We went to the cairo museum and saw a tooting mask (king Tut's). It was mostly gold with beautiful rock that was green and dark and light blue. Tut's beard was long, wow! It had two serpents on the head that represent upper and lower Egypt. He was so full of himself that he decided to make a coffin around him, another around that and another around that and then a sarcophagus around that. And around the sarcophagus was a pyramid (I think I'll make a pyramid here... hmm, not big enough- make a new one!)
Animals were so important to the Egyptians they even mummified their animals. We saw a baby alligator, this big-{ }
And an adult alligator about 50 times that length. There were monkeys and Cobras. There were even the bones of a hippo! There were sarcophagi for shrews (interesting).
We saw a mummified common person which I think is crazy because everyone needed to go to the after life, well didn't need to. Some of them had real sarcophagi and some just had baskets. As you might know the king's had their brain taken out through their noses during mummification, but I don't think the common people did.
That museum was great! Sorry photos with this one, no cameras were allowed inside.
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Heading for the longest day...
And so a few days of amazingness in Jordan. We saw only a little of it as we had to decide between south along the Nile or Jordan in 5 days, and in the end we are glad to have escaped the mayhem of Egypt for a more leisurely pace. Two nights in a Bedouin camp is something not to be missed....if you ever get the opportunity, take it. Then three days in Petra wandering the ruins of the ancient sandstone city, the high points and the canyons while singing Indiana Jones Theme songs was pretty fabulous too.
In the midst of all this, Knecht Ruprecht came with St Nicklaus and the kids fears that Santa may not find us were alleviated as they learned that they are worthy of a visit from him in a few weeks.
But alas, all the fun has come to an end for a few days as we head to Arusha, Tanzania. A full day of chaos getting from bus to ferry to bus via border crossings, a nine hours bus to Cairo ( guaranteed to be frightening and dirty), a night flight in to Tanzania and then who knows what is in store on the the 14 hour trek from Dar to Arusha... What we all know is that at the end of the next few days of travel, we have a 10 day safari awaiting us. Now there is a carrot! So, the longest day may be about epic travel stories, but truly our longest day will be on Dec 21 in the southern hemisphere while on Safari!
Our Egypt and Jordan photos should be up in the next few days, it has taken a while to get them uploaded on slow connections and we still have to sort them.
We are not sure of our ability to be online once in Tanzania, there are varying degrees of reports about power and connectivity..so this may be good bye for a while.
Merry Christmas to everyone...sorry no individual cards this year, but know we are thinking of each one of you and wish you the best for a fun holiday with family and friends.
Best wishes
Karen and family
In the midst of all this, Knecht Ruprecht came with St Nicklaus and the kids fears that Santa may not find us were alleviated as they learned that they are worthy of a visit from him in a few weeks.
But alas, all the fun has come to an end for a few days as we head to Arusha, Tanzania. A full day of chaos getting from bus to ferry to bus via border crossings, a nine hours bus to Cairo ( guaranteed to be frightening and dirty), a night flight in to Tanzania and then who knows what is in store on the the 14 hour trek from Dar to Arusha... What we all know is that at the end of the next few days of travel, we have a 10 day safari awaiting us. Now there is a carrot! So, the longest day may be about epic travel stories, but truly our longest day will be on Dec 21 in the southern hemisphere while on Safari!
Our Egypt and Jordan photos should be up in the next few days, it has taken a while to get them uploaded on slow connections and we still have to sort them.
We are not sure of our ability to be online once in Tanzania, there are varying degrees of reports about power and connectivity..so this may be good bye for a while.
Merry Christmas to everyone...sorry no individual cards this year, but know we are thinking of each one of you and wish you the best for a fun holiday with family and friends.
Best wishes
Karen and family
Monday, November 29, 2010
Snorkeling in the great Red Sea
We are in Dahab on the coast of the Red Sea in Egypt. We went snorkeling in the best snorkeling area I have ever done. The first day we just went outside the Penquin Hotel, where we are staying. We discovered that day that my snorkel had too big of a hole and we had to dump it. It was still pretty cool but I didn't see many fish at all. Yesterday, we shared snorkels at the Lighthouse snorkel area. It was the coolest snorkel area I've ever seen. I went out for the first time, saw a few fish and then my mask started leaking. So we went in to the beach area. For the second time I went snorkeling in the lighthouse, we fixed my mask and then I could go snorkeling with my Mom. I went out on her back to where it got really pretty. We saw a few fish, I got too excited and breathed with my nose a bit so my mask started leaking again and we had to go in. Darn it!
The third day, today, we bought a new snorkel for me and then the snorkel started filling up because the waves were so big. We were at the area called the Islands, which were only amazing if you went really far out. After the Islands, we met a friend, Nathan, who we had met in Olympos, Turkey and went for milkshakes. I had a pineapple vanilla thick shake, that had a lot of really yummy ice cream in it, which is probably rare here. This afternoon the water got calmer and I really wanted to try snorkeling again because I was getting anxious to see some of the cool fish. I went out on Dad's back and then I didn't panic, I was totally calm and guess what? I saw Indian lion fish, pencil fish, a puffer fish puffed out, a really cool blue fish with purple spots and a purple tail and a yellow face, and I saw two bright yellow fish with colorful stripes on their tail. I finally did it. Yahoo, yippee kayaye!
I can't wait until tomorrow to check out another really famous site named the eel garden. It is supposed to be really cool.
That's it for now, bye,
Emilia
ps. there is a really nice waterfront walk path that I like to walk barefoot on.
The third day, today, we bought a new snorkel for me and then the snorkel started filling up because the waves were so big. We were at the area called the Islands, which were only amazing if you went really far out. After the Islands, we met a friend, Nathan, who we had met in Olympos, Turkey and went for milkshakes. I had a pineapple vanilla thick shake, that had a lot of really yummy ice cream in it, which is probably rare here. This afternoon the water got calmer and I really wanted to try snorkeling again because I was getting anxious to see some of the cool fish. I went out on Dad's back and then I didn't panic, I was totally calm and guess what? I saw Indian lion fish, pencil fish, a puffer fish puffed out, a really cool blue fish with purple spots and a purple tail and a yellow face, and I saw two bright yellow fish with colorful stripes on their tail. I finally did it. Yahoo, yippee kayaye!
I can't wait until tomorrow to check out another really famous site named the eel garden. It is supposed to be really cool.
That's it for now, bye,
Emilia
ps. there is a really nice waterfront walk path that I like to walk barefoot on.
Puffies
Hello everybody,
I know that puffies sounds like Puffins again, but guess what? It means puffer fish! We are in Dahab on the coast of the Red Sea in Egypt. We are staying at a place called the Penquin ( even though there are no penguins). The whole reason we came to Dahab is for the snorkeling (pretty amazing)! We have snorkeled for three whole days and have seen maybe a hundred different kinds of very colorful fish. I wanted to rent an underwater camera so everyone can see how amazing the fish are but it was too expensive. I went snorkeling about one hour ago and knew what the puffer fish looked like, so I found one, then scared it and made it puff! I also saw an eel that was green and black and scary. I was wondering what it was until it looked at me. It looked me for quite a while, I looked at it, then it opened its mouth and showed me its sharp teeth. This usually means " don't come near me or I will eat you up" so I didn't, I swam away (scary).
There are three different places we have snorkeled in the three days and every place has been amazing mostly for the fish. But the coral reef is super colorful and fun to look at. There is a type of clam that every now and then you see in the coral. It is very beautiful and very sensitive. If you swim down near it, wave your hand in front of it, the blue and purple sucks into the clam and if you scare it a lot the clam completely closes- interesting.
We'll go snorkeling again tomorrow to hopefully see even more types of fish and maybe even a different type of clam.
Bye for now, Mattias
Ps I'll try to put on some pics later.
I know that puffies sounds like Puffins again, but guess what? It means puffer fish! We are in Dahab on the coast of the Red Sea in Egypt. We are staying at a place called the Penquin ( even though there are no penguins). The whole reason we came to Dahab is for the snorkeling (pretty amazing)! We have snorkeled for three whole days and have seen maybe a hundred different kinds of very colorful fish. I wanted to rent an underwater camera so everyone can see how amazing the fish are but it was too expensive. I went snorkeling about one hour ago and knew what the puffer fish looked like, so I found one, then scared it and made it puff! I also saw an eel that was green and black and scary. I was wondering what it was until it looked at me. It looked me for quite a while, I looked at it, then it opened its mouth and showed me its sharp teeth. This usually means " don't come near me or I will eat you up" so I didn't, I swam away (scary).
There are three different places we have snorkeled in the three days and every place has been amazing mostly for the fish. But the coral reef is super colorful and fun to look at. There is a type of clam that every now and then you see in the coral. It is very beautiful and very sensitive. If you swim down near it, wave your hand in front of it, the blue and purple sucks into the clam and if you scare it a lot the clam completely closes- interesting.
We'll go snorkeling again tomorrow to hopefully see even more types of fish and maybe even a different type of clam.
Bye for now, Mattias
Ps I'll try to put on some pics later.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tombs
Hello again every single person,
We are in Cairo with a population of 20 million plus across the Nile there are another 12 million and 4 million come into Cairo to work every day. Who can imagine how crazy it is with as many people in Canada as there are in two cities that are more like one?
Anyhow, today we went on a private tour to all the pyramids in the area and saw the Sphynx (it looks smaller in pictures than it actually is). We went in to a pyramid that everybody except for my little darn sister had to duck for. There was a sarcophagus in the pyramid bigger than the entrance. See if you can figure out how they got it in there (answer in the comment box).
We saw a statue of Ramses II and his nose was the size of my head, so you can imagine how ginourmously huge it was!
In Cairo you need to be really cautious when you cross the road because there are about three painted lanes and 12 lanes of cars. So you have to cross one car at a time and stand in the middle of the road with cars going in front of you and behind you. One nutty guy that helped us cross the street (he was a human shield) said to us "a tip to cross the street is to close your eyes and open your heart" (silly).
Bye for now, Mattias
ps... vegetarian tip - eat Koshary - it is a pasta with lots of sauces, chick peas, lentils and some other good stuff. There are fried onions. We went to a restaurant that this was their only food.
We are in Cairo with a population of 20 million plus across the Nile there are another 12 million and 4 million come into Cairo to work every day. Who can imagine how crazy it is with as many people in Canada as there are in two cities that are more like one?
Anyhow, today we went on a private tour to all the pyramids in the area and saw the Sphynx (it looks smaller in pictures than it actually is). We went in to a pyramid that everybody except for my little darn sister had to duck for. There was a sarcophagus in the pyramid bigger than the entrance. See if you can figure out how they got it in there (answer in the comment box).
We saw a statue of Ramses II and his nose was the size of my head, so you can imagine how ginourmously huge it was!
In Cairo you need to be really cautious when you cross the road because there are about three painted lanes and 12 lanes of cars. So you have to cross one car at a time and stand in the middle of the road with cars going in front of you and behind you. One nutty guy that helped us cross the street (he was a human shield) said to us "a tip to cross the street is to close your eyes and open your heart" (silly).
Bye for now, Mattias
ps... vegetarian tip - eat Koshary - it is a pasta with lots of sauces, chick peas, lentils and some other good stuff. There are fried onions. We went to a restaurant that this was their only food.
TD and P of C
Hello everybody, sorry I haven't blogged for a while. While we were in Istanbul, we went to a TURKISH DANCE. At the dance there were belly dancers and men dancers and there were traditional dancers. There was a bit of Turkish jazz. My favorite was in second part. It was a solo belly dance and she had little jingle things on her dress so when she moved she jingled. The dance was in an 500 year old Hamam (Turkish bath) that was converted in 1986 to a theatre. There wasn't a big stage. You sat in regular chairs that went in a semi circle and the stage didn't go up high. At the intermission they were giving away Turkish Delight and drinks.
In Egypt, where we are now, it is very hot and we are in Cairo. Today we went to see the PYRAMIDS OF CAIRO. The ones still standing and full, in total there were 10. When we went into a pyramid that was very small, Mom, Mattias and Dad had to duck, but I didn't- hee hee hee hee heee ha ha ha. We saw the Sphynx and the day we are flying out in 2 weeks we are going to see Pharaoh Tutankhamen's famous mask at the museum of Egypt.
In Egypt, where we are now, it is very hot and we are in Cairo. Today we went to see the PYRAMIDS OF CAIRO. The ones still standing and full, in total there were 10. When we went into a pyramid that was very small, Mom, Mattias and Dad had to duck, but I didn't- hee hee hee hee heee ha ha ha. We saw the Sphynx and the day we are flying out in 2 weeks we are going to see Pharaoh Tutankhamen's famous mask at the museum of Egypt.
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