A glimpse at Cairo

Here are a few pictures of Cairo...More to come in a few days. This city is Crazy and NEVER stops. Most people are out and about after 9 pm...traffic is hectic..I have never seen traffic like this before...There are NO left turns...NO traffic lights...NO rules...People drive anywhere and stop anywhere. There are NO cross walks and many bridges and ramps. There are very few signs showing you where to go..and MOST people very frequently use their horms..apparently its a whole other language..says a local person!




The oldest Mosque in Cairo. I accidently went into this Mosque, not knowing that women need to wear a gown and cover their hair...oops!



One of the many churches in Coptic Cairo. Coptic Cairo is a small area in Old Cairo that holds many little churches and an old fortress.


One of the Bazaars in Cairo...Its huge and Busy...not so easy to cross the street here...thank God for Moutaz and his friend Amr. I might have died. Really.


A street lined with these clay pots and jugs.



Robyn and Moutaz...about to embark on their SECOND wedding...the third is scheduled for Canada.



Smoking my first (and likely only) shisha pipe... people here ove this! Every coffee bar offers the pipe and many flavors of Shisha. Smells good.

In the heat!

I made it Egypt after a long haul in the Nairobi airport. Met up with Robyn and Moutaz..their apartment is really cute and in a really nice area. Check out Robyn's blog for pictures...it is a link from mine! I spent 2 days with them hanging out and relaxing a bit, than got shipped off to Dahab, on the sinai, for my open water scuba dive course. It was actually one of the best things I have done on this trip! I cant believe how much I love being under the water. The coral and the fish here are also quite unreal! Just steps away from the beach. I am headed back to Cairo Tommarow and will hang out with Robyn and Moutaz for a week. They are getting married this coming weekend, so I will be able to attend! Than off to the south with Tracy! :) Oh, did I mention that it is between 35-40 degrees all the time? It barely cools down at all at night...not so easy to sleep! But I love it!



Robyn and I on my first night in Cairo




My first real Egyptian meal...the food here is soooooo good! Especially when cooked by Moutaz's mother...yum!



A bazaar in Dahab. These sellers try everything they can jut to get you in the store.



The site where I did my first open water dives. I swam with 2 octopus, one that was hunting..so beautiful! Also saw some star fish, clown fish, stone fish, rays, loads of coral, and a crocodile fish...what a fantastic way to learn!



Camels...they are actually everywhere here on the Sinai!



My dive instructor Steve and I getting ready for my last open water dive!




The site where I did my closed water dives...also unbelievable scenery...so close to the beach too! I cant believe I didnt do this before!



One of the many spice markets.

From the desert to the Water fall

Here are a bunch of pictures from the last 3 weeks...sorry internet access has not been good! We spent some time in the Desert of Namibia than off to see the Himba Tribe. They are from Northern Namibia and have quite different traditions from the other tribes I have met. We spent a few days in Etosha National Park which was amazing for game siting. We got really lucky and saw all of the big five...buffalo, Elephant, Black Rhino, Lion and Leopard....really cool!
We headed over to Botswana for about a week and spent most of the time in the Delta which was truely amazing. Basically you get to animal hunt by walking around....you can get so close to nature and the animals it is amazing. And so beautiful.
Over to Zimbabwe after this..very intersting place at the moment...I have never seen anything like it...I hope that the politics get settled sooner than later...
Finally I did make it back to Joberg and on the plane to Cairo..so now I am in Egypt and will put up some pictures from here soon. Things are great...though it is a bit hot....hahahha..like 40 degrees...thank god for AC!



Namibia

Sandboarding in Swakopmond..so much funn going down the dune on your belly with the sand board.




Quad biking through the sand dunes...also so much fun! Sand everywhere by the end of the day.




The desert meets the Atlantic Ocean



Craft dolls made by the Damara Tribe


The Himba kids..so funny to play with



The Himba ladies...They are very interesting because they have these long rituals and never clean themselves with water..they use smoke. We camped right outside their village.




Etosha National Park: Elephants at the first campsite, at the watering hole.


Etosha National Park...one of the many lions we saw lazing around in the grass




Etosha National Park...More Giraffe in the brush



The Etosha pan...a very large area of the park that is basically salty clay. It is usually dry, but is wet now because of the flooding in the summer











Botswana

The Okavango Delta...Being poled out by John. It was about and hour and half ride to the camp site



Learning how to pole in the Delta. I actually got fairly good at it...
it isnt as easy as it looks..there is a lot of technique required!




I never thought I would do this....Kate and I made Rice Krispie treats over the fire as a dessert in the Delta...they were green because of the marshmallows...turned out quite good actually!



Our last night in the Delta...We were poled out to a hippo pod, where we watched the sun set as the hippo's moved around and jumped out of the water. It was a bit concerning because we were in these little wooden boats and hippo's are the most dangerous animals in Africa...we got qite close as well...



Kristina, and I with John, our own poler for the Delta trip. He offered to have my watch...he did say he would give me some money so I could buy a new one.


View of The Bostswana Okavango Delta from the airplane...really an amazing site



Another view of the Delta from above...we actually saw large herds of Elephants, Rhino, differnet Buck, and Buffalo.



Cruising down the Chobe River in Chobe National Park for more wildlife spotting...a big herd of hippo's



Yet again...another beautiful African sunset...Brilliant!




Victoria Falls from The Zimbabwe side



The Zulu dancers at a retaurant in Vic Falls..so good!



Me and my girls...loaded up with our items to trade at the market. Yes..that's right...you dont need money to take home crafts from Vic Falls...people want anything that you will give them..infact they would even take the shoes off your feet or the shirt off your back. Very interesting place...