The Rainbolt Family in Nigerian Culture Day Finery

Emily at Work in the Igbo Village

The Rainbolt's, Teaugue's and Slater's

Jacob in Action

It's Hard Work Playing in the Nigerian Sun

Leading the Charge

Emily in Action

After a summer in transit, living out of suitcases, imposing on friends and family, and regularly scheduled trips to the Mall, Costco, and Target to restock for the next 9 months we found ourselves at the airport once again. We had one bag less than last year, but that was because we managed to count wrong. The Air France ticket counter was very helpful and we checked in quickly despite the number of bags and extra pounds in them. It is always difficult to say goodbye to friends and family, and this time was no different. However, the sense of “what have we gotten ourselves into” was gone this time. We had a pretty good sense of what life would be like when we landed at the Lagos Airport.

This year we flew into Paris and spent a few days exploring the city. We stored most of our luggage at the airport and hoped a train into the city. Maneuvering through the subway system with the four of us was much easier than with 25 students I was with last time in Paris. We had found a hotel on line earlier in the summer and with our printed directions we soon had checked in and so had the jet lag. We learned last year with the kids that you can’t just power though the day, because the will fall asleep standing up. The only course of action was a nap. We woke up later that evening and wondered down to the River Seine for a glimpse of Notre Dame and the lights of the city. Emily had her first “authentic” French fries and we hit the Hagen Dazes stand. The kids quickly found out that Paris streets are filled with crazy scooters, incredibly small cars, and packs of daring men and women on bicycles.
The next morning we left early and headed out for the sights of the city. Emily had picked the Picasso Museum, Jacob was all about the Eiffel Tower and we all decided that we had to see Louvre. We bought an all day subway ticket and we were off. Jacob and Emily quickly became experts at counting the number of stops to go and figuring out which direction take on the metro. We ate our fill of croissants and sandwiches, bought postcards, and quickly learned how to find a cash machine to replace the Euros that were flying out of our hands. The kids enjoyed the cruise down the river Seine. Gina and I did not because of the somewhat rude woman who did not appreciate the fact that she had to cruise down the river sitting in front of two children. I think that she spent more time glaring over her shoulder at us than looking at the sights.


The kid’s really enjoyed the trip up the Eiffel Tower. Gina and I did not enjoy standing in line for two hours to get there. Jacob had just finished a book that had talked about Mr. Eiffel and the tower so we had our own personal tour guide. Later we wondered through the Mountmartre area and Emily was fascinated with all the working artists. We ate lunch in front of the Modern Art museum at the Pompidou Center and watched Paris walk by us. Well, we watched the tourists in Paris walk by us.

Although the kids did not ask, and we did not plan on it; we did spend a day at Disneyland Paris. The Pirates and Tarzan spoke French, you could have a beer at lunch, and it was just a little different. We had a good day. We might have set a record for most rides on the Big Thunder Roller Coaster.


Finally we got up early caught the train back to the airport, gathered our luggage and got checked in for our flight back to Lagos. I think at this time we were ready to be settled in a place. We were tired of looking at suitcases and sleeping in different beds. It was time to have a space of our own again, so we actually looked forward to the plane flight to Lagos.

We will never forget that Friday in early June when the bell on the AIS Campus rang for the final time that school year. As cheers from happy children freed for the summer mingled with the tears of those who were moving to new places, the Rainbolt’s became homeless. A huge list of renovations, along with the fact that no sane person stays in Lagos for the summer forced them out of the cozy comfort of historic Flat 6. Bravely the Rainbolt Family would face the long, hot months of summer with little more than five suitcases and a very long plane ticket.
As always, our wandering began at the Lagos Airport. This time the customs agents took no interest in our bags, probably because we only had shirts, shorts, and underwear in the bags. No wrapped Christmas gifts or beads this time, so the suitcases were much less interesting. This did not mean our time at the airport was trouble free. We had a slight problem with getting on the right plane to Cape Town, South Africa. Now really how hard could that be? You look at the boarding pass, walk to the gate and get on the plane, but when we looked at our boarding pass it said Gate 14, and the airport monitors said the flight would leave from Gate 17. When we got to the gate, there was no plane at Gate 17 and the plane at Gate 14 was a South African Airline flight but it was headed to Frankfurt, Germany. I asked at about the flight waiting at Gate 15, and was told that it might be headed to Cape Town but nobody was sure where or when…the best available answer was “maybe.” We found our flight at Gate 16 and were soon on board and hoping that our luggage had an easier time finding the plane than we did. Eight hours later, we were racing through the Johannesburg airport to catch a quick flight to Cape Town.
Our luggage arrived safely in Cape Town but it really was pretty useless thanks to geography. (I will now interrupt this blog for a short geography lesson. The 8-hour flight from Lagos was in a southern direction. In the course of the flight, we crossed the equator. Cool! When you cross the equator, you also change seasons. Summer had become winter. Cold!) We shivered in the airport, we shivered in the cab on the way into town, and we shivered as we walked into our waterfront condo. We shivered in the condo, but it was shivers of excitement because the place was amazing. We had electricity! We had cable TV! We had a shopping mall within walking distance! Gina had wineries! Maybe being homeless wasn’t so bad!
Cape Town kept us busy for a full week. We spent a day just walking around the waterfront area because we had just spent three months in a limited walk around area. From the top of Table Mountain, we could see all of Cape Town, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the end of Africa. The week featured fine dining, penguin encounters, and rental car. Our photo album now contains a picture of the four us standing behind the Cape of Good Hope sign. Our memory book includes the sound of a baboon screaming as it pursued a bag chips across the parking lot and attempted to climb the man who owned the bag of chips. On a more somber side of things, we toured Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. It was an incredibly moving and humbling experience. We also toured one of the townships where 500 people shared eight toilets, and once again, what should be discouraging and impossible reminds you how amazingly optimistic people can be during challenging circumstances. Even in our short walk through the township, we could sense the spirit of community there. It was a place where people weren’t waiting for someone to help them make their life better. They were taking matters into their own hands.
When I was in elementary school Sunday night meant three things: a bath, The Wonderful World of Disney, and Wild Kingdom. Thirty-four years later, it wasn’t going to be Wild Kingdom on TV, we were going to live it. It started as we left the Nairobi Airport, Simon our guide told us to look out the passenger window at the giraffes. Giraffes walking next to the runway. We had only been in Kenya for 40 minutes and we were seeing wild animals. It was only the beginning. For the next 10 days, we got up close to elephants, cape buffalos, wildebeests, lions, cheetahs, leopards, warthogs, gazelles, rhinos, and hippos.
The camera got a workout as we snapped picture after picture of elephants so close we could count the wrinkles around their eyes, of a lion so close that we could hear the bones crunch as she tore into a wildebeest that she had just brought down, and a rhino and her baby so close that we felt like we were too close.



Probably the best thing about the trip was that we shared it with Lynn, Scott, and Sean. We have had such a wonderful experience, and I have tried to explain what Africa is like, but it this place is beyond description. To watch Lynn and Scott shake their head’s in amazement as we passed women who were carrying huge plastic bins filled with soda’s on their heads. We marveled at the sense of capitalism alive in Kenya where on a road in the middle of nowhere a guy was selling two roasted ears of corn. I could never describe accurately the trauma of using a pit toilet for the first time, but at least Lynn and Scott understand it.


The best example of African life was or Kenyan pit stop to fix a leaky radiator. We had stopped at a cash machine to reload our wallets after a serious encounter with a Masi Mara craft market. While Scott and I battled with the ATM, a passerby pointed out to our guide, James, that there was water under the safari van. We loaded up and went to have a mechanic look at it because we still had four or five hours of driving ahead of us. We pulled into a vacant dirt lot between two rusting hulks that at one time might have been buses. Before James was even out of the car at least five guys appeared from out of nowhere and each made a wrench, or a hammer, or a screwdriver appear from the some hidden pocket. Twenty-three seconds later the front seat was out of the van the floor boards were removed from under Gina’s seat and a new radiator cap was installed. In that 23 seconds Lynn had pulled out her camera and the 5 guys turned into 25 guys. As both she and Gina snapped pictures the group grew at the rate 10 guys per picture. When the Polaroid camera appeared we were completely surrounded. Lynn burned through the instant film and we made it back into the van and started to leave but the passenger door would not close. Once again the tools came out and the door was dismantled and put back together in less than 18 seconds with at least 150 people cheering them on. Oh, yes Africa always has a story to tell.
After 9 days of lions, wildebeests, zebras, and elephants we need a to get the dust out of our clothes, hair, and throats so we headed to the beach. We spent three nights lounging around the pool and beach at a resort on the Indian Ocean. Then it was back to Nairobi for a day of seeing baby elephants and giraffe kisses. Finally, it was a long night flight back to Amsterdam and home to Tacoma for a few weeks of intensive visiting with family and quality time at the mall and other shopping stops.

Weekends in may have been wild. After election troubles, international trips, environmental days and rain outs we finally ended baseball season. The highlight of the final game was Emily. All season long she has been battling the pitching season. Early in the season she had this big looping swing and she never quite made contact. Then she leveled out her swing but was always behind the pitch. She was hitting the ball, but never in fair territory. In her first at bat she made contact an hit a slow roller back to the pitcher. She was a bit surprised to have hit a fair ball that she forgot to run. With everyone yelling she took off to first base but was a half step to late. Her next at bat she smacked a ball right between first and second and past the left fielder. Emily took off running right away this time, and she didn't stop till she was standing on second base. She was so excited that she wanted to sign up for next season right then and there. She was even happier when she got the "Team Player" award along with her trophy. After baseball it was time for Jacob to take center stage at the annual Blue and Gold Banquet for cub scouts. Jacob picked up his wolf badge and awards for computers, baseball, soccer, swimming, and a couple of more activities.

The next weekend in May was a work weekend. Ed fair 2007 took place on Saturday. Gina and I did double duty, half the time teachers meeting with parents and half the time parents meeting looking at all the amazing work Emily and Jacob have accomplished over the year.

The big weekend event of May was last weekend. Jacob turned celebrated his 8th birthday with the help of all of his class and the "compound kids." To start the event we braved the mid day Lagos heat for a few innings of kickball then it was off to the pool for swimming and Bar-B-que.

Here are five reasons why I might want to stay in Lagos forever:

We just cruised down the Nile River, paid for a 12 day safari in Kenya and Tanzania, bought 4 plane tickets from Lagos to Cape Town, Cape Town to Nairobi, Nairobi to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Seattle, Seattle to Paris, Paris to Lagos and we still have money in the bank.

The tax man, Russ Smith, visited us on Monday. He brought a bag of treats including coffee and beef jerky. He asked four questions that I could easily answer and then said he would see us on Thursday to sign the return. Let’s see Quicken do that.

I can finally hit a back-hand shot that stays inbounds.

The new Nigerian 20 Naira note has a see-through window.

In the last 11 years, AIS teachers have not worked a full 185 days.

This is a tale of two blogs; many of you follow the links off to the side and read Bryan and Kara Slater’s adventures in Lagos. In Bryan’s latest posting, he gives an insiders view of the recent Nigerian elections. This will be an insiders view on Bryan’s view.

Thursday afternoon at a little after one in the afternoon we got word that Friday would be a national holiday. This really wasn’t much of a surprise because the government did the same thing last Friday before the gubernatorial elections. The reason for declaring a holiday is almost biblical: people need a day to get back to their hometowns to vote, much the way Mary and Joseph had to return to Bethlehem. A more cynical person would say the reason for the holiday is give all the members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) a chance to mark the ballots for everyone in their hometown. Along with the holiday, it was announced that Saturday would be a no movement day. People could get out and walk or drive to their polling place but otherwise you should stay off the streets. To enforce the rule Lagos State was bringing in an extra 10,000 police officers. With all this in mind all of us flat residents were settling in for a long weekend. The pool deck filled up early Friday morning, the tennis courts were in full use and life was good on a “Nigerian Snow Day”

For a certain flat resident, this idyllic calm was too overwhelming. “Right outside the gate history is in the making.” “ We could be watching the birth of a democracy. “ “Besides don’t you want to see what a city of over 14 million people looks like when there are no cars on the road?” This was Bryan’s reasoning for a little walk outside the compound. Now if I was sensible, I should have just said “no” and stayed by the pool, but to be honest I was curious to see if you could tell 14 million people to stay home.

So, I grabbed the camera and went and met Bryan in the courtyard. Joseph joined the adventure and we prepared to set off. As we left Tom said, “If you three idiots end up in jail, don’t come crying to me.” Not quite the words I wanted to hear and I began to contemplate escape options. As we walked through the garage I thought, “I could tell them the battery in my camera is dead and run back to the flat.” As we approached the back gate I thought, “I could tell them I forgot the memory card in my camera and run back to the flat.


At the back gate, we tried to convince the mopol officer with the big gun that it would be fun to walk around with us. He was pretty emphatic that he was not gone to leave his post to walk around with us oyibos. Once again, the thought of running entered my mind.

Now the street outside the compound is usually pretty busy. Lots of traffic, okodas, and quite a few souya stands. On Saturday…Nothing. Goats…yes. A few dogs…yes. Cars…no. People…the three of us.
We walked down the middle of the street amazed by the fact that you could tell 14 million people to stay home and they would. We took a few pictures of the deserted street. I took a picture of my favorite pile of dirt next to my favorite pothole that the pile of dirt might at one time have been piled there to fix. As we walked, Bryan used his Pidgin English skills on the few people out on the street. Now, my Pidgin skills are very limited but I’m sure the response was not, “Hello Gentlemen. How are you on this fine day.” I’m pretty sure it was, “Hey! Look at the stupid oyibos walking around on a no movement day.” I wondered if maybe it was time to run. Joseph asked a couple of the guys sitting in the shade where a polling station was and after a few hand gestures and headshakes, we headed off in the general direction. Now we are used to voting in churches, school auditoriums, and fire stations. The polling place we walked up to was under a tree, just off a courtyard. We could tell it was a polling place because of the posted signs, the 6 police officers with “election official” tags over their badges, and a large clear plastic box that said “ballot box.” We talked with the polling volunteers: found out that the voting had been quiet, got to see the ballots (you use your thumbprint to vote for the party of your choice), and were politely told that it was not allowed to take pictures. It was interesting to see the process that we had been hearing about every since we got here.

I was feeling fairly comfortable out and about now and eagerly agreed to walk down a few more blocks to the Lekki expressway to see what the busiest street on Victoria Island looked like on a no-movement day. The street was deserted. Joseph told us about several near death experiences he had had trying to cross the street to get to the gym. I got a picture of Bryan in the police booth and we headed back to the compound.
We decided to walk in front of 1004 and enter the front gate of the compound. This way we could see one more polling place.

As we walked down the street, I took a few pictures of the abandoned buildings that are part of the 1004 and I discreetly took a long-range picture of the ballot box from half a block away. I put the lens cap on the camera, turned it off and caught up with Bryan and Joseph.

When we got with in 15 feet of the polling place, which had a few more people around it than the first one, Joseph announced, “We are hear to vote.” Much laughter came from the two polling station volunteers and a lady who was there voting. No laughter from the group of men and women in black uniforms with the “election officer” tags. As we got closer, two of the officers got up and met us. Bryan asked in his conversational pidgin, “Any wahalas (problems) here today?” The second officer started to answer the question but then the first officer starts saying, “Why you take snap? You can’t take snap here!” I began to run through my pidgin vocabulary…what is snap? As the officer grabbed Bryan’s camera I figured out that “snap” is a picture and that he thought Bryan took a picture of the ballot box. No Bryan wouldn’t take a picture. In fact, I could hear Bryan say, “I didn’t take a picture.” The guard was very insistent that Bryan did and now all eight of the officers were off of their seat. I could see the front gate of AIS and mentally started to figure out if my limited endurance could take me that far on an all out sprint.

Now as Bryan tried to talk with the guy that had his camera the woman that was voting started to yell at police. “Don’t talk to them that way. They aren’t doing anything.” Oh, this isn’t going to be good I thought and sure enough all eight of the police officer started yelling at her for yelling at them. Bryan was still trying to talk to the guy with his camera. The yelling intensified, the woman was now yelling at the police for yelling at her. The police were yelling at her for yelling at them while they were doing their job. Ok..I thought..if any body else starts yelling, I’m running. The woman’s friend is now holding her back, the two polling workers are yelling at every one to calm down. Because there were 8 police officers, they could continue to yell at the woman and the guy with Bryan’s camera turned his attention back to us. “You can’t snap here it is wrong. You are trying to make Nigeria look bad.”

“No, we like Nigeria. We teach Nigerians.” There are no pictures. Just pictures from Kenya. Can I have my camera back?”

“No. No camera. I will call my boss. You will talk to him.”

Ok...before the boss shows up I am running. Then the lady yells, “Just leave the reporters alone.” Bryan and I yell, “We are not reporters! We are teachers.” A crowd is gathering. The yelling is still going on. There is no movement on the camera issue. Joseph is now standing beside me and he says, “ I’m going back and getting one of the guards.” I am thinking, “Wait, I will run back and get one the guards.” But Joseph is gone. I can’t leave Bryan here alone; he doesn’t want to leave without his camera. While he negotiates, I kinda listen but I am planning exit strategies. If four more people start yelling, I’m running. If another car pulls up, I’m running. If someone says reporter one more time I am running. If the two officers that have gone back to sit in the shade stand up again I am running. I have multiple exit strategies and there are all based on the fact that I don’t want to go to a Nigerian jail.

Bryan is in serious bartering mode now. “Keep memory card, I’ll take the camera.” Keep all the money in my pocket, I’ll take the camera.” He breaks off every once in awhile to ask, “Where is Joseph?” I want to tell Bryan that I will run back and find him, but instead I tell him he went for help.

The guy is unwilling to negoiate. He says we need to talk to his boss. Bryan asks if I have my cell phone, which I do and asks if we should call the embassy. The embassy is a long ways away. I’m thinking that it is time to run. There is still yelling there are more people and I still have my camera. Instead of that I listen when Bryan says, “Call Tom.”

“Hey Tom. We could use a little help here. We are at the front gate in front of 1004. The police have taken Bryan’s camera.”

Silence on the other end but I can still here the word, “Idiots.” “Ok,” Tom says, “I’m on my way.” I pass this news on to Bryan who asks where Joseph is. I can’t answer because now I’m trying to convince a cop that I didn’t snap and that I should get to keep my camera. Man, I should have run. I’m not sure what I said, but the guy believes me and lets go of the camera. I look back towards AIS and I can see Tom and one of the security guards. I look the other direction and here comes Joseph with the mopol guy. Ok, maybe I don’t need to run.

Tom shows up, schmoozes for 30 seconds with the election people, tells the officer that the camera belongs to the school and he can’t keep it, and still manages to give Bryan and I an “I told you so look.” The officer tries to take the film out of Bryan’s camera, which is hard to do with a digital camera. He gets frustrated, hands Bryan back the camera, and we start walking back to AIS. Tom tells us, “Hey, you could turn around and take a picture now and we could make a run for it.” This is what I have wanted to do for over an hour, but now I realize that of the four of us, I am by far the slowest of the bunch. Running doesn’t sound like a good plan now.

The 1004 Polling Station
This Saturday was another no movement day. We all stayed in the compound. I didn't think of running all day long.

Egypt 2007

The Great Pyramid of Cheops


Riding Camels

Ramses II at Memphis

The Step Pyramid


King Tut (King Tut)
Now when he was a young man,
He never thought he'd see
People stand in line to see the boy king.

Steve Martin

Well to be honest, I never thought I would see the boy king. But, once again that little phone call last April has made a lot of “I never thoughts” possible. We just spent our spring vacation in Egypt and it was an amazing trip.

We started in Cairo where we spent more time in the airport than we would have liked too. Not because of a long immigration line or extensive passport stamping, but one of our bags couldn’t find its way on to the plane. Sooner or later, a bag is bound to get lost and at least this time we had help from the Tour company representative. Forms were filled out money was collect…200 Egyptian Pounds otherwise known as 40 dollars. We left the airport and made our first Egyptian stop..A MacDonalds… Got to love traveling with kids. We just made it to the hotel and Emily and Jacob were ecstatic to find out that they had the DisneyChannel.

The next morning Mohammed, our guide, met us in the lobby and we were off to explore the City. Everybody has seen the pictures, but when you are driving down the street and you catch your first glimpse of the pyramids your mouth drops open and you forget to breathe. They are that amazing. The kids had their face pressed to the windows in a flash. Mohammed explained about the construction, the purpose, the size, but to be honest I didn’t hear any of it, I was totally lost in the fact that my hand was touching something that had stood for thousands of years and is the only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World. “Time has not damaged the pyramids, it is only man that has worn them away.” Mohammed told us. Pretty deep insight that didn’t soak in at the moment because we were headed to the obligatory camel ride. Now, this was not my idea. I look at a camel as a tall horse, and I’m not that fond of riding a horse. Despite what you see in pictures the Pyramids of Giza sit in the middle of the city, but when you are on a camel riding across a sand dune with the Pyramid behind you the city and the present completely disappear. After the camel ride we hopped back in the van drove 500 meters and turn left and there we were in front of the Sphinx. It is smaller than you think, more weathered then you believe, and still it is everything you have ever imagined. In case you were wondering at this point, we have taken 97 pictures and it is a little after noon.

The next stop on the tour was further north along the Nile River. The first pyramids and the first capital of Egypt were built in Saqqara. The first pyramid is a called the step pyramid and it is built in serious of layers, each on smaller than the on before it. 150 years later the technique was perfected and you have the pyramids of Giza. Nearby is the Egypt’s first capitol, Memphis, and this is where we had our first of many encounters with Pharaoh Ramses II. This guy ruled Egypt for 67 years and during that time; he managed to get his face everywhere. Not content with life size statues, he had himself carved in stones of massive proportions. We thought he was big in Memphis, but that was nothing compared to his size at Abu Simbel. We headed back to Giza for the sound and light show, which was a little over dramatic and loud. Emily gives it a big thumbs down. The best part of the show was getting to take pictures of the pyramids and Sphinx as the sun set.

Day two in Cairo was spent exploring its Islamic roots in the same clothes that we wore on the plane and on Cairo day 1. We visited the 12th century Citadel and the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, the leader of Egypt in the 1800’s not the boxer. Then it was a tour of Coptic Cairo. I have to admit that I have always thought of Egypt as an Islamic country. I remember that Moses led the Jews out of Egypt during the Exodus, so in my mind that left Egypt to Allah. The Coptic area of Cairo changed all that thinking. In less then a 100 meters there is a synagogue, a mosque, and an Eastern Orthodox Church. Although the Jewish population of Egypt is declining, right now 15% of the population is Christian. The afternoon was spent exploring the Egyptian museum. We saw mummies, not just the sarcophagus, but the real live (well, real dead) mummified bodies of several pharaohs. We walked past the funeral mask and gold coffin of the boy king, Tut. The museum is huge and stuffed full of more artifacts than could possible be seen in a decade. There are gigantic statues and gold sandals. Mummified monkeys and loaves of 3000-year-old bread. There are crates of artifacts scattered through out the museum that have not been unpacked.


The Pyramid of Chepron at Night

The Mosque of Mohammed Ali


The Night Train to Luxor

In the Valley of Kings

We left the museum and headed to hotel for a quick snack and chance to freshen up before our next adventure, a sleeper train to Luxor. We had two reserved compartments, which quickly became segregated into a boy room and a girl room. Jacob was completely enthralled with the whole set up and quickly went to exploring every nook and cranny of the compartment. After an in-flight, or is it an “inrail” meal, Jake and I watched as little towns rolled passed our window. One of the coolest things about Egypt is that people are out and about in the towns. They are sitting outside cafes and playing soccer in the streets, and walking through the towns well after dark. Soon the conductor knocked on the door and we stepped into the hall, while he turned our seat into a bunk bed. Of course, Jacob and Emily had staked claim on the top bunk and we were all soon rocked to sleep.

Day 3 of the trip and Day 4 of the same clothes started with a knock on the door and breakfast at 5 am. The train pulled into Luxor station just before 6 am and we headed off to pick up our guide, Sayed, on our way to the Valley of the Kings. The valley is a dusty trail between two dusty piles of rock the stretch up to blue desert sky. There are 73 tombs in the valley including the tomb of King Tut. Your ticket gets you into three tombs, and I don’t think it matters which tomb you see, they are all incredible. Carved into the limestone, the corridors lead deep into the surrounding hills. Now, if you give me all the known measuring tools in the world, a laser guided table saw, and precision titanium guides I couldn’t make a straight cut on a piece of wood. The Egyptians of the New Kingdom managed to vertical walls in stone with a hammer and chisel. Then they went to work with decorating. Paintings, stories, carvings, columns, and row after row of hieroglyphics cover the walls. The large outer stone sarcophaguses were still in many of the tombs. It was beyond imagination.

After the tombs it was temple time: Hatshepsut, a female ruler of Egypt, Karnak, and Luxor. These temples are huge, elaborate, and beautiful. Sayed was with us for the entire trip up the Nile. His knowledge of Egyptian history and mythology, plus a great sense of humor added to every exploration. He gave the kids Arabic cheat sheets to study so they could say "hello", "thank you", and other useful phrases.

Cruising down the Nile is as cool as it sounds. The boat was practically new and practically empty. The Nile leaves a band a green through the sand dunes on the western bank and the rocky hills. We sat on the sun deck and watched history roll past us. Small towns, carts pulled by donkeys, palm trees, and small farms filled the green space, all nourished with water from the Nile. We spent three full days on the boat and were entertained with belly dancing, whirling dervishes, and other ethnic dances. We toured the temples of Edfu, Kom Ombo, and the amazing beyond belief Abu Simbel. We walked the streets of Aswan, a Nubian village, and Edfu. Gina purchased scarves, spices, and jewelry. We rode on camels, in horse drawn carriages, sailed in feluccas, and cruised in motorboats.


The Egyptian God, Anubis, in the Temple of Hatshepsut

Looking towards the Sanctuary at Karnak Temple

Emily checking out the ruins of the Karnak Temple

Laundry day in Edfu

The shores of the Nile River

We eventually got to change clothes too. Our missing bag appeared on the cruise boat the morning we left Luxor. Of course we had stopped to buy some new clothes the night before. But even with that glitch I have to agree with Steve Martin…..

” Now, when I die,
Now don't think I'm a nut,
Don't want no fancy funeral,
Just one like ole king Tut (King Tut)

He coulda won a Grammy,
Buried in his jammies,
Born in Arizona, moved to Babylonia,
He was born in Arizona, got a condo made of stone-a,
King Tut”


We are loving Egypt

A Nile river cannonball