the Twentieth Dynasty. In Year 8 of his reign, the Sea Peoples, including Peleset, Denyen, Shardana, Weshwesh of the sea, and Tjekker, invaded Egypt by land and sea. Ramesses III defeated them in two great land and sea battles. Although the Egyptians had a reputation as poor seamen they fought tenaciously. Thanks to the discovery of papyrus trial transcripts (dated to Ramesses III), it is now known that there was a plot against his life as a result of a royal harem conspiracy during a celebration at Medinet Habu. The conspiracy was instigated by Tey, one of his two principal wives (the other being Isis), over whose son would inherit the throne. Isis's son, Ramesses IV, was the eldest and the successor chosen by Ramesses III in preference to Tey's son Pentawere. The trial documents emphasize the extensive scale of the conspiracy to assassinate the king since many individuals were implicated in the plot. Chief among them were Queen Tey and her son Pentawere, Ramesses' chief of the chamber, Pebekkamen, seven royal butlers (a respectable state office), two Treasury overseers, two Army standard bearers, two royal scribes and a herald. There is little doubt that all of the main conspirators were executed: some of the condemned were given the option of committing suicide (possibly by poison) rather than being put to death. According to the surviving trials transcripts, 3 separate trials were started in total while 38 people were sentenced to death. It has been suggested that Pentawere, being a noble, was given the option to commit suicide by taking poison and so be spared the humiliating fate of some of the other conspirators who would have been burned alive with their ashes strewn in the streets. Such punishment served to make a strong example since it emphasized the gravity of their treason for ancient Egyptians who believed that one could only attain an afterlife if one's body was mummified and preserved--rather than being destroyed by fire. In other words, not only were the criminals killed in the physical world, but also in the afterlife. They would have no chance of living on into the next world,and thus suffered a kind of 'second death'. By committing suicide, Pentawere could avoid the harsher punishment of a second death. This could have permitted him to be mummified and move on to the afterlife. It is not known if the assassination plot succeeded.

Heqamaatre Ramesses IV (also written Ramses or Rameses) was the third pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. His name prior to assuming the crown was Amonhirkhopshef. He was the fifth son of Ramesses III and was appointed the crown prince by Year 22 of his father's reign when all four of his elder brothers predeceased him. Due to the three decade long rule of Ramesses III, Ramesses IV is believed to have been a man in his forties when he took the throne. His rule has been dated to either 1151 to 1145 BC or 1155 to 1149 BC.

Hatshepsut, meaning, Foremost of Noble Ladies, was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty. Now it is known widely that Hatshepsut assumed the position of pharaoh and her reign as king is usually given as twenty-two years since Manetho assigns her a reign of 21 years and 9 months. Her death is known to have occurred in 1458 BC, which implies that she became pharaoh circa 1479 BC. Although it was uncommon for Egypt to be ruled by a woman, this situation was not unprecedented. Hatshepsut was the second known to have formally assumed power as "King of Upper and Lower Egypt" after Queen Sobekneferu of the Twelfth Dynasty. Other women whose possible reigns as pharaohs are under study include Nefertiti, Neferneferuaten, and Twosret. Among the later, non-indigenous Egyptian dynasties, the most notable example of another woman who became pharaoh was Cleopatra VII, the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. In comparison with other female pharaohs, Hatshepsut's reign was long and prosperous. She was successful in warfare early in her reign, but is generally considered to be a pharaoh who inaugurated a long peaceful era. She re-established trading relationships lost during a foreign occupation and brought great wealth to Egypt. That wealth enabled Hatshepsut to initiate building projects that raised the calibre of Ancient Egyptian architecture to a standard, comparable to classical architecture, that would not be rivaled by any other culture for a thousand years. As Hatshepsut reestablished the trade networks that had been disrupted during the Hyksos occupation of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, thereby building a wealth of the eighteenth dynasty that has become so famous since the discovery of the burial of one of her descendants, Tutankhamun, began to be analyzed. She oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the Land of Punt. The expedition set out in her name with five ships, each measuring 70 feet (21 m) long bearing several sails and accommodating 210 men that included sailors and 30 rowers. Many trade goods were bought in Punt, notably myrrh, which is said to have been Hatshepsut's favourite fragrance. Most notably, however, the Egyptians returned from the voyage bearing 31 live frankincense trees, the roots of which were carefully kept in baskets for the duration of the voyage. This was the first recorded attempt to transplant foreign trees. It is reported that Hatshepsut had these trees planted in the courts of her Deir el Bahri mortuary temple complex. Egyptians also returned with living Puntites (people of Punt). This trading expedition to Punt was roughly during Hatshepsut's nineteenth year of reign. She had the expedition commemorated in relief at Deir el-Bahri, which also is famous for its realistic depiction of the Queen of the Land of Punt, Queen Iti, who appears to have had a genetic trait called steatopygia. Hatshepsut also sent raiding expeditions to Byblos and Sinai shortly after the Punt expedition. Very little is known about these expeditions. Although many Egyptologists have claimed that her foreign policy was mainly peaceful, there is evidence that Hatshepsut led successful military campaigns in Nubia, the Levant, and Syria early in her career.

Ramesses II (also known as Ramesses The Great and alternatively transcribed as Ramses and Rameses) was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. He is often regarded as Egypt's greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh. His successors and later Egyptians called him the "Great Ancestor." He is traditionally believed to have been the Pharaoh of the Exodus. He was born around 1303 BC and at age fourteen, Ramesses was appointed Prince Regent by his father Seti I. He is believed to have taken the throne in his early 20s and to have ruled Egypt from 1279 BC to 1213 BC for a total of 66 years and 2 months, according to Manetho. He was once said to have lived to be 99 years old, but it is more likely that he died in his 90th or 91st year. On his death, he was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings; his body was later moved to a royal cache where it was discovered in 1881, and is now on display in the Cairo Museum. As king, Ramesses II led several expeditions north into the lands east of the Mediterranean (the location of the modern Israel, Lebanon and Syria). He also led expeditions to the south, into Nubia, commemorated in inscriptions at Beit el-Wali and Gerf Hussein.The early part of his reign was focused on building cities, temples and monuments. He established the city of Pi-Ramesses in the Nile Delta as his new capital and main base for his campaigns in Syria. This city was built on the remains of the city of Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos when they took over, and was the location of the main Temple of Set.

In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (also spelt Peteh) was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen (also spelled Tathenen), meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning submerged land. It was said (in the Shabaka Stone) that it was Ptah who called the world into being, having dreamt creation in his heart, and speaking it, his name meaning opener, in the sense of opener of the mouth. Indeed the opening of the mouth ceremony, performed by priests at funerals to release souls from their corpses, was said to have been created by Ptah. Atum was said to have been created by Ptah to rule over the creation, sitting upon the primordial mound. Since Ptah was the primordial mound, and had called creation into being, he was considered the god of craftsmen, and in particular stone-based crafts. Eventually, due to the connection of these things to tombs, and that at Thebes, the craftsmen regarded him so highly as to say that he controlled their destiny. Consequently, first amongst the craftsmen, then the population as a whole, Ptah also became a god of reincarnation. Since Seker was also god of craftsmen, and of reincarnation, Seker was later assimilated with Ptah becoming Ptah-Seker. Ptah-Seker gradually became seen as the personification of the sun during the night, since the sun appears to be reincarnated at this time, and Ptah was the primordial mound, which lay beneath the earth. Consequently, Ptah-Seker became considered an underworld deity, and eventually, by the Middle Kingdom, become assimilated by Osiris, the lord of the underworld, occasionally being known as Ptah-Seker-Osiris.

Amun, was the name of a deity in Egyptian mythology, who gradually rose from being an abstract concept to the patron deity of Thebes and, to one of the most important deities in Ancient Egypt, before fading into obscurity.

Ra (pronounced Rah) and sometimes as, Rê, is an ancient Egyptian sun god. By the fifth dynasty he became a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun, with other deities representing other positions of the sun. Ra changed greatly over time and in one form or another, much later he was said to represent the sun at all times of the day. The chief cult centre of Ra first was based in Heliopolis (ancient Inunu) meaning "City of the Sun." In later Egyptian dynastic times, Ra was merged with the god Horus, as Re-Horakhty (and many variant spellings). When his worship reached this position of importance in the Egyptian pantheon, he was believed to command the sky, the earth, and the underworld. He was associated with the falcon, the symbol of other sun deities who protected the pharaohs and in later myths. After the deities were paired, pharaohs, the children of Hathor, were considered to be fathered by Ra. It appears almost certain, rather, that the Great Ennead—meaning the nine deities of Atum, Geb, Isis, Nut, Osiris, Nephthys, Seth, Shu, and Tefnut—first appeared during the decline of Ra's cult in the sixth dynasty and, that after introduction of the new pesedjet, the cult of Ra soon saw a great resurgence until the worship of Horus gained prominence. Afterward worship focused on the syncretistic solar deity Ra-harakhty (Ra, who is Horus of the Two Horizons). In the later myths, Ra then was seen to have created Sekhmet, the early lioness war goddess, who becomes Hathor, the cow goddess, after she has sufficiently punished mankind as an avenging Eye of Ra, and so by changing the themes of much earlier myths into aspects of his, he is often said to be the father of both and brother to the god, Osiris. Afterward, nearly all forms of life supposedly were created only by Ra, who called each of them into existence by speaking their secret names and eventually, humans were created from Ra's tears or sweat, and asserting that the Egyptians then called themselves the "Cattle of Ra." Ra shared many of his symbols with other solar deities, in particular Horus, usually depicted as a falcon. Ra primarily is depicted as a man in artwork, wearing a pharaoh's crown (a sign of his leadership of the deities) and the wadjet sun disk on his head. Often he had a falcon's head, as does Horus. In later myths about Ra, the sun is portrayed differently according to the position of the sun in the sky. This was an early theme in Egyptian myths, with different names assigned to the sun depending upon its position in the sky. At sunrise he was the young boy Khepri, at noon the falcon-headed man Harakhty, and at sunset the elder Atum. For the Egyptians, the sun most basically represented light, warmth, and growth. This made sun deities very important to Egyptians, and it is probably therefore no coincidence that the sun came to be seen as the ruler of all. In his myths, the sun was either seen as the body or eye of Ra. Ra was thought to travel in a sun boat (The Boat of the Millions) to protect its fires from the primordial waters of the underworld it passed through during the night.

Osiris was an Egyptian god. Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found; one of the oldest known attestations of his name is on the Palermo Stone of around 2500 BC. He was widely worshiped until the suppression of paganism by the early Christian church under Theodosius I in the later fourth century. Osiris was not only the redeemer and merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife, but also the underworld agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River. The Kings of Egypt were associated with Osiris in death — as Osiris rose from the dead they would, in union with him, inherit eternal life through a process of imitative magic. By the New Kingdom all people, not just pharaohs, were believed to be associated with Osiris at death if they incurred the costs of the assimilation rituals. Osiris was at times considered the oldest son of the Earth god, Geb, and the sky goddess, Nut as well as being brother and husband of Isis, with Horus being considered his posthumously begotten son. The cult of Osiris had a particularly strong interest toward the concept of immortality. Plutarch recounts one version of the myth surrounding the cult in which Set (Osiris' brother) fooled Osiris into getting into a box, which he then shut, had sealed with lead, and threw into the Nile (sarcophagi were based on the box in this myth). Osiris' wife, Isis, searched for his remains until she finally found him embedded in a tree trunk, which was holding up the roof of a palace in Byblos on the Phoenician coast. She managed to remove the coffin and open it, but Osiris was already dead. She used a spell she had learned from her father and brought him back to life so he could impregnate her. After they finished, he died again, so she hid his body in the desert. Months later, she gave birth to Horus. While she was off raising him, Set had been out hunting one night, and he came across the body of Osiris. Enraged, he tore the body into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout the land. Isis gathered up all the parts of the body, less the phallus which was eaten by a fish thereafter considered taboo by the Egyptians, and bandaged them together for a proper burial. The gods were impressed by the devotion of Isis and thus restored Osiris to life in the form of a different kind of existence as the god of the underworld. Because of his death and resurrection, Osiris is associated with the flooding and retreating of the Nile and thus with the crops along the Nile valley.

Nefertiti's place as an icon in popular culture is secure as she has become somewhat of a celebrity. After Cleopatra she is the second most famous "Queen" of Egypt in the Western imagination and influenced through photographs that changed standards of feminine beauty of the 20th century, and is often referred to as "the most beautiful woman in the world". Nefertiti's parentage is not known with certainty, but it is now generally believed that she was the daughter of Ay, later to be pharaoh and the sister of Moutnemendjet. The exact dates of when Nefertiti was married to Amenhotep IV and later promoted to his Queen are uncertain. However, the couple had six known daughters. In Year 4 of his reign (1346 BC) Amenhotep IV started his worship of Aten. The king led a religious revolution, in which Nefertiti played a prominent role. During Akhenaten's reign (and perhaps after) Nefertiti enjoyed unprecedented power, and by the twelfth year of his reign, there is evidence that she may have been elevated to the status of co-regent, equal in status to the pharaoh himself. She was often depicted on temple walls the same size as the king, signifying her importance, and shown worshiping the Aten alone. Perhaps most impressively, Nefertiti is shown on a relief from the temple at Amarna which is now in the MFA in Boston, smiting a foreign enemy with a mace before the Aten. Such depictions had traditionally been reserved for the pharaoh alone, and yet Nefertiti was depicted as such. About Year 14 of Akhenaten's reign (1336 BC), Nefertiti herself vanishes from the historical record, and there is no word of her after that date. Theories include a sudden death by a plague that was sweeping through the city or another natural death. A previous theory that she fell into disgrace is now discredited since the deliberate erasures of the monuments belonging to a queen of Akhenaten has now been shown to refer to Kiya instead. Regardless, the verifiable knowledge of this episode has been completely lost to history. No concrete information is available regarding Nefertiti's death, but the location of Nefertiti's body has long been a subject of curiosity and speculation. There are many theories regarding her death and burial.

Cleopatra VII Philopator (January 69 BC – 30 BC) was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt, originally sharing power with her father Ptolemy XII and later with her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV; eventually gaining sole rule of Egypt. As Pharaoh, she consummated a liaison with Gaius Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. After Caesar's assassination, she aligned with Mark Antony, with whom she produced a pair of twins and a son. In all, Cleopatra had four children, a first born son by Caesar (Ptolemy Caesar nicknamed Caesarion) and three by Mark Antony (the pair of twins, Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios, and last a son Ptolemy Philadelphus). Her successive unions with her brothers produced no children. Her reign marks the end of the Hellenistic Era and the beginning of the Roman Era in the eastern Mediterranean. She was the last Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion, co-ruled in name with his mother only a very few years before Octavian, later on renamed Caesar Augustus, had him executed, most probably by strangulation, which in Antiquity was the execution method reserved for infants and pre-pubescents, thus adding humiliation to his execution. Though she bore the ancient Egyptian title Pharaoh, her primary language was Greek; for several centuries preceding her rule, Egyptian kings had been of Macedonian (i.e. Hellenistic) origin rather than Egyptian origin. The establishment of a Greek-speaking aristocracy in Egypt had come with Alexander the Great nearly 300 years before. Cleopatra is reputed to have been the first member of her family in their 300-year reign in Egypt to have learned the Egyptian language. Cleopatra adopted common Egyptian beliefs and deities. Her patron goddess was Isis, and thus during her reign it was believed that she was the re-incarnation and embodiment of the goddess of wisdom. After Antony and Cleopatra were defeated at Actium by their rival and Caesar's legal heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian (who later became the first Roman Emperor, Augustus), Cleopatra committed suicide, the traditional date being 12 August 30 BC, allegedly by means of an asp bite. To this day she remains popular in Western culture. Her legacy survives in numerous works of art and the many dramatizations of her story in literature (e.g. Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra), film, and television. (e.g. Elizabeth Taylor's depiction in Cleopatra, and the BBC–HBO co-production Rome). In most depictions, Cleopatra is put forward as a great beauty and her successive conquests of the world's most powerful men is taken to be proof of her aesthetic and sexual appeal.

GERMANY - March 3 – 12, 2008

2008-03-17T08:47:00.004-05:00

Tuesday
March 4, 2008

I’m at the airport in Ottawa. I’m leaving for one week to Germany and my mother just dropped me off. I barely slept last night, a total of three hours, at the most. I hadn’t packed until last night. But it wasn’t the reason for my lack of sleep. I can’t say I was nervous. I was packing not realizing what was coming up, or why I was packing. For the first time in my life, it didn’t feel right leaving work. I just hope I won’t be thinking of work all week. I just need to take a step back from things and look at things from a different perspective.
I’m presently in the Newark International airport in New Jersey. It is currently 3:15pm. My flight leaving from Ottawa had a one-hour delay. My flight to Frankfurt leaves at 7:20pm. Maybe I’ll be lucky and be able to sleep during the flight.
At this point, the familiar questions start going through my mind: “What am I doing?” “Why am I travelling?” “Is this really necessary?” “Do I really want this?”… I do admit, there is something about seeing and feeling a plane take off that is just plainly exciting! The little butterflies in my stomach finally made their appearances. It’s funny how I’m so late at reacting to certain events. I will soon be in my own little world (I think I already am), free to wander in the universe as I please.
I feel jet lagged already! It’s probably due to lack of sleep in the past week… make it the past month! On top of things, just a few days after Suzanne’s departure, my grandmother fractured her pelvis! It’s a clean fracture, therefore the recovery is much simpler! She is much better now. She must stay put for six weeks; no walking, no sitting. Right! That’s like giving a lollypop to a kid and say “Don’t lick it!”. I just love my grandmother so much, both of them!

Wednesday
March 5, 2008

I’m in Germany. The flight was on time and I did get a chance to sleep! I had a full row of seats all to myself! Wooohooo! We arrived at 9:30am this morning. I had a little moment of panic on the plane. Suddenly, I didn’t want to go to Germany! I didn’t want to travel at all! I wanted to get off the plane!! Eventually, I calmed down and told myself it was probably just a little moment of insanity I was having and that it was probably because I was really tired. After a few hours of sleep, everything would be back to normal. And, therefore, they were.
I was delayed at the luggage pick-up since they were on strike…! I’m at the main train station in Frankfurt waiting for my train to Köln. I want to see the Köln Cathedral once more. The previous time, my pictures weren’t that good. I’ll visit for an hour or so, and then I’ll take a train back to Mainz and meet with Nayla.
I got to Mainz at 5:00pm. Nayla was waiting for me at the train station. I was so happy to see her! The evening was very mellow. We had diner, then both of us had to arrange our packing situation. Nayla is leaving for Paris tomorrow morning. I’m leaving to tour around South Germany and I’ll be leaving some stuff at Naylas’.

Thursday
March 6, 2008

I left this morning at 6:00am from Mainz. I’m heading for Ulm, the city where Albert Einstein was born. He lived there to the age of one. Ulm is owner of a famous medieval landmark, the Münster Tower. And what a “Münster” it is!!! It is celebrated for it’s 161.6m high steeple – the tallest on the planet! No shit! I had to be two kilometers away to make the entire thing fit on a picture! The first stone was laid in 1377. It took over 500 years for the entire structure to be completed! Unfortunately, I couldn’t go in due to renovations.
Here are other sights I saw:

Stadthaus (1993), designed by US architect, Richard Meier. Apparently, it caused uproar for erecting a postmodern building next to the city’s Gothic gem, but they say it’s gorgeous and functional. Personally, I didn’t like it. Maybe it needs some getting used to.

Rathaus, which was a commercial building until 1949. There’s an amazing astrological clock on the Renaissance façade.

I walked a little on the north bank of the Danude along the Stadtmauer, the former city wall. I wandered around the city for a while more before catching the next train to Nürnberg. To my luck, I had to make a transfer in Augsburg. I took the advantage of it and took the time to visit the city. Why not? It’s not like I don’t have the time! I can do whatever, I can go wherever, as I wish. I think that’s the greatest feeling in the world! Freedom! Anyway, I’m really glad I did stop and visit Augsburg. I found it really… romantic would be the word. Apparently, it’s one of the oldest cities in Germany. The stepchildren of Roman emperor Augusters originally founded it over 2000 years ago. During the Middle Ages it became an economic power house of trade and was home to some of Europe’s most powerful merchant families: the Fuggers and the Welsers.
I saw Rathausplatz. It is the heart of the city, dominated by the twin union-dome spires of Augsburg’s Renaissance Rathaus (1615-20). Crowning the building is a 4-meter pinecone, the city’s emblem and an ancient fertility symbol.
Dom Maria Heimsuching, whose original structure dates back to the 11th century!
St-Anna Kirche
Fuggerei, one of the earliest welfare settlements in the world that was built to provide homes for poor Catholics.
I walked in Maximilianstrasse and saw the Maximilian Museum. This was a grand boulevard, where only the richest merchant families could afford to live. It’s lined by many delightful cafés and patrician mansions, like the former residence of Jakob Fugger. The Maximilian Museum is a former partisan house. It’s insanely huge! The museum traces the cultural and municipal history of Augsburg.
There were other sites to see but I didn’t have particular interest in seeing them… and my feet and legs where killing me! By twelve o’clock, I had done three hours of train and three hours of walking!

I’m presently in Nürnberg and have settled in my bed in Let’m Sleep Hostel. I’ll go find something to eat, then I’ll come back for a shower and a nap before heading out to my concert this evening. I’ll let you know how that goes. I’m taking an early train tomorrow to get to Füssen.
So far, so good! All is well and I’m enjoying myself!

Friday
March 7, 2008

I left Nürnberg this morning by train at 6:00am. I didn’t visit much of the city, I did the first time I was in Germany (December 2006). I remember the nightlife here is intense and the Christmas market is just spectacular! I learned today that it was the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire and the preferred residence of German kings. In the 20th century, the city became burdened by the legacy of the Nazis. It was here that the infamous party rallies were held, the boycott of Jewish began and the Nuremberg laws revoking Jewish citizenship were enacted. On January 2, 1945, allied bombers reduced the city to rubble and 6000 people were killed. Talk about history! When you come in Nürnberg, you can feel the air weighing on you. Well, I did anyway. It is probably why this is one of the city’s I’m more drawn too in Germany.
My concert… First of all let’s just say that my choice of hostel was very convenient… and naively chosen and you’ll understand why later. On top of being close to the DB station (train station), it was right next to a tram station. From the tram station, it took only one bus (the U4) to get to the club, the Hirsch Club. I just had a little walking to do before and after the tram ride. It was more a concern for when I would come back from the concert. The last tram passes at 12:45am, but I didn’t know what time I would be out of the club.
The concert was awesome!!! Blutengel sang most of the songs I wished to hear, especially “Singing Dead Men” and “Sunrise” from their new release “Labyrinth”. The lighting, the sound, the entertainment was great! And let’s not forget the beautiful singer!… But we won’t go into details with that one… I had an awesome time, took too many pictures, and didn’t care if I missed the last tram. At the end of the concert, I was lucky to talk to Constance a little (one of the singers). She gave me a picture and signed it, and I even got a kiss..again!
My way back to the hostel was… let’s just say, interesting (this is why I say naively chosen)… It was quarter to one when I started making my way back to the hostel. Luckily, I took the last tram U4 from Gibitzenhof platz to Plärrer platz. From Plärrer, I had about a five-minute walk to the hostel. I didn’t feel like walking on a busy, noisy, hectic street (which I should be doing in the middle of the night!) and I wanted to walk within and along the old city wall. The view looked more appealing. Well… It took me too long to realize that this was the prostitution alley, and it was the street where my hostel was, just farther down… I kind of figured it out when someone standing by a window caught my attention… When I looked I was surprised to see a naked woman standing by the window looking at me… Obviously, I wasn’t expecting it. Realizing where I was I must of made a face because the woman started laughing. Just then did I notice only men, exception of me, where walking on the road. Did I ever feel out of place!! Many were looking at me with intrigue, others with wonder and others with too much interest! With my high heel boots, makeup, jewelry, hair-dew and the works, I could see how I could easily fit the “profile” (who just finished her “shift” or something). I got to a more dark and secluded area, and a man in his car passed by me, looked at me and stopped. Fuck! Here we go!, I thought. As I was looking around for places to run, the guy probed down his window and said something in German. I couldn’t understand the words but could well enough understand the context of them! Luckily for me, another car turned on our road and was coming towards us. The guy looked at the car, then looked at me and took off. Oufff!! My instincts weren’t on “high alert” so I don’t think I was in great danger… in a sense that, probably the guy really thought I was a prostitute and if I would of told him I wasn’t, he would of moved-on… I hope… At that point, I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry. Eventually, I started laughing. Anyway, nothing happened so no need to think about anymore. So I ended my day with a good laugh and a hot shower.

Big day today! I’m heading for Füssen. I have a transfer to make in München. Füssen is a small town nestled between towering Alpine peaks. Can’t wait to see it!!

Wow! I absolutely adore it here! I would be amazed if anything could top this part of my trip! I got to Füssen at 12:00pm. I had an hour wait for my transfer in München so I took advantage of it and went to visit Marienplatz once more. Bonus!! This is where Hitler did is first speech. The feeling you get when you walk on the platz is just… It surprises me every time! It’s like you still feel the burden, the “evil”, of the event, of that period of time, in air. I feel it as much as I would walk into a brick wall! I’m maybe exaggerating a little but it’s just to point out how overwhelming it is.
Anyway, there are two things I want to do today so this isn’t the time to be lazy. First, I want to visit Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Hohenschwangau (castles). Schloss Hohenschwangau is of sun-yellow color and here is where von Ludwig II spent his childhood. Schwangau knights originally built it during the 12th century. As oppose to Schloss Neuschwanstein, it has a distinct lived-in feeling.
Now, on with the world’s best-know castle, the Schloss Neuschwanstein. Ludwig planned this castle himself and was built as a romantic medieval castle, starting 1869. Unfortunately, it was never finished. Ludwig spent just over 170 days in his new residence before dying of “suspicious causes” in München. The castle is erected but the rooms are just one third finished. Just six weeks after Ludwig’s death did they possess the castle and started guided tours. I took a romantic horse ride up to and down from the castle.
It is an amazingly impressive and beautiful artwork, and the location couldn’t be better! It looks surreal! It looks like a real fantasy! At first glimpse at it, my thoughts were “Walt Disney”. Walking into the castle you automatically think of scenes of the Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, etc. What I found really cool were the secret passageways from the rooms! It’s so cool! You couldn’t even know, unless someone told you. Think of the tricks that could be done with that! The most impressive thing was the bed! The woodcarving was insane! The bed is of Gothic style and dominates the room. It’s crowned with carved Gothic spires (an allusion to Tannhäuser). Now that’s what I call an awesome bed!! The gold, the murals, the paintings, the chandeliers… it’s crazy! And to think the rooms are just one third finished! There’s even a passage kept as the mountain itself with the natural fountains and little falls within the passage…! And I thought my room was cool!! The tour guide told us that Ludwig wanted to conceive the castle as a giant mythology immortalized in the operatic works of Richard Wagner. Its centerpiece is the lavish Sängersaal (Minstrels’ Hall)! Wall paintings in the hall depict scenes from the opera “Tannhäuser”. He was a huge fan of the opera “Tannhäuser” and obsessed with swans! In every room, you could easily see at least 150 images of a swan, either in the carvings, the paintings, statues, chandeliers, etc.
The castle is built in the Bavarian Alps. The view is just breathtaking! You have an amazing view of Marienbrücke (Mary’s Bridge) which spans the spectacular Pöllat Gorge over a waterfall just above the castle!! Other views from the castle include: Alpsee, Bannwaldsee, Forggensee Lake, the town of Füssen, Mount Tegelberg, Säuling and many others!!
This brings me to the second thing I wanted to do today: go up Tegelberg and Zugspitze by cable car. But apparently, the visibility of the Alps wasn’t all that good… Dam it! From the Tegelberg point (1707m), you have an amazing view over Füssen, both castles, Forgensee Lake and the Alps! In Garmish-Partenkirchen, at the top of Zugspitze (2963m), you have a breathtaking view over Germany!! These are also two great places for skiers! I’m definitely keeping those two in mind for my next trip in Germany!!
Another interesting sight would have been Wieskirche, located about 30km northeast of Füssen, where a Farmer in Steingaden witnessed the miracle of his Christ Statue crying in 1743. It is now an Unesco World Cultural Heritage Site.
Since I couldn’t do any of these, I walked around Füssen to get a glimpse at the place. I’m not surprised that Füssen is part of the “Romantic Road” in Germany. Seriously folks, if you ever come to Germany, I strongly recommend doing the “Romantic Road”!!
Füssen is a compact historical center and is a tangle of lanes lorded over by the Hohe Schloss. It’s a late Gothic confection and former summer residence of the bishops of Augsburg. The inner courtyard is a masterpiece of illusionary architecture dating back from 1499; the gables, oriels and windows are not quite as they seem…! The north wing of the palace contains the Staatsgalerie im Hohen Schloss with it’s spectacular Rittensaal (Knight’s Hall). Below the Hohe Schloss, integrated into the former Abbey of St Mang, is the Museum Füssen. I learned that Füssen was a “violin-making center” in the 16th century. I thought it was cool. Along the Hohe Schloss runs the Lech (river) and you can see Lechfall. It is a very beautiful walkway!
All in all, this was my day. I’m currently in DHJ Hostel (Germany’s International Hostel) and calling it an early night! I need some sleep! I had 12 hours of sleep in 4 days! Not a very good ratio!! It’s currently 9:00pm and time for my dodo!

Saturday
March 8, 2008

I slept like an angel! I had a strange dream though… I had a big accident with my brother’s car (ironically it’s the day my brother both his new truck, but I didn’t know about it until I arrived back home). I totaled the car and was badly injured. My body was aching all over. I was trying to reach my brother on his cell but he would never answer and I didn’t have Sarah’s cell number (but I do!). Unable to reach anybody, I started walking towards home, but I didn’t know where I was. When I got home (How? I don’t know!), my family saw me, with my shirt covered in blood from the big gash on my forehead (on the third eye) and on the left side of my chest. I told them I did want anyone to touch me, it would hurt too much. I told my brother I wrecked his car. I apologized and gave him my car. Then, I went to bed. That’s when I woke up. It took me a little while to realize and remember where I was.
It’s weird because there is many symbolic meanings in the dream… a gash across my “third eye” and above the heart… nobody to touch me because it hurt too much… body hurting all over but didn’t say anything and couldn’t reach anybody… didn’t know where I was but made my way home anyway… Well, there is plenty of ways you can analyze and interpret things…
Anyway, I’m currently on my way to Freiburg. I left Füssen this morning at 7:00am. It’s quite a task to get to Freiburg in the sense that there are many transfers that need to be done. I did a transfer in Augsburg already. I have a transfer in Stuttgart and in Karlsruhe left to do. It’s about 6-7 hours of train in total. I should be in Freiburg by 2:00pm this afternoon. There is a noticeable change in temperature from Füssen. Füssen was the coldest so far and the only place where snow seemed to stay. I’m about half way to Freiburg and it’s probably 5 degrees Celsius warmer already.

Freiburg…What can I say?! Just beautiful!! This is definitely one of my favorite places in Germany! It was badly disfigured during WW II but was restored very tastefully! It has a “happy-go-lucky” attitude. It’s framed by the velvety hills of the Black Forest and his home of the Münster (yes, another Münster! They are monsters!). On top of it, there’s a lively cultural scene and an excellent range of restaurants, stores, bars and clubs. Freiburg is just awesome!
The Münster dominates the Market Square. I think the construction started some time before 1218. It has been called “the most beautiful Christendom”. It is rich with sculptural ornamentation depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments. There’s the Voluptuousness (the one with snakes on her back and Satan himself) on the West wall! I wanted to ascent the tower but it was closed due to renovations. Apparently, it provides an excellent view of Füssen, Kaiserstuhl and on a clear day, the Vosges Mount in France! But, it’s okay. I made my way up a hill, through a vineyard, behind my hostel. Once on top, I wasn’t surprised to find there were nicely cleared walkways on the other side of the hill! So typically me! There was a tower on top of the hill, where you could ascend to get a great view of the city and its surroundings. I went up. It gave a beautiful view of Freiburg, the Black Forest and more! It felt nice to walk in the woods. I got a good workout out of it. And it felt good to be out of civilization for a little while!
The rest of the evening I just walked around Freiburg. Here are a few sights I saw:

Historisches Kauthaus (1530), which is a merchant’s hall used as the central trade administration in the Middle Ages.

Schwabentor (Swabian Gate) and Martinster, who are the muralled 13th century town Gates. In between, you find the little canal, the Fischerau.
University Quarter with it’s neo-Gothic “Old University Library” (Alte Universitätsbibliothek).
Martinskirche, which formally belonged to the Franciscan monastery. It was severely damaged in WW II.
I saw other fountains and gothic buildings that I’m not going to bother naming and explaining because we would be here for a long time!
I wanted to go to Schauinsland and take the cable car up it’s 1286m peak to have a look at the Black Forest highlands but it is closed until March 15th… Scheisse! In that case, here is my plan for tomorrow: go to Feldberg. At 1493m, Feldberg is the highest mountain in the Black Forest. On clear days, the view of the chain Alps in the south is amazing apparently! We’ll see. And also, I’ll try to make my way to Lake Konstanz (Lake Constance). We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

Sunday
March 9, 2008

I’m in heaven! I’m having such a relaxing morning! I’m sitting outside the Eis Café Lazzarin, next to Altkalhkirche, savoring a croissant gefüllt mit Schokolade (croissant covered with Nutella!) and a grosse Cappucinno (large Cap), watching people walk by. It’s a beautiful, warm, sunny day. The skies are clear blue! Life is perfect! Right now, this precise moment, life is perfect! I even have a nice view of the Münster close by, towering over the city.
I’m just waiting for the Tourist Info Center to open so I can figure out how to get to Feldberg and Lake Konstanz. It’s a clear, sunny and warm day so it should be great for both sights. Funny how it’s not even been a week past and I feel like I’ve been here a month already. I think it’s the greatest feeling in the world! I can’t wait to rewrite my journal. This is when you really get the amplitude and magnitude of what you’ve lived and experienced. It’s like reliving your trip all over again but in more details. I’m doing what I love best in this world! Since I have my head “in the clouds” throughout most of the days, I can officially say that I’m disconnected from my everyday routine. It feels nice. I feel like I’ve lost fifty pounds and my head seems “fog-free”. I can breathe and enjoy the simple quality time with myself, not having to care or think about anyone else. But since it’s impossible for me to be completely selfish, the ones I do care for the most are clearly in my thoughts. My life, my existence, wouldn’t be anything without them. I couldn’t travel without them! So to you, the ones I care for most, I say Dankachön and Ich Liebe Dich!!! (Thank you very much and I love you!)
Okay, off to the tourist info I go!

What a day!! I did get to Feldberg. Like I said, the Feldberg is the highest mountain in the Black Forest and the region’s premier downhill skiing area. To be honest though, I wasn’t too impressed with the ski resort (Edleweiss close to Ottawa is better!). But don’t get me wrong, it’s better then no skiing at all!! The view was awesome! It wasn’t clear enough of a day to clearly see the Alps but you could see just a fade shadow of them. From Freiburg, I took the train all the way to Titisee (Titisee Lake); cute little town. From there, I took a bus to Todtnau. During the bus ride we went through Bärental, where traditional Black Forest farmhouses snuggle against hillsides, and home of the highest train station in Germany. The train ride to Titisee and the bus ride to Todtnau (bottom of Feldberg) where a delight! A continuous ride through lush Black Forest and valleys! This is definitely a different side of Germany I haven’t seen! The stereotype is that south Germany is more beautiful then the north, and that the people from the south are more warm, welcoming and relaxed. It maybe a stereotype, but in my opinion, the stereotype is true. Of course, all depends on ones’ taste and preferences. I like all of Germany, but the difference between south and north is clear. The south is more the typical German-style you would expect to see.
Once at the bottom of Feldberg I obviously wanted to go on top of the mount. But since I wasn’t skiing they wouldn’t let me take the cable car up to the top. No worries. Yes, you guessed what I did… I hiked my way up through the Black Forest on foot! Just to give an idea of how warm it was, I was wearing jeans, t-top with long sleeve and fleece with my leather boots, and I was almost too warm! The view was beautiful (even though you couldn’t see the Alps)! It reminds me of Canada…! At some point during my hike I had forgotten I was in Germany! I’ve changed landscape so often this week, and from my past trips to Germany, that I’m getting confused. This week has been like visiting a whole new country! I love Germany even more now… if that’s possible! There are so many bicycle paths, running/walking paths, hiking trails, ski hills…etc. Anyway, that was Feldberg.
Hurray for me I got the chance to go to Konstanz! What an adventure that was! I was so excited to go that I forgot to check the train schedule for the way back! I got a little panicky on the way back, not knowing if there was a train going to my next connection point! But all went well! Could you imagine being stuck somewhere… Well, it would have made a very funny story later on! Anyway, so I took the train from Titisee to Neustadt, then from Neustadt to Nonaueschingen, and from Nonaueschingen to Konstanz. Lake Konstanz (Lake Constance) is often called “Swabian Sea”. From it’s 273km circumference, 72km belong to Switzerland, 28km to Austria and the remaining 173km to Germany. Apparently the snow-capped Swiss peaks provide a breathtaking backdrop when viewed from the German shore but again, I could only see the shadows of them. Winters are often foggy or misty at best, in Germany so that would explain it. Best time is from May to September. If you notice on a map, Konstanz is just by the boarder of Switzerland. This is a popular region with tourists. There’s a beautiful bike track that circumnavigates Lake Constance, tracing the shoreline between vineyards and beaches (Mom, I thought of you here)! The aqua-blue-clear-watered lake is a beauty! So what about the city of Konstanz? Well, it’s the cultural and economic center of Bodensee. Like I already mentioned, it borders Switzerland. Its picturesque Altstadt never suffered fire or war damage. Konstanz was first settled by the Romans and played leading in the Middle Ages when it was the center of the Duchy of Swabia. The town reached its historical apex when the Council of Constance conveyed here from 1414 to 1418. The meeting chose a single pope (replacing 3 others), thereby healing the “Great Schism” in the Catholic Church. This was its last great moment on the world stage before Konstanz plunged into relative obscurity. The final blow came in 1821 when the bishopric – in existence for 1000 years – was dissolved and moved to Freiburg. Today Konstanz is a rather liberal town with little industry and where 1 in 7 inhabitants is a student at the local Uni (1966).
I think it’s a cute and charming little town. I like it very much!
I was okay with all my connections on the way back! Lucky me! I got back to Freiburg at 10:00pm. Certain stresses are just not necessary and can be easily avoided when travelling. Tip: When using the train system, carry a schedule of the stations with you!
Guten Nacht (Good night)!

Monday
March 10, 2008

What did I do today… Such a long day! Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at things, I was on trains for the most part of the day. Do to the strike there was confusion, trains cancelled, trains delayed, trains rescheduled, etc. and not reading German doesn’t help much! On the upper hand I traveled everywhere!
I had a really easy and relaxing morning. Woke up late, had a warm shower, checked my emails then had a last little stroll in Freiburg. The weather is perfect! At 10:00am, I left for Stuttgart. That’s when the train complications started. I was suppose to transfer in Karlsburg but once in Karlsburg I realized either the train was cancelled or changed, but I should have had transferred in Mannheim. So off to Mannheim I went. Once in Mannheim, I finally got on a train to Stuttgart. There’s about 2 hours of drive between Freiburg and Stuttgart. I left at 10:00am and got in Stuttgart at 2:30pm. But that’s okay. I wasn’t in a rush. It gave me time to think.
Stuttgart is best known as the home of Mercedes-Benz. I would say that 70% of the cars driving around are Mercedes! I so wish I could own a Mercedes some day! It’s funny how I thought Stuttgart to be more… industrialized! It’s much greener then I thought! There are vineyards everywhere. Apparently, over half its surrounding area is covered with orchards, vineyards, meadows and forest; while over 500 vineyards produce some excellent wines, many are celled and consumed locally.
The city began as a stud farm (Stuotgarten) on the Nesenback Stream about AD 950. By 1160, it became a booming trade center. The Mercedes-Benz factory began automobile production here in 1926. Porsche set up here as well. The city is situated in a valley just west of the Weckar River. The amazing Kriegsberg vineyards overlook the town from the northwest.
I had 3 hours to walk around town. I accidentally got to the major pedestrian road, Konigstrasse. There was every store, shop, etc., ever imaginable! I got to Schlossplatz where the Königwilhelm Jubilee column who is flanked by fountains that represent the 8 rivers of Baden-Württemberg. Then, there was the Olgadau, a fine example of 1950s architecture and home of Dresdner Bank. I saw the Neues Schloss, once the residence of kings Friedrich I and Whilhelm I, now houses the state finance and culture ministries. And at the end of Schlossplatz is Alexander Calder’s Mobile, a modern sculpture the city bought in 1981.
I walked briefly in Schillerplatz and had a quick look at Stiftsfruchtkasten (a former wine depot), Stiftskirche and the Renaissance Alte Kanzlei (Old Chancellory). There were many parks and zoo to choose from so I kind of went blindly at it. The first one I saw was Karlshöhe Park. It had great views over the city and a lovely hillside vineyard! The best garden to see would have been the Schlossgarten (Palace Garden). My final sightseeing of the city was Hopperlaufriedh, the oldest cemetery in Stuttgart if I’m not mistaken… I took a picture but for some reason it felt weird. The picture looks creepy! Cool!
By 6:00pm I was on the train to Mainz… but the train ended in Frankfurt. I took a second train from Frankfurt to Mainz, and went back to Naylas’. It was good to see her and listen to her adventures in Paris! I’m happy she enjoyed it! Then we enjoyed wine over diner, Sabrina, Nayla and I. The wine was especially nice! The plan was to watch a movie but the evening ended up in a political debate between the roommates, Nayla, Sabrina, Philip and Daniel. The ladies clearly were opposing the men, and vice-versa. I couldn’t understand much but the facial expression, body language, tone of voices, etc. said plenty! It was surprisingly entertaining!

Tuesday
March 11, 2008

Just a simple day. No alarm clock to wake me up. Nowhere to be for a specific time. Nothing to do, or everything to do. Minus all these weird dreams I had, I slept like a baby!
I had an amazing run by the Rhine this morning. It felt so good! I watched a movie in the afternoon while Nayla was working on her theses. After the movie, I just laid there on the sofa thinking, “I’m in Mainz, in Germany, just lying here. I love it here. Why can’t this feeling stay? So simple.” It’s the most simple and yet nicest feeling I had in a long time. I felt complete, like nothing was missing. Then it dawned on me that I was leaving tomorrow and I hadn’t called Alex yet! I gave him a call at work and then set out to go meet him at work. He figured he could manage to sneak out for 30 minutes to have a drink. We had a little miss-communication about the location of his work. He works for KPMG and forgot to mention there are three buildings of KMPG. Obviously, I was waiting at the wrong one. But it’s okay, things worked out and I still got to see him for half an hour before he got called back to work. It was 9:00pm when I started making my way back to Naylas’. It was good to see him!! It was a short while but it didn’t matter. It’s much better then not having seen him at all!
By 10:00pm, I was back at Naylas’. We chatted a while, then we called it a night and went to bed. I’m leaving tomorrow…

Wednesday
March 12, 2008

I got up at 6:00am this morning. My check-in at the airport was between 7:30 and 10:30am. By the time I took my shower, packed the rest of my stuff, had breakfast, and took the train to the airport, it was close to 9:00pm. A little while after I got there, they announced that our flight was delayed for another two hours… but two hours became four! I was going to miss my connection to Ottawa. Then the lady at the check-in told me my bag was going straight to Ottawa (which I found odd), but the lady at the boarding told me I had to pick up my bag in the US… Whether I had to pick up my bag or not, and where, wasn’t to clear to me. But that’s no big worry. I’ll wait for it in US, and if it doesn’t come out I’ll know it’s gone to Ottawa. Landing in Newark, New Jersey came somewhat close to crash-landing… Why is it that every time I come back from Germany something goes wrong with flights, luggage or both? I think it’s a sign…
Luckily, once I got to Newark, the connecting flight was delayed as well due to high velocity winds. At least I didn’t miss my connection…but I had to wait again! I was getting really annoyed and impatient. I didn’t sleep in the plane. I’ve been up and awake for almost 24 hours straight now, and I’m still in Newark. Also, I got my bag, so that’s good! I went through customs, only to be told that I couldn’t carry my two bottles of wine on the plane. I had to put them in my bag… That pissed me off. Don’t worry, I didn’t make a scene. Now I was scared for bottles of wine! I didn’t want them to break in my bag! What a waist that would be, loosing the wine I mean!
My flight was scheduled to leave Newark at 8pm, but now it is scheduled for 9:40pm… This means I won’t be home before 1:00am in the morning… I finally got in Ottawa at 11:40pm. My Dad was waiting for me at the airport. I was happy to him but at the same I felt so bed keeping him up so late on a weeknight! He will be tired for work tomorrow. We got home at 1:30am. I’m so tired! But for some reason I can’t go to bed until all my things are unpacked organized and my laundry is done. Yes, I’m insane! I went to bed at 3:30am, thinking about all the things that I needed to do in the next few days… Still, it felt good to sleep in my bed!

Thursday
March 13, 2008

I woke up at 9:00am. Even though the night’s sleep was short, it was good. I felt refreshed. Good thing I’m not starting work early today! I’m starting at 12:30pm so I have a few hours to do my stuff, like RUNNING! Hopefully, I’ll get to see my mother and brother tonight!
I was happy to go back to work. Seeing Suzanne’s bright smile light up her face as I walked in the clinic was heart-warming and definitely worth it! It felt really good to be back and see her again!

ENGLISH to GERMAN

One: Eins Two: Zwei Monday: Montag
Three: Derei Four: Vier Tuesday: Dienstag
Five: Fünf Six: Sechs Wednesday: Mittwoch
Seven: Sieben Eight: Acht Thursday: Donnerstag
Nine: Neun Ten: Zehn Friday: Freitag
Eleven: Elf Twelve: Zwölf Saturday: Samstag
Sunday: Sonntag

Hello: Hallo
Bye: Tschüss (speaking not writing)
Thanks: Danke
Thank you very much: Dankschön
Please/You’re Welcome: Bitte
Good day: Guten Tag
My name is Karina: Ich heisse Karina
Good morning: Guten Morgan
Sweet dreams: Süsse trauma
Good night: Guten Nacht
Blood: Blut Angel: Engel
I miss you: Ich Vermisse Dich
I love you: Ich Liebe Dich
I love myself: Ich Liebe Mich
I love 'many people': Ich Liebe Euch
I’m thinking of you: Ich denke an dich
Merry Christmas: Frohe Weitnachter
How are you?: Wie Gehts (casual) Wie Gehts es dir (polite)
Happy birthday: Herzlichen Glückwensch
Mouth: Mund
Kiss: Kuss (noun)
Kissing: Küssen (verb)
Love: Lieb
Eyes: Augen
Hands: Hände (plural) Hand (singular)
Lips: Lippen
Heart: Herz
Yes: Ja
No: Nine

Mont Tremblant - 2 - 6 Janvier 2008

2008-01-11T22:17:00.002-05:00

January 2^nd, 2008

We are in 2008 already… Ouff! Time flies when you’re having fun!!! My brother arrives from Venezuela later today! I won’t get to see him before I leave! They were 18 friends that went for an all-inclusive trip in Venezuela. I’m sure they had a blast!!!

As we are about to leave for Mount Tremblant, André calls me wanting to know when I was picking him up… but neglects telling me Karine, whom I wouldn’t be able to see before she flies back to Vancouver, is there waiting so we could see each other… André…!!! I’m not even going to say what I want to say…!! I still got to see her a little but I would of hurried much more if I would of known!!

Eventually we leave… only to get caught in a speed-chase just as we get outside of Rockland!!! I’m telling you, vacations are never boring with me!! As I’m driving I see a black jeep coming at a ridiculous speed behind me (I know it was a ridiculous speed only because I was driving 20k over the limit already… yes I’m a speedy driver!) and he was swerving right and left in the lane. I was sure he was going to hit me. Finally, he passed us at probably 140-150 km/h (considering the speed limit was 90km/h, that’s pretty high). Once in front of me he slams the breaks only to slow down at 70km/h! Idiot! As we drive, he starts putting his right flasher, then the left and eventually had fun putting both on. Keep in mind he is still zigzagging right and left in the lane. Eventually we start getting really suspicious and worried that this guy might be impaired so I decide to follow him and André decides to call the police. As André is trying to reach the police, this lunatic really hits the brakes, forcing me to hit and lock mine!! I just avoided him going on the left and we both end up on the side of the road. How we didn’t finish in the ditch, I don’t know!! My car smelled like burnt rubber! As I’m looking in my back view mirror, I see him throwing stuff in his car like a mad man. He had something in his mouth, either a cigarette or something else, I wasn’t sure. At that instant I see a big truck, a 18-wheeler, coming. Surely enough, the guy decides that was the time to get back on the road! He takes off like a nut case, cutting off the 18-wheeler. At that point, my heart stopped beating. I was sure the 18-wheeler was going to crush the little jeep, and somehow bring us along with it!! But luckily, the 18-wheeler shifted on the other side of the road completely, facing on coming traffic. Thank God, there wasn’t any on coming traffic!!! Finally, André gets through and is telling the entire story to the police officer. Within 2 minutes or less, we had lost sight of him!! Smart little me, I had memorized his license plate. So André gave the description to the police officer, our location, and the direction we were going. We were close to Alfred at that point. The police were sending officers after the vehicle and they would call us back later in the evening.

To add to our adventure, like we didn’t have enough, we realized that the directions I had taken off MapQuest were making us go through the “back roads” to Tremblant and not the highways!!! Surely MapQuest knew it was me asking for directions so in order to prevent me from having a speeding ticket they made my go through the “back roads”!! I have to admit it was lovely scenery!! Even though, we still managed to get there under the estimated time… through the “back roads”! Haha! Eventually we make it to Tremblant… Lets just say we felt like mousses in a maze! I think it took us more time to find the condo then to actually get there! We had a couple of roundabouts to do… Tremblant Center, Tremblant Village, Tremblant Ski Resort… ain’t that all the same!!??? We did a self-tour of Tremblant entirely! By that time my patience was close to being non-existent. My friend Carole sensed it when I called her up trying to know where the *&$* she was!! We had to meet her sometime between 4h30pm and 6h00pm at the condo but we couldn’t find the dam thing! We found our way eventually, unpacked our things and I left to go park the car in the underground parking of the condo… Only to find myself in another maze! I was cursing out loud in the car, there wasn’t any sign in the parking indicating either directions, one ways or whatever… Finally I park the car, realizing I won’t have to drive in this area for the next 4 days! Ahh, what a relief!! The condo was really nice! We are practically at the base of the ski hills!!! A 20-second walk and you’re at the Gondola!! Now that was sweet!! I thought I was the luckiest person in the world at that point (understand that skiing is the best therapy for me)!

As we are settling in the condo, the police officer from this afternoon calls! And guess what???!!! Nope, you guessed wrong. The guy was clean!! They made him pass all the tests for alcohol, drugs, the works and nothing! Apparently the guy was moving from Montreal to Ottawa… to me it still doesn’t explain why he was driving like a fuckin idiot! I know some people are not skilled to drive but that was just insane! The driver gave the excuse that he was trying to signal me to pass him… after he had passed me in the first place???!! Sometimes I wonder if some people think at all!!! So the guy got off with a warning. Whatever, I’m just happy no one got hurt!

At 8pm, I was ready to go to bed!! I made myself a cup of hot tea, nestled by the fire and watched TV for a little while. I had an unbelievable soar throat and I felt exhausted (the New Year’s Eve party didn’t help)! I was sure it was going to rip into shreds!! I don’t remember the last time I had a soar throat! I wanted to get a good night sleep in order to “hit the slopes” first thing in the morning!

January 3^rd, 2008

Well, ok, I didn’t sleep very good because my throat was killing me and apparently there was a party on the entire first 2 floors of the condo!!! We wanted to be on the hills at 8h30am but we made it for 9h30am instead. Today was extremely cold to ski! The temperature was –25 degrees Celsius at the bottom and –30 something at the top… Yes, that’s freggin cold! It didn’t stop me for one bit! The sun was big, bright and warm. The sky was pure blue without a single cloud. The view was spectacular!! No injuries today, although it wasn’t me I was worried about! I had a blast today! Unbelievable how I just feel at peace after a good day of skiing! I think I consumed an entire pack of cherry halls during the day! My throat didn’t bother me while I was skiing but when we stopped at the end of the day… oh my God, was it ever soar! It went all the way to my ears! The evening we went walking around in the Tremblant Village, checking out little shops and stores… We found the Chocolate Shop!!! After diner, we went into another room for “Tremblant Idol”. If your room performed something, anything, you would get a free 18-bottles of beer pack. Some where very good, some good and others borderline stupid but funny! Then I called it an early night again to try and get that soar throat out of the way.

January 4^th, 2008

I had a good night sleep! My throat was much better this morning!! My soar throat was non-existent by the end of the day, but now I couldn’t stop sneezing. The temperature was much better today. It varied around –10 degrees Celsius. It was cloudy, and snowing on top of the mount. Visibility wasn’t all that good in the morning but it cleared out by the end of the day! I skied from opening until closing today! I even had the afternoon on my own to ski! Now that’s what I call a good day!

In the evening we went walking around some more. I went picture crazy (but that’s knew)! I came back to a nice warm hot chocolate!!

January 5^th, 2008

Well, what a wakeup call we had this morning… At 4h30am this morning someone was banging on our door… Everyone woke up, but all were confused. I heard the door open and a young girl screaming for us to wake up and give her “weed” if we had any… Slowly I realized that no one had opened her the door, she got in on her own, and she wouldn’t believe neither of us had “weed” with us so she was searching my jacket!!! I quickly got up, started telling her it was 4 o’clock in the morning, nobody of us had “weed”, what the fuck was she doing in our condo, with the nerve to snoop in my jacket and, if she didn’t get out that instant I would shove her through the wall in the opposing condo! She quickly got out. I ran to the door only to get a quick look at her (since we didn’t know who she was)! At this point, everyone was up and at the same time we all wondered “how the hell did she get in the condo anyway??!!” Now everyone was pissed off to have been waken up at 4 in the morning. Luckily, I quickly fell back to sleep and was on the slopes at opening, 8h30am. Sneezing is gone today, just a little “nose-dripping” situation going on. We saw the girl later that day. Their room was being expelled from the resort… they had over 16 complaints made against them and many Europeans had left the resort to find other (and I don’t blame them!!)!!

The hills were all freshly groomed!!! Absolutely loved it!! There’s nothing better than skiing on freshly groomed slopes! Temperature was perfect; 3 degrees Celsius at the bottom and -9 at the top! Visibility was poor, it was really foggy in the morning! It cleared out by the end of the afternoon. Yesterday, we had figured out were the majority of people skied. So today we took the slopes that only a few took! That was great! So much more peaceful and relaxing! I had a blast! By the end of the day, I started to feel it in my thighs a little. My new equipment makes such a difference on my knees!! Thanks Mom and Dad for the most amazing Christmas gift ever!!

After skiing, I took a 2-hour nap! We had a “ChaudTight Party” to attend to in the evening so I didn’t want to miss out on too much sleep (since I did too much already… I’ll need a vacation from the Holidays!! I’ll be going back to work more exhausted then when I left for the Holidays!). In the end, the party wasn’t all that great. The majority was 18 years old and younger… maturity level wasn’t all that high and that just annoys me more then anything! So we danced a little and when things started to get a little to ridiculous, we left. Makes you think, “was I acting this way when I was that age?”. Haha! I was probably worse!

January 6^th, 2008

Last day of skiing today. This morning we had to rise extra early to pack all our stuff and put everything in the car. Since we wanted to ski all day and the car needed to be out of the parking ground by 11am, we decided to leave it in the public parking farther down and not bother with it for the rest of the day. Temperature was great but made things a little muggy. It was 9 degrees Celsius at the bottom and 4 on top!! But it was foggy like you couldn’t imagine!! We could barely see 10 feet in front of us, from top to bottom!! It didn’t get any better as you went down! And, it didn’t clear up as the day progressed! It was a little dangerous actually, but all you had to do was just to be a little more cautious. I think it was fun!! It started raining in the afternoon so we decided to leave; plus I had a major headache!

We left Tremblant at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and, took the highways this time to get home. I was home at 6pm. I unpacked my stuff and then talked with my brother about his trip for the majority of the evening. I was so happy to see him, and so was he to see me! He even brought me presents!! He’s so thoughtful!!

Back to work tomorrow!!

New York - 8-12 November 2007

2007-11-25T11:25:00.001-05:00

November 9, 2007

Mélanie and I left for New York this morning at 6am from Rockland. It’s a 4-day organized tour with the company Sunnyside Tours. We are 58 in total!! It was a long bus ride!! We were scheduled to arrive at 2pm in the afternoon… but got into Manhattan at 5h30pm. Since it was raining we decided to reschedule our visit up Empire State Building for Sunday morning. We had diner at Macy’s, and then we were suppose to meet the entire group at the corner of 34^th Street and 7^th Avenue at 6h30… We were there at 6h25pm and some other women, Carole, Suzie and Line, where there at 6h15pm, but we didn’t see anyone. We found out at quarter to 7 that they had left prior to that!! Good thing they mentioned they where going to make sure not to leave anyone behind… I’m so confident and reassured by that statement… Anyway, we made our own way in the pouring rain, along Broadway going through Times Square, to our second meeting point at the corner of 47^th Street and 8^th Avenue. Lights, advertisements, stores, clubs, theatres, etc., I’ve never seen anything like it!! Night life is amazing here! The never-sleeping city! We took a little time to go inside Victoria’s Secret… (I don’t thing I’ve ever seen so many underwear and undergarments in my life!) and GAP. I’m enjoying visiting NY!! It’s pouring rain and still there’s so many people walking around it’s unreal!! By 8pm we were on our way to our hotel, Fairfield Inn Marriott Hotel in New Jersey.

Once check-in and settled in our rooms, I went for a swim then a hot long bath! I called home to see how Mom was doing…

November 10, 2007

I was up at 6h30am this morning for a “good-morning run”. Then Mel and I had breakfast in the lobby before heading out into the city. We had the continental breakfast included with our stay!

We started off with a quick city tour of New York before walking into Central Park. New York Public Library, American Museum of Natural History, The Dakota (where John Lenon lived and got shot), Belvedere Castle, Obelisk (1450 BC), famous statue of Atlas hold the globe, fountains, churches, cathedrals and bridges are just a few things we saw.

We had a little free time to wander around Pier 17, South Street Seaport, for lunch. We had a lovely view of East River, Williamsburg Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and the massive Brooklyn Bridge. We also bought some tickets for Stomp, a Broadway show held later this evening. I must say, the man at the booth was… sorry to say, an ass!! I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so unpleasant and rude has he was!!

Then came Chinatown… INSANE!!! Scheisse! I never want to see nor visit a Chinatown again! There was so many people walking… I was on the verge of punching someone! We kept loosing everyone in the crowd. You almost literally had to hold hands in order to keep track with someone! It’s chaotic!!! I must say, and this could be a historical event in my book, I bought my first purse! Yes, I, Karina, bought a real “lady purse”!! Got a damn good deal for it too… (Other wise I wouldn’t have bought it!).

After the crazy and exhausting Chinatown experience, Carole, Suzie, Line, Mel and I had a lovely diner at Virrage before attending our evening show, Stomp. It was really good! You can’t come to New York and not take a taxi ride… so we did! Crazy! Handles were put on the hood of the car so you could hold on! I made a video of our ride! Haha! We met with the rest of the group (the ones that wanted to stay later in NY) at 11hpm on the corner of 47^th Street and 8^th Avenue to go back to the hotel. Surprise, surprise, the road we were taking to get to our hotel was closed… it took us almost one hour and a half extra to get to the hotel!! Haha! I thought it was funny, but not many thought it was…

November 11, 2007

Same little routine this morning: “good-morning run” at 6h30am, then breakfast in lobby with Mel before more exploring.

We started our day by visiting the Empire State Building. We had a very elaborate security check before getting in!! I’ve learned not to “fool around” or joke with security in NY!!! Still, what a spectacular view!!! You could obviously see were the Twin Towers used to stand. There’s now a big hole, an empty space. It’s really bizarre when you look at the site and then think about the event. On our way down, Mel and I were lucky to catch a part of the Memorial Day Parade.

After the Empire State Building we had lunch at Pier 17 again. We took the Staten Island Ferry from Pier 1 to get a view of the famous Statue of Liberty, located on Ellis Island. Funny how I thought the statue was much bigger…. They make it appear so much larger and taller… Also saw Madison Square Garden quickly.

We walked on Broadway to get to Wall Street, to visit the Financial District. We stopped at Trinity Church, Federal Hall, New York Stock Exchange, and a “famous Bull”!!???… With the testicles 4 times the size of my head each! Why it was put there… don’t know! Apparently it was put there as a joke, and then it was voted not to remove it… Anyway! We eventually got to “Ground Zero”, where the Twin Towers (World Trade Center) used to stand tall. Impressive to see the work they’ve done to rebuild and clean the area. Some work still remains to be done. We got to see a plan of what they started to rebuild on the site.

We had an hour of free time before diner; therefore we went shopping in Century 21… but not for long. There were too many people! We didn’t have the patience for it!!

We had diner in Little Italy, at Da Nico’s Restaurante. Very good!

The rest of the evening consisted of walking in Times Square. I love it there! The night life is absolutely intoxicating! We saw Sony Building, Chrysler Building and Trump Building by an ice rink and the Pulitzer fountain. We stopped at Rockefeller Center where the famous big Christmas tree of NY stands above a public ice rink, and all the little trees are dressed with little white lights. Near by is the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, also where you can rent a Horse-drawn Carriage. That’s a lovely area!! Very romantic! It must look even better with a little coat of white snow!! Then we walked in the heart of Times Square, where are all the lights, the theatres, hotels, clubs, famous restaurants, etc. Mel and I bought 2 paintings of NY. We wanted to go up Marriott Hotel for the, apparently, amazing view of Time Square, but we didn’t have enough time left. But we did have time to visit the M&M Store!!! I didn’t know there where so many colors of M&Ms!!! At 11pm, we walked back to our regular meeting point, corner of 47^th Street and 8^th Avenue to drive back to the hotel. We didn’t’ get a chance to get to the look out point where you could get a lovely view of NY at night! That would have been beautiful! Honestly, Mel and I where kind of disappointed by that one, but it’s ok.

November 12, 2007

Same little morning: run at 6h30am, then breakfast in the lobby before heading back to Ottawa. We stopped in Pennsylvania for “Outlet shopping”. I bought a pair of shoes, a shirt and a book. I’m so proud and happy; I didn’t use my credit card at all during my whole trip. In other words I didn’t bust my budget I had saved for the trip!!! Woohoo!!

Before crossing the boarder, we stopped at the Duty Free Shop. It took a while to cross the boarder, with all the stuff every one had bought!! So, we were scheduled to arrive in Ottawa at 6-7pm but got there at 8h30pm. This means I got home in Rockland at 9h30pm, completely exhausted!

All in all, it was a good trip! I’m very happy I saw New York… finally!!!