River Ramblings

(lullaby for Moses from the movie The Prince of Egypt)


Our trip to Egypt was amazing. For the American School spring break last week, Keith, Sam and I were blessed to take a six day excursion exploring a small part of the historic nation, spending the first three of those days on a Nile cruise. We left Doha on Saturday and flew to Luxor, where we boarded our ship, The Sun Goddess. After lunch we were whisked off to the first of many field trips, some of which I will describe later. The cruise itself was a great experience. We docked in three cities to see the sights. (Luxor, Edfu and Aswan) In the afternoons we, yes, cruised. I spent those afternoons with a camera in one hand and a refreshing beverage in the other. We read, chatted and mostly observed the incredible life along the River Nile. I was mesmorized by the flora and fauna, the architecture, and, most of all, the lovely people. Of course, most of my views were long distance ones through a zoom lens, but such beauty transcends distance. As we moved up the Nile at a speed of about 16 knots per hour, I observed farmers tending their livestock, mothers chasing their kids out of the water (guess it was tea time!), men and women tranporting goods from one place to another, donkeys and carts resting from a long and hard day's work. It was life, not as we know it, but as the people of the Nile know it.

I also really enjoyed getting to know the folks on board the ship. There were two Australian families, one with four boys. There was a family of Pakastani heritage who is currently living in Saudi Arabia but had moved there, are you ready for this, from Katy, Texas! One Irish lady was married to an Egyptian gentleman whose parents (his mother British and his dad Egyptian, of course) were cruising with them. The Irish/Egyptian family is currently living in Viet Nam. Talk about an international clan! A couple from Canada had been travelling since October. They were on their trip-of-a-lifetime-around-the-world-adventure and, believe me, they had experienced some adventures. Keith, Sam and I shared our dining table with a darling lady from the US travelling alone. She had already been to Cairo and had several more Egyptian stops planned before heading back stateside. There was also a family from Syria, currently living in Kuwait. The mom and dad were travelling with their adult son and daughter. Precious family and so interesting to talk to. I left that boat, at the end of our three days, with a few more friends and email addresses, and certainly, with a heart for the people living along that mighty river, eventhough I had only seen them from a distance.




(Before I wrote this post, I had chosen the song below to accompany the words. It just didn't seem to fit once I had actually finished the story. Just the same, I thought you might get a kick out of it. Click on the arrow to enjoy!)