Scuba Duba Doo!

First off, Michael gets credit for the blog title. I asked him for something clever and that's what I got. We're now certified Advanced Divers!! Whoo hoo! For the lay person this means that I can use a compass to swim in a square while 45 feet under water, I have felt the drunken feeling caused by too much Nitrogen in the blood (110 feet under), and I have been doing homework for the last three nights. The diving here is fantastic. Today we did one called "The Blue Hole." We started by entering the water and dropping almost vertically through "the bells." It's called "the bells" because it's a passage so narrow that your air tank will probably hit the rocky walls and make a sound like a bell. When you 've made it down about 100 ft you have to remember to add air to your BCD (buoyancy control device) because the bottom is still nowhere in sight. You swim along a wall of coral reef with countless colors and spectacular fish ascending slowly along the way. Finally you swim over the top of the coral reef, and you're inside a giant cylinder of coral 200 feet across and 400 feet deep. Around the edges are more fish, shrimp, starfish, and divers, but when you swim across the middle, you lose sight of everything. It's just an abyss. I love it here! Dahab is a really chilled out place. All of the restaurants serve seafood, pizza, pasta, and hummus. Most of them have "bedouin style" seating--giant pillows on the floor--instead of chairs, and are right on the water. And everyone who comes here wants nothing more than diving and beer. I can hardly wait to dive tomorrow!

p.s. On our last day in Luxor we went to the West Bank. There are hundreds of tombs there at the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Tombs of the Nobles, and in the artist's village--Patty this was before your warning. You're not allowed to take photos, but for a little baksheesh, this guy didn't have a problem with one measly picture. This is the tomb of Joe Schmo...you can imagine what the pharoah's tombs were like!

Luxor

Three days ago we cruised up the Nile on a ship to Luxor. It's quite a place. As you walk down the street you have to simultaneously dodge and refuse rides from horse drawn carriages and blue and white taxis. The 3000 plus year old magnificent Luxor Temple is right in the heart of town, and McDonald's--which sells the tasty McArabia--is literally across the street. We've decided all of the western restaurants charge too much for food that's mediocre at best, while the local food is unbelievably cheap yet fantastic. Today we slept in late and had a schwerma and felafel on our way to the museum. We wandered around the market for a while, enjoyed a fruit cocktail with pomegranate, banana, guava, apple, and orange juice, and had koshary for dinner. Then we went to a rooftop cafe overlooking the Temple and River for coffee, sheesha, and a beautiful sunset. Luxor TempelView from the cafeBeautiful sunset

Entrance to the market Yes we know how lucky we are!

p.s. Kudos to Brooke for all the comments she posts. Sandy and Andrea get honorable mention. The rest of you should step it up! We miss you, and it means a lot to hear from you!

Feats of Engineering, Past and Present

A few days ago we traveled to the southern part of Egypt to visit the great temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel. It was a fascinating day that left us exhausted and awestruck in many ways. It started at 2:45 AM, as the only way to get to Abu Simbel is with the convoy from Aswan that leaves at 3:30. It's a three hour ride, ending just 40 miles north of the border with Sudan. We were allowed just about two hours to view the temples before joining the convoy back to Aswan.

Four Colossi of Ramses II

Statues of Nefertati and Ramses II

The two temples were stunning. They are well preserved inside and out, although very little of either is "outside" as they were both carved into a sandstone cliff. The colossal statues of Ramses and his queen Nefertari adorn the temple entrances. Inside each the pillars and walls are carved floor to ceiling with painted reliefs showing various religious events and festivals. The intricacy of the details and the precision of the construction is truly a testament to the ancient Egyptians' skills at the height of their empire in the 13th century BC.

A scene showing Ramses II offering Lotus flowers to Nefertari

Admiring the fallen face of one of the statues

Fast forward to modern times. As the population of Egypt grew and demand for electricity and arable land outpaced supply, the government undertook a project to build the "High Dam" at Aswan. It was finished in the 1960's, and it is a true accomplishment of modern science--controlling the floodwaters of the Nile and providing much needed farm land and electricity. However, conservation was clearly overlooked. As the waters of the Nile rose to create Lake Nasser, people around the world took notice that the temples at Abu Simbel, and many others along the river, would soon be permanently under water, lost forever. A massive effort by many foreign governments and private companies was made to save those monuments. They cut those temples up, block by block, and reassembled them on higher ground. So what we visited was actually the temple of Ramses II, the original, but moved to a new location. Incredible!

The Aswan High Dam

The temple at Philae

I find it hard to believe that a country whose tourism depends on its glorious past came so close to losing such an incredible piece of history. It also provides a little perspective as to just how much exists in Egypt, knowing that the loss of temples like Abu Simbel and Philae would not have crippled Egyptian tourism. There is far too much to see here, and I think I would get bored before I could visit every temple and every tomb, but I am happy to have visited Abu Simbel without a SCUBA tank!

Salam

We left our hotel in Nairobi at 2 a.m. last Sunday to catch our plane to Cairo. With such an early start, we decided we'd just do a bit of wandering and maybe catch a movie on our first day in Egypt. It took almost no time for us to fall in love with the city! Trying to cross the street here can be quite a challenge. There don't seem to be any traffic laws. A two lane road can easily have five cars across, but we quickly figured out how to use the Egyptian pedestrians as shields. There are people sitting around drinking tea or smoking Shisha all the time. The stalls selling food look and smell amazing. There are endless stores with glass vases and perfumes, paintings on papyrus, western clothing stores, car parts, and anything else you can imagine. We'd heard Cairo was very dirty, but coming from southern and eastern Africa where you're never more that 100 yards from a dirt road, this place is "very cosmopolitan!" As we were walking around eating ice cream and french fries from McDonald's (first in over 5 months), we met Abdul. He invited us into his shop and gave us a cup of tea. We chatted for a while and Abdul suggested we share a taxi to the pyramids at Giza. He said he'd introduce us to his friend Mahmoud, who owns some stables, and then he'd have us over for dinner. It sounded like a great plan to us. We ended up riding camels to the pyramids and watching a beautiful sunset.

The dinner at Abdul's house was delicious, and we felt so honored to be invited!

The next day we went back to Giza and went inside one of the pyramids and got a better look at the Sphynx. We also got to see the Red Pyramid at Dashur--the first true pyramid, and the Step Pyramid at Sakkara.

Then Mahmoud had us over for dinner two nights in a row! Mahmoud is a really funny guy, and his family situation was interesting to us. In Egypt it is legal for a man to have four wives, and Mahmoud is working on getting number four. His father picked out the first one for him, and they're not a good match. He picked out the next two. The second is beautiful, the third is a good match mentally, but he's pretty sure he has the whole package in wife number four. He has six boys, one girl, and one of his wives is pregnant. Each wife has her own house and he spends two nights a week with each, and the whole family gets together for a big dinner on Fridays.

There is a lot more I could write, but we're taking the night train to Aswan in about an hour. We've uploaded more pictures. Click on the link to the left if you want to see them. We also updated our phone number, so feel free to call or send an SMS any time.

Anniversary Splurging

We certainly have had an interesting couple of weeks, and I realize that we're a little behind with our updates. I'll just post a few highlights from our last few days in Sub-Saharan Africa because I know my mom will love it. We stayed three nights in Mombasa and enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of our new friends Keren and Andrew. They have lived in Mombasa for over twenty years and were able to provide us with some very interesting perspectives.

Kim and Keren at Keren's flat

Bird Watching at dusk

Throughout our trip we have seen many wooden carvings, most of which are very similar, and I think we found the source in Mombasa. We went to the carvers' market where about 500 people were mass producing (by hand of course) the most of the common wooden souvenirs we've seen.

Mombasa Carvers' Market

After Mombasa we were in need of some beach time, after all, this travelling is hard work! We spent two nights self-catering in a small cottage at Diani Beach before splurging for our fourth anniversary. We found Diani Reef Resort and Spa, and decided that a little five-star luxury would be in order. The place was absolutely stunning. There were two pools, four bars, three restaurants, a spa, and just about everything else you'd expect. We spent three days relaxing on the beach and eating delicious dinners, thanks Mom!

Kim's temporary petDiani Reef ResortDiani Beach Getting some shade at the barEnjoying a cool drink at the swim-up bar

Relaxing at Diani Beach

That's a wrap for southern and eastern Africa--time for Egypt. We have truly enjoyed our first five months. We've seen most of the animals Africa has to offer, met plenty of interesting locals and expats, tasted and enjoyed (mostly) the local cuisine, and relaxed on some of the most stunning beaches in the world. We've also endured painfully long and overcrowded bus rides, risked our lives on motorcycle taxis in Kampala, and met with plenty of frustration attempting the seemingly simplest tasks. We've gotten sea-sick on ferries, laughed and vented with fellow travellers, and learned to speak like Brits (Could I have a Wah-ta please?). In all, we've gained an experience that few others have. We feel very lucky about our opportunity and proud of ourselves for making it happen. We also hope that anyone reading this has enjoyed a piece of our adventure with us!

Maybe L. Ron Had Something After All

I have recently finished reading "Dianetics" (I know it should be underlined Mr. Bergan but I couldn't figure out how to make it work) by L. Ron Hubbard. It's the book that started him on his path towards writing the foundations for the Church of Scientology. The basic premise is that people behave irrationally because they have "engrams." These are imprinted in your brain during times of injury or unconsciousness. When restimulated they cause irrational behavior and many types of physical illnesses. For example, if you received a concussion and while you were more or less unconscious somebody said, "I'll take care of you," that's an engram. When properly restimulated by events or people similar to those involved in the concussion incident, you might have migraine headaches. If a person undergoes Dianetic Therapy, now mostly at Scientology Churches, he can be cleared of his engrams, and therefore function at a much higher mental level, complete with full perceptive recall of all moments of one's life. It gets a lot crazier if you read more about his later works that lay out the premises of Scientology (mostly about aliens and the beginning of the universe). So, it was an interesting read, but of course I dismissed most of it as just another get-rich-quick self-help scam.

Kim at Fischer's Tower

Trying to decide which path to take

A View of Lake Naivasha from above Hell's Gate National Park

However, after a day of cycling through Hell's Gate National Park, I'm beginning to wonder if L. Ron had something after all. You see, I've never really seen Kim get nervous about physical danger before, and I certainly didn't think that riding a mountain bike would qualify as dangerous. She wasn't nervous about white water rafting, and I know she has been bungee jumping and sky diving among other things adrenaline related. But after a seriously difficult climb to about the highest point in the park, which included several instances of pushing the bikes up the hill, we started our descent. It was at this point I saw the look in her eyes that I'd never seen before. She looked terrified of going too fast down the rocky path! There was some danger involved here, losing control and flying off the cliff for example, but nothing to justify that look. Hmm???

Scaring away some zebras

Admiring the gazelles

Thirsty giraffes

It turns out that at six years of age she had a bicycle accident that resulted in the loss of four teeth. That got me thinking, "Engrams!" What else could cause that "irrational" fear of falling to her death? Maybe I'll read another of Hubbard's books, but I'm not quite ready to start her into Dianetic Therapy just yet!

The result of a 35km bike ride!

100 Meter Waterfall

We went repelling! They call it abseiling here. We were at Sipi Falls in Uganda. We did a bit of hiking--the falls are a beautiful sight. Then I somehow convinced Michael that we should lower ourselves on a rope over the edge of the cliff next to this waterfall. He agreed! Neither of us were especially nervous until the guy who was supposed to go first and then wait for us at the bottom went. He was shaking like a leaf and the look of terror on his face was like nothing I have ever seen before. I was next. For the first thirty meters I walked horizontally against the cliff face, slowly letting out the rope. The views were incredible. Then the rocks cut back, and it was hanging the rest of the way. At the bottom, I got soaked from the waterfall's mist, then trudged up the hill a bit to watch Michael. I was suprised how quickly he came over the edge (until that point I wasn't totally sure he would do it). He had an audience of other hikers and a thunderstorm while he made his descent. He was smiling when he landed at the bottom, and he said he would consider doing it again some day! We left Sipi Falls for Kenya, and our first stop was Saiwa Swamp. The lodge where we stayed was actually an old farmhouse belonging to a lady who had to be in her 90s. She and her daughter welcome visitors, cook delicious meals, and make the arrangements to go birdwatching in the swamp. It was fantastic. We saw tons of new birds, and the other guests invited us to stay at their flat when we get to Mombasa on the Kenyan coast!

After that we stayed two nights at a place called Kerio View, which is right on an escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. Michael finished The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes and I started Volume II of War and Peace.

We've been in the Rift Valley for a few days now. Yesterday we went to Lake Naivasha to see flamingos. I had no idea there would be so many. There were 50 billion of them (my estimate) all around the lake. All fifty billion are continuously moving around to filter the blue green algae from the water with their beaks. There are also many pelicans, spoonbill storks, yellowbill storks, buffalos, rhinos, monkeys, etc. around.

It was a great day. We had good Chinese food for dinner and spent the night in a crappy hotel in the middle of town that cost $8. There was no mosquito net, and I woke up itching at about 12:30. I applied lots of bug spray, put in my earplugs, and felt totally refreshed this morning. We are heading to Hell's Gate National Park as soon as we leave this internet cafe. It might be our last Park in Africa!