Day 4 Excursions

Aug 19

The day began with an excursion to the Pyramids of Giza. Our huge caravan of 13 buses took off once again for the hour and a half journey. We were given a police escort which shortened the time. Once at the site we had a couple hours to freely roam around. As soon as we walked off the bus, the local con artists were waiting, licking their chops, and went to work offering “free” gifts to anyone willing to take then. Jacobs “free” picture on a camel ended up costing $20 -- taken with his own camera. He also fell for another “free” head scarf which took another $5. To learn how it happened, you’ll have to talk to Jacob. I’m sure the story itself will be worth far more than $25 as it is retold over the years.

Even Rob had his money literally lifted from his wallet. A $20 crime that will return much more in its retelling. I photographed the crime scene moments before it happened, as you will see.

Many in our delegation queued up for a very hot and claustrophobic peek inside a Pyramid. Rob’s comment, “This would be a poor place to have a heart attack.” Moments earlier, someone had been taken out on a stretcher.

Instead, I took a walk around the middle Pyramid looking for a good angle for a photograph. Half way around, I was met by a man with three horses offering to take me to the best spot for viewing all nine Pyramids. So we made and deal and for $40 I mounted up and took off with a mighty, “hi ho Silver, away.” We trotted and galloped over the desert for an hour and a half, stopping off at different overlooks to take pictures. He spoke English well which he learned doing this job for 25 years – starting at the age of 10. He owns the horses and lives in a village near the Pyramids with a wife, daughter and two sons.

When I got back the buses had left the Pyramid parking lot where they said they would be waiting until 1 pm. Another surprise, they had moved to the Sphinx lot. A few others were in the same pickle but knew where the buses had gone. We took off walking to find them.

In the afternoon, guests had the option of getting back on the bus for another hour long ride to tour the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo. Rob, a museum guy, loved it and thought it was fabulous in spite of the non air-conditioned rooms. The contestants remained in Mubarak City for an IMAX show and the game of Paintball. That’s where teams dress up in protective clothing and shoot paint at each other instead of bullets. It was difficult to move people through the game fast enough to engage very many participants. Jacob was the only one mildly interested, and didn’t get to play.

After 10 pm, the teams were confined to their rooms, while the leaders translated long into the night, some ending as late as 3 am.

Here are my best shot of the day, best viewed as a slide show.

Pictures 4