Touristing it up.

We’ve spent the last couple days sight-seeing. Today was the big day – the pyramids of Giza and Sakkara, and the Sphinx. Poor Judy seemed to melt in the desert, as expected. I confirmed that I have inexplicably inherited high heat tolerance from my Polish roots and Seattle life. I was a little hot. Alas, I’ll have no tan when I get back – between the outfit and the SPF100 sunscreen (I’m allergic to everything else) I’ll be as pasty as ever.
Oh yes, also rode a camel. That was mildly terrifying, but it was certainly an experience.

I'm in love with Egyptian food. Noha tells me we have no Egyptian restaurants in Seattle. That's quite a shame as everything I've had has been wonderful. Of course, Noha has been handpicking the restaurants and the menus, often with an eye to my garlic desires.

No phone yet. Also, may not get photos online any time soon, but rest assured many are being taken.

Cairo Time

After a long day's travel I've arrived in Cairo safe and sound and tired as you'd imagine. So far all we've done is check into the hotel and meet some of Noha's friends for dinner. We're at the Cairo Sheraton so we're not hurting for comfort. The city is hazy like I wouldn't believe - it's smoggy but I think a lot of it is sand that literally strips away the exteriors of buildings that aren't made of super hard stone. Other than that, I seem to not be as overwhelmed by chaos as the locals expect from Americans. The driving is no crazier than Buenos Aires. Tomorrow when we're less travel-weary and jet-lagged, we'll go sight-seeing. Pyramids and all that good stuff that one does when in Egypt.

On the eve of departure

When faced with clear empirical evidence, I'm forced to admit it, I'm apparently a terrible blogger. Suffice it so say that I've done a lot of fundraising, done a lot of training, and the moment has finally arrived. In about 6 hours I'll be getting on a plane heading to Cairo, where I'll be spending a week seeing the sights and then attending a wedding. The next week I'll be doing a Nile Cruise, and after that comes the big adventure - Kilimanjaro. If I have internet access at any point, I'll attempt to be better at blogging. After all, it's the African adventures that are the most intriguing part of this whole process.

By the by, for those who are interested, I raised over 2800 GBP. With the switch in trek my new goal was actually only 1975, so I blew that goal out of the water! Thanks everyone for your support!