Hi Everyone,
For those of you who follow my musings regularly you may be wondering where are my videos, photos etc from the Nov group.
Well, first – the trip was a great success and, not having been back in Egypt for a year was a great advantage because I saw Egypt and it’s progress as well as it’s regressions in the areas of tourism with new eyes. Yes, there are wonderful opportunites to visit new sites within some places but, unfortunately, there have also been changes that are not so comfortable or even understandable for visitors.
In my opinion, some of the changes will impact the visitor experience in a negative way, and I am currently making some changes to my 2025 itineraries to compensate for these changes. The adjustments will not be visible in the layout of the itineraries, as they will mostly be changes to behind-the-scenes logistics. as well as changes my guides will be making to the material they are presenting.
God or the Universe – whatever your name for it has been extremely kind to me – it has put the most amazing person my way who will be working closely from now on with my partners and me as a guide. His knowledge of science as well as Egyptology is unrivalled, in my opinion, and I am sooooo excited to be adding him as a permanent member to my team, especially for the group trips, throughout 2025.
As to why I have not been posting or updating – the trip was unreal in the number of sites we got in from day to day, and while I and my amazing 8-year-old grandson took TONS of photos and videos, I didn’t have a minute to spare at the end of every day for anything except my welcome bed!
Unfortunately, the trip did not end so well for me. I spent 3 hours on a freezing cold bus from Dublin Airport to Cork, without a coat, and caught the worst chest infection of my entire life. Two weeks later I am still not fully recovered. But, prior to that, I forgot my age during our private visit inside the Gt. Pyramid! My eagerness to get up to the Kings Chamber (to look for the Alpha and Omega symbols found by Robert Edward Grant and down into the subterranean chamber (only open by special permission in a private visit) left me with 4 damaged discs in my back. Let me repeat that the pyramid wasn’t the problem – me forgetting my age and not taking it slower was the problem! Managing to get through the rest of the trip with those painful discs was a miracle I did not appreciate until getting home. However, I am lucky enough to have a wonderful chiropractor here in Cork who is slowly but surely helping me heal them.