Memphis and Some Pyramids

Have you ever woken up and decided "We should do something new today?"

Well I do that all the time!! Mohanned, on the other hand, does not. 

What a great hubby I have because he is willing to go along with my chaotic and random flow of seeing everything Egypt has to offer. 

This blog post is going to have a small history lesson it in for you. Not because I want to bore you but that is really the only way for you to understand why I wanted to go to each location (besides the fact I want to visit every pyramid Egypt has...just because).

We woke up at 9am...actually....Jackson woke us up at 9am. I didn't want to sit around the house because I knew it would be a beautiful day. I decided to Google pyramids around Egypt. I wanted a fairly close trip though. I found that in Dahshur there are a few pyramids. Dahshur is only about an hour away from us so it was the perfect location! 

I knew Dahshur was near Memphis so I wanted to try and find something in Memphis to see. Mohanned isn't as open about walking in random places as I am so therefore I always have to have a specific destination to go to in order for him to do it. 

History:
Memphis, city and capital of ancient Egypt and an important centre during much of Egyptian history. Memphis was founded about 2925 bce by Menes, who supposedly united the two prehistoric kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt. The original name of the city was the White Walls, and the term may have referred originally to the king’s palace, which would have been built of whitewashed brick. The Memphis archaeological zone was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

See that wasn't too much to learn! 

I wanted to see the old capital of Egypt even though I knew there wasn't much left. However, the huge huge huge draw for me was being able to view the Colossal Ramesses II! 

Here are a few pictures of the trip in Memphis.

After seeing the tiny open air museum there we ventured off to Dahshar to see the pyramids! We were able to see the Red, Black, Bent and nameless pyramids before they closed at 4pm. The drive to the pyramids was amazing! I love the farmlands and have plants around me.

Once we arrived at the pyramids we explored the Red Pyramid first. We were able to climb up 75 m (247 feet) and then climb down into the pyramid 65 m (213 f). At the bottom of the walkway inside the pyramid was 3 rooms. It was amazing to see what the inside of the pyramid looked like! Jackson was so brave running around and jumping up and down inside. 

 The Red Pyramid (the 3rd largest in Egypt) 

 Jackson almost at the bottom

 Looking at the top of the pyramid from the inside

 How to get to the next room

 The view from the bottom up

 Almost out!

The Red Pyramid

After leaving the Red Pyramid (with our shaky legs thanks to the amazing workout!) we went behind the pyramid to where a broken baby mummy casket was. It is very heartbreaking that it was discarded like rubbish. 

We were informed by the police officer that the triangular shaped object that was placed on top of a stone actually was originally on top of the Red Pyramid but fell off. 

 The pyramid in the background is the Bent Pyramid

A quick drive away and on a very very very nice military made road was the Bent Pyramid and the nameless pyramid behind it. Very few people come to these because there is nothing to do there except for look. To me though...that's enough! 

Last but not least is the only pyramid we couldn't drive to. There isn't much left of it, but that doesn't mean it isn't important. 

I present to you the Black Pyramid....

Travelling around Egypt does not have to be expensive.... the entrance fee for Memphis: 
Foreigners were 40le 
Locals were 3le

Red/Black/Bent/Nameless Pyramid:
Foreigners were 50le
Locals were 3le

Since we have our own car we only had to pay for gas. 

We paid out a total of about 50le in "tips" it would have been less but we only had 20's le.

Alhamdulillah we had a great, safe, and educational time. 

New Restaurant on the Radar

Hi! We are back again in Egypt and I stopped doing my blog...boo on me! I really do want to keep this up. I will try soooooooo much harder this time.

After being back in Egypt we fell into the trap of doing the same thing over and over and over again. After all, this is "home" for us. So the other day I decided that we would break out of the mold and start doing new things each month, at least once per month we would experience something new to us. There are so many hidden gems in this country and I want to explore them and show them to the world!!

So this is kind of a boring first post considering we just decided to break out of the mold and do new things. Most posts will have pictures to go along with it but since this blog was an after thought there are none (however, I will take some when we go back to the restaurant because it was THAT amazing!)

Anyways, the month of October is simply that I tried a new "restaurant" to eat at. My husband grew up eating there but it was the first time Jackson and myself went.  The place in Arabic is called عبلة in English is "Aabla".


The "restaurant" which is better described as "an upscale street vendor with a permanent location", is located in an area of Cairo called Kerdasa off the street (it appeared that this was the main road). The grill was placed by the road and makeshift tables and chairs were strewn around. Most men had beards and all women were wearing a niqab (veiled faces except for the eyes). Next to the grill was a small walkway opened up to a larger sitting area and a small green garden area for the children to play. Cats were found throughout the eating areas in hopes to get leftover food. (smart smart cats!)


When we arrived it was night (about 10:00pm). The weather in this part of town was much cooler than I expected so I was chilly in my short sleeve shirt. Keep in mind I am the ONLY foreigner in this area, so that caused looks. Then add in the fact that I am wearing a short sleeve shirt while all the other women are fully veiled created even more looks. That's okay though, my hubby and I were completely oblivious to it all. ;)   We walked right in and sat on a table located in the middle of everyone else.


My hubby was greeted by several of the workers, who obviously remembered him from all his years of dining there. Jackson was bored pretty quickly and left in order to go play with other children in the small garden. My hubby ordered for us. It was the BEST choice he made!


The food came: 1 order of chicken livers, 1 order of camel kofta, and 2 orders of chicken. Each of us received a green salad, fresh bread and tahina salad. The food was amazing! The livers were cooked perfectly with just a hint of spice. The kofta, had a wonderful smokey taste while still remaining juicy inside and the chicken was the BEST I have ever had. We completed almost everything and took the remaining chicken home.


Waking up the next morning the first thing I said to my hubby (even before "Good morning" or "I love you") was "Man, I am craving some more liver."


And that is how I found my favorite restaurant in all of Egypt.


P.S. If you are wondering, Jackson does it it all....his favorite sandwich is roasted cow tongue. We are very lucky not to have a picky eater child and one that is rolling with the punches in all of our wild adventures.

Price for meal including tip: 77le
Converted to USD: $10.71

Restaurant on Facebook

Banana Islands, Christmas 2012

Banana Islands lie southwest of the Freetown Peninsula in Sierra Leone. The two main islands, Dublin Island and Ricketts Island, are linked by a causeway (a stone walkway built by the slaves). Dublin Island is known for its beaches while Ricketts Island is best known for its forests. Mes0Meheux is the uninhabited third island of the Banana Islands. THis is where we spend our Christmas 2014. 

We stayed at the Banana Island Guest House http://www.bananaislandguesthouse-biya.org it was amazing! It is a small "resort" style place with 5 octagon shaped houses that are split into different private rooms for guests. We stayed in a room which had 2 queen size beds with mosquito nets, a single cushioned seat and a sofa with a coffee table. We had our own private spacious bathroom and both of our windows opened to an ocean front view. The guesthouse is owned and operated by the locals that live on the Banana Island (some even born there). All proceeds are given back within the community to help with the primary school as well as any other things the small village needs (there are only about 900 people that live on both the islands). 

We had to drive from our house at Bottom Mango around the internal road of the peninsula.  We passed through Regent, went through Waterloo and crossed around through Tumbo and passed Mama Beach (another great resort so I have heard).  We took the turn headed towards Kent passed Burah Beach (great surfing spot) and finally landed at a single pole "security station".  The whole driving time took about an hour and a half. This time will probably be cut in half once all the roads are completely paved.  A guy in a yellow shirt met us and guided us to where our driver should park the car so we were able to unpack our bags. As a family, yes Colossus included, we cautiously walked over the broken glass and headed to the water.  There was another couple, British, at the shore waiting for us to arrive so we could take a upscale traditional boat. I say it was upscale-traditional because it was carved out tree but it had a canopy and an engine!  The drive across the water was extremely relaxing for me, cautiously hitting the waves and rolling over the tops of them and gently rocking back and forth when the boat came to a stop while waiting for the locals to pull up fishing nets to check their catch. This for me was the beginning of paradise. For Mo, on the other hand, the boat ride consisted of 25 minutes of not talking but gritting his teeth in case the sensation of motion-sickness became too much to bare.  Luckily though, thanks to Dramine and the anti-motion-sickness pressure point wrist bands it never came to that point. 

We passed several local fisherman boats, their nets looked heavy with the fresh fish they were bringing on board. We gave a friendly wave and continued on. Arriving to the guesthouse was beautiful! The beach seemed clean, there were smiling faces waiting us and we could see a scatter of tables and chairs where we could eat! I was excited to get out! One worker helped to carry Jackson to the shore while another took Colossus' dog crate; I refused to allow them to hold him.  Once on shore they graciously showed us to our room. When we walked in it was a sense of “This is Africa” but not in a bad way, just as this is what a resort looks like in a 3^rd world country.

After settling in for a few minutes we decided that it would be nice to sit at one of the tables to rest and take in the relaxing view. We were immediately greeted by smiling faces asking us what we would like to eat for lunch. Looking at the menu it took me only a brief second before saying “Lobster!” Mo ordered lobster too! 

Almost immediately one of the men working there wadded into the water and opened up a cage. He walked up the beach towards us and waited for our approval of the size of the lobster before heading up towards the kitchen.  While waiting for food, Mo and I sat and enjoyed listening to the waves crashing on the sand. Jackson on the other hand, was playing in the sand only to turn around and complain that his hands were sandy. LOL. Oh kids!

 

Time in Sierra Leone so far....The first house

I knew keeping this blog thing would be impossible for me...but here I am again, trying.

To Recap:

We moved to Sierra Leone from Sheikh Zayed, Egypt on August 2, 2012. We made this trip as a family. My husband, Mo, our almost 3 year old son, Jackson, and our almost 6 year old Chihuahua, Colossus.

The first house we lived in was a nightmare. We cried almost every night. It was in Goderich and in the ghetto. Once we turned off the main road we traveled on an uneven ditch-filled, water pipe busted, "local" road.  We drove past tin roofed shacks where the local poor people lived and the local dunk men would often shout at our car demanding money for the "security" they provided for us. This was never the case. My husband every now and then would roll down the window and offer 5,000 Leones to them. This seemed like a nice gesture but only encouraged them to increase the harassment. Once we made it around the final turn a red, rusted, wired held together gated greeted us. This was our new "home". Once inside the gate the local black and white dog named Blackie would greet us. We parked the black 1996 Nissan Pathfinder on the uneven terrain and then walked up to the house through another gate. Our house was very small. Usually you would describe a house as small and cozy but that latter word is not one to describe this. The house was hot, dark, dull, uncomfortable, insect ridden, and depressing. Of a typical 30 day month we did not have electricity 25 of the days.  It was too small to move around in even with our small family. There was 2 bedrooms a kitchen which only one person could fit semi comfortably in at a time, a dinning/living room, and a tiny bathroom in which the door could not be opened fully due to hitting the sink. The landlord (half Sierra Leonean/half Lebanese) lived on the same compound and across stoop from us. There was also a "security guard/gardener" that lived on the premise too in a one room shack.

While living in the house we hired a maid to help with the house work, even though the house was tiny the bugs would overwhelm me. We had her come into the house Monday to Friday and used gasoline to mop the floors to keep the ants and other crawling critters away. Nothing worked though and the landlord often told us, "This is Africa what do you expect?"