Monday, December 11,

After a feverish night Jorick felt awful in the morning. In spite of this we drove to Sharm El-Sheikh, a hideous tourist resort, where Jorick went to the doctor. The examination and X-ray pointed out that everything was fine, so we sought refuge in the peaceful Ras Mohammed National Park. This is a peninsula, which possesses a beautiful underwater world. Since we were afraid to get sicker, we didn’t go into the water and enjoyed our first sunset on the promised African land.

Tuesday, December 12

During breakfast we looked how a busload full of white tourists in bikinis and bathing suits got their 15 minutes snorkeling initiation lesson. After 25 minutes all the shivering white people went back to the bus and drove along to the next sight… We felt fortunate with our freedom and studied the pleasure cruisers (boats) passing along the coast of the park. Afterwards we drove around a little bit in the car. The motor started backfiring and after a quick check we decided to take a chance and drive further to El Tor anyway. There wasn’t anything special about the place, so we continued our route along the Gulf of Suez to Cairo. The sea and the coast were full of oil rigs…

Wednesday, December 13

In the ugly Suez we started our search for new sparkplugs and wires for Old Faithful. We met Ahmed Ismail there, a shipping agent who is able to organize all kinds of practical stuff for an Africa traveler, as far as customs, visa, boats to Sudan, Mombassa, Djibuti… is concerned. For those among you who would be interested, you can call him on his portable 0101565786. He took us to an internet café and we went to the Souq to go grocery shopping.

Thursday, December 14

After Jorick had installed the new sparkplugs and wires we drove without any problems further towards Cairo. After about 20 miles we heard an enormous bang and Jorick struggled with the wheel of Old Faithful until we regained control. In the breakdown lane we saw one of our tires had exploded, so we changed it and continued a little less at ease…

In Cairo, a city with about 20 million inhabitants, we honked around (you can’t really call it driving) and looked without any luck for the only camp site, motel Salma. After asking directions for about 10 times we fled Cairo and drove to Saqqara. Straight into the arms of Samir, who spoke fluent English, took us to the pyramids of Abu Shir and welcomed us later on in his home. His wife Freya cooked up a wonderful meal. After a lot of food, Chai, Nargile, a walk through town, some more Chai… we could sleep in the guest room. In the meantime somebody had stolen Joricks Polaroid filter and jacket from the car, since the window hadn’t been completely closed…

Friday, December 15

After a noisy and cold night on a bumpy mattress we got some breakfast: milk and cookies… After breakfast we drove further to the camel market of Cairo. As you can guess by its name, in this market camels are traded. This market used to be located in the very center of Cairo, but because of the congestion there it was moved to the edge of the city. All kinds of camels in different sizes… some overfed, some very skinny and sickly. Most of the salesmen were Sudanese and most of the buyers butchers from Cairo. The animals are traded without scales, using hand clapping (universal language) as means of communication. Next we drove into Cairo to look for a new tire and after a lot of negotiating we paid 550 EP for a Michelin inner tube.

Sami treated us to a delicious falafel and watched – he is a good Muslim in the middle of Ramadan (fasting period) – as we were eating… Next he took us to the stables next to the pyramids for a camel- and horseback ride. We negotiated a price with the manager and went on the back of these animals for a large tour around the pyramids… We returned to Samirs and were invited to breakfast (during the Ramadan you can only eat once the sun has gone down, thus Jorick and Winnie called this meal breakfast). We really would have loved to sleep in the car that night but Samir insisted and so we stayed another night in the guest room.

Saterday, December 16

After breakfast we drove with Samir to Cairo for a student card… and next to the post office. We showed him in an internet café the pictures on our website and returned back home for sandwiches and to get the laundry that Freya had done. After a long goodbye we set course for the freedom of the western oases. After a two hour drive we camped in the absolutely quiet desert… HE HE

Sunday,, December 17

We left early and set course for the first of five oases: Bahariyya. The landscape here is desolate and monotonous: waving plains with sand dunes in the distance. After some time some rock formations appeared, very much like the ones you see in American Westerns, only these mountains were black, thus its name: black desert. A little later we arrived in Bahariyya, our first real Oasis. It seems the plants here are of a much more vivid green than anywhere else. We did grocery shopping and went to the tourist information office, which turned out to be completely empty… We drove further to Farafra and camped at the foot of two enormous sand dunes.

Monday, December 18

We continued our way (the only road around) to the next oasis. About 200 to 250 miles further we drove through a white desert. While the black desert consists mainly of large volcanic mountains full of black rocks, the white desert consists mainly of white sands and rocks sculpted in outrageous shapes… The mushroom shaped ones were the most fascinating… We roamed around for a while, after which we drove further to the oasis. This one was spread out over a large area. After some driving around we decided to go for a walk. When returning we saw one tire was covered with oil. Jorick had checked the oil the night before and hadn’t screwed the cap on tight enough after he was finished… After making a temporary cap, we drove back for about 5 miles to try and find it. Winnie on the hood, Jorick hanging out of the window… our eyes focused on the road in front of us… No luck however… We decided to stop for the night. We found a beautiful camping spot on the top of a dune, under a dade tree. Jorick gave Bosra a bath in a nearby irrigation ditch. Bosra didn’t appreciate this in the least…

Tuesday, December 19

In the morning we got visitors: three local boys on a donkey. They came to say hello before continuing their way to school. Two older boys on a donkey and another one on a horse, wanted to talk for a while, but they only spoke Arabic. Given our limited knowledge of the language, the conversation was pretty short. Nevertheless, the oldest boy kept talking and asking questions. After half an hour of sorry and sawai sawai Arabic, we got somewhat fed up. Especially since our attempts at saying goodbye didn’t succeed. Even after we went to sit in the car and with all the windows and doors closed, his enthusiasm didn’t diminish. So we had no other choice then to pack up and leave, towards the Dakhla Oasis. We arrived at the time that school was just out, so the streets were full of little uniformed girls. Dakla is the largest Oasis. So we found a lot of green fields, houses, palm trees, little shops… After a visit we drove further into the desert to camp.

Wednesday, December 20

We arrived in the Al-Kharga Oasis, with the idea of doing some grocery shopping and to find out if there was a short cut to the temple of Abydos. The local policemen probably thought we took a little too much time and came to ask us what the problem was. Before we realized it we got an escort to the road to Baris. From there we could take the road to Luxor and next we could go back north to the Abydos temple. The use of other roads (trails) wasn’t allowed. Sixty miles further in the Baris Oasis we did our grocery shopping and took the road to Luxor. The first 300 miles of road consisted of a thin fluid layer of tar…We couldn’t drive along it, so we drove very slowly on top of it… Splashes of black muck were flying around, in part because of the strong wind. Back on the normal regular road we estimated the damage: our dripping car and the strong wind caused our clothes to become covered in black spots. The only thing missing was the feathers… The only option was to drive further. At night we used gasoline covered rags to make the car somewhat presentable again. After an hour and a half we could touch OF (Old Faithful) again without sticking to it. Partly intoxicated because of the gasoline we ate our dinner, which seemed to have a gasoline taste to it, and dove into our tar – smelling bed.

Thursday, December 21

Back in the inhabited world… We entered Luxor, looking for a camp site, recommended in our Lonely Planet guide. We found it and thought it too expensive. Sightseeing time: we visited the temple of Luxor and in the afternoon the temple of Karnak. The enormous pillar galleries stimulated our imagination. There was no end to the temple of Karnak. Now that our addition to ruins had been satisfied once more, we drove back into the desert. We detoured a police road block and slept on forbidden terrain.

Friday, December 22

In the morning a hot air balloon flew over our tent, with a phlegmatic Englishman in it saying: ‘You would think you’d have some privacy out here, wouldn’t you ?’. After a quiet breakfast, we packed our things and drove though some forbidden (thus tourist free) villages, looking for some meat and bread. We bought one kilo (2.2 pounds) of camel meat. There was only one baker for the two towns, and it was still too early for bread so we waited outside. An old man came and sat next to us and invited us to some tea. It turned out to be the owner of the bakery. His sons started working, while we got a tour of the bakery, the surrounding lands and were introduced to the whole family. A whole bunch of sons and some nephews were harvesting sugar cane, so we got three stalks to chew on. Loaded with cookies, cheese and bread we drove further towards Esna. We followed the Nile through a couple of small towns, and since it was Friday (day of rest) 3 quarters of the population was on the road. We got stuck in a traffic jam through the market square… through the crowd of people… In search for a beautiful spot, we arrived in another town, where the locals started stuffing our car full of sugar cane, through the open window. When asking for directions, a little boy immediately was put on top of our spare tire (on the hood of the car), and showed us the way. We found a camping spot in between the sand dunes…

Saturday, December 23

Disaster… Here we are in the middle of the desert and our battery is dead… So we try to use our spare one… Also dead!!! So we have to push… That doesn’t go too well in the sand… So to make a story full of !”$£$£% short, Jorick went to look for a tractor and Winnie started packing all the contents of the car (which we had taken out to push) back in. We had succeeded in pushing about 15 feet. After a long hike we found a farmer, who wanted to come and help us with his tractor… Old Faithful started without problems, but after a quick check Jorick found out that the alternator couldn’t be charged up anymore… We parked on top of the hill (so we wouldn’t have to push anymore) and after a thorough investigation by our technical staff (=Jorick) we diagnosed that the regulator of the alternator was kaput… So the same problem we encountered earlier in Jordan (remember ?). In the meantime it had turned dark and we had a very cozy dinner by candlelight with a view of the Nile valley…