Travelers' Tales: Egypt

Past successes (clockwise from this) In front of the Temple of Ramses II; the Sabil-Kuttab of Sultan Qaitbey dates from the 15th century; the view from Saladin Citadel; the Mohammed Ali Mosque; the stepped Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara Necropolis

TRAVELERS’ TALES

EGYPT

Steve Zarate traveled through Egypt with Audley

Egypt has long been a bucket list

destination, and we finally got there in 2017. It is one of those places that we learned and read about in grade school; the subject of Hollywood movies and the only surviving building of the original seven ancient wonders of the world. Just hearing ‘Egypt’ stirred our imagination to think of pyramids, Cleopatra, mummies and the riddle of the Sphinx.

Although this has been a tourist destination for thousands of years, we hesitated to visit due to political instability in recent years and State Department warnings for U.S. citizens “to consider the risks of travel due to threats from terrorist and violent political opposition groups.” So we put it off but kept hearing from fellow travelers that tourism was down and that made it a great time to visit Egypt (that was indeed the case).

We made contact with Audley Travel, who we consider a trusted partner in planning our travels (we have now traveled with Audley to 13 different countries). We are interested in both nature and culture and find that private travel is the best way to fulfill our interests, curiosity and sense of discovery and adventure. So we went and were not disappointed. We never felt unsafe and it was reassuring to see all the measures that the Egyptian travel industry was taking to ensure tourist safety.

WALKING IN HISTORY

Formed in 10,000 BC, Egypt was one of the world’s first nation states. It was an important center of Christianity beginning in the 1st century, and the Coptic Christian Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Christian churches. Egypt was already an ancient civilization in biblical times and is mentioned over 700 times in the Bible.

Today, Egypt is predominantly Sunni Muslim and Islam is the state religion.

Egypt’s population and flow of history has been based around the Nile River, so it seemed appropriate to organize our trip along the Nile. Working with Audley Travel’s country specialist Brigitte, we developed an outstanding itinerary that covered the length of the Nile from Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea all the way to Abu Simbel near the southern border with Sudan. We traveled by car, by plane, horse carriage, and on the Nile by ferry, motor boat, felucca sail boat, and steam ship.

Photography is a hobby and Egypt is a photographer’s playground. The architecture, ancient artefacts, churches, mosques, people and everyday culture are all lively and colorful subjects. We tell our friends to go visit the country before the crowds return!

AUDLEY TRAVELER | 49