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February 2006 Newsletter
Howdy folks, lots to report so let’s get to it...
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First and foremost, this email serves as an "After Action Report" on the recent Egypt/Sinai trip led by yours truly.
My four guests, John, Sabine, Elsie and Julie could not have been a more fun and interesting group. These folks certainly made an impact on the Cairenes and Bedouin of the Sinai who hosted us.
Our group assembled in Cairo, which was in the throes of the Africa Cup Soccer Tournament. Every country was represented and on the night that Egypt won its first match, the streets were simply electric! Egyptian flags flew from every taxi cab, bus and donkey cart. Egypt ultimately won the Cup, too.
The next day, however, we put the urban environs behind us and headed east into the Sinai Desert. Traveling under the Suez Canal via tunnel, Sabine asked if it were possible to see the Canal. Our driver made a slight detour, wading through minimal security and took us directly to the water’s edge where we watched cargo ships, loaded with containers from all over the world, ply these historic waters. Quite a site.
En route to the Red Sea coastal town of Nuweiba where we’d meet my Bedouin family, we stopped at Gezirat Faroun (Pharoah’s Island), an outcropping of rock, just a few hundred yards offshore in the Gulf of Aqaba. This Crusader-era fortification has played host to some of history’s most intriguing characters including Salah Al Din (Saladin) and T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). Built by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1116, this vantage point offers views of Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Once in Nuweiba, we had dinner at the home of my Bedouin family, headed by Saleh bin Suleiman of the Muzeina tribe. The next day would see some minor preparations being made like the purchase of some local clothing for John and a jacket for Julie. We also enjoyed a half-day hike through the geological wonder of an area known as Colored Canyon. We might have made better time, but group member Elsie, whose fascination with the Bedouin breed of dogs was never ending, just wouldn’t allow it!
Day 1 of our camel trek took us to the village of Wadi Samghi. Hajji Mileyha and Hajj Zayed (Hajji and Hajj being the feminine and masculine titles of reverence for those who’ve made the pilgrimage to Mecca) are the grandparents of virtually all of the 3 dozen or more children in this gathering of feed sack, corrugated tin, shipping pallet and particle board structures. Seeing both of them was truly a delight. Zayed’s health is not great, but he’s still moving around and Mileyha was overseeing a sitting area full of children, while making cheese out of some fresh goat’s milk. Group member Julie jumped right in and shook the jerry can full of milk and immediately endeared herself to the locals.
From Samghi, we headed with our camels and half-dozen Bedouin guides, all family of Saleh’s, to an area overseen by Saleh and his family, where they’ve dug a 10-meter well and have even begun growing olives and grapes. Ever the fastidious, Saleh’s "compound" is as clean as this rock strewn, sandy desert will allow. He was especially proud to show us the "pantry" he’d created by walling up a cleft in the rock with stone and cement. Mounted up on camels, we then headed to Wadi Arwaybayya, our stopping point for the night.
At Arwaybayya, we stayed in the "beyt sha’ar" (goat hair tent) of my good friends Salem and Emira and 3 of their 5 children Haisha, Eid and Noel. 2 years ago I’d brought a group through here, just 3 weeks after the birth of a camel. The "bacra" (young female camel) was doing well and I was tickled to learn that Salem now has a jeep. This is good, because heretofore, he’d only been able to charge his cell phone thanks to the good graces of passing vehicles! Salem’s phone will die no more forever...
Bitterly cold winds had blown during that day’s ride and I must admit that even this experienced trekker was concerned for the warmth and well being of the group. Never fear, though. The beyt sha’ar protected us as these simple, but functional dwellings have for centuries. A good fire and Bedouin tea and none of us roused at all that night!
The next morning we witnessed the transformation of group member John into "Sheikh Kabir" (big boss). Cloaked in his "abaya" (woolen Arab overcoat) and "sh-maq" (Bedouin headgear), John resembled Ibn Saud, the progenitor of contemporary Saudi Arabia, with his ample gray beard and larger than 6-foot stature. John was now our ticket to anywhere we wanted to go and really left an impression on all whom we met along the way!
Our destination that night would be the oasis of Ein Khudra (believed to be the Biblical oasis of Hazeroth) and we stopped along the way to hike into Closed Canyon, a narrow testimony to historic water and wind erosion. At times, the only way to forge on was to turn sideways, this sandstone cut in the rocks was so narrow.
By late afternoon, we’d arrived at Ein Khudra and elected to stay in the thatched-palm hut owned by a widow named Rathia. Rathia’s hospitality was appreciated by the group and all set out to explore the area. Group member Sabine began taking pictures and in fact, half the time I never saw her entire face. It seems as though she had adopted the local custom of veiling with her Canon "burqa"! Anywhere we stopped, it was a joy to see Sabine melt into the populace with candies or small gifts for the children and ladies while photographing. This world traveler has summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, climbed up to base camp #1 on Mt. Everest and would be one of only 2 in our group to hoof it all the way up Mt. Sinai. Kudos to this incredible woman! Mabrouk (congratulations in Arabic)!
Also at Ein Khudra, the Bedouin began working puzzles that Julie had presented as gifts earlier in the day. These are the metal sort of "brain teasers" where you’re supposed to be able to separate, then put back together the various pieces. One of the Bedouin, Sabr, whose name means patience, spent about 5 minutes with one before he threw it into the sand. The irony of his name was lost on no one! Feisal, who is deaf, unlocked the secrets of a couple of the puzzles almost immediately. Feisal is a good friend and most nights, after everyone had gone to bed, he and I would stay awake "talking", using the primitive, homegrown Bedouin sign language particular to this area. Of particular importance to me this trip was chronicling this ad hoc language which has yet to be documented academically; our evening tutorials allowed me to catalog quite a few of these signs and their meanings.
The night at the oasis was wonderful, but the next day we had to move on. Leaving Ein Khudra to the southwest requires the ascent of a 15-switchback pass known as Naqb Shee. Some Bedouin don’t like to take this route and we saw why. This was my 6th time up this route and the first time I'd ever seen any problems. Dismounted, and leading our camels up on foot, two camels slipped on the fine sand that coats the sandstone and fell to their knees. With coaxing, however, the two did rise up and finished with only superficial scrapes.
The day’s goal was a place known as Burgaa. The mountain (Jebel Burga) from which it gets its name is central to the area and is home to Hududa, the largest expanse of dunes in the South Sinai, as well as Jebel Makhroum (literally Hole Mountain). A curious bit of geology, Makhroum looks like the head of a camel, with the hole that extends through the structure creating the "eyes" on either side.
Along the way, we heard, "How are you?"
"I am fine, thank you."
"How’s the weather?"
"The weather is fine."
These phrases were repeated between John and Suleiman, Saleh’s son-in-law. Suleiman, 25, and wife Sobaha, 22, are both studying English from books they’ve bought so that they can one day open their own safari "shirqa" or company. John was a fine "ostaz" (professor) and Suleiman quite the dutiful "taalib" (student).
This night would be spent truly under the stars. No tent, no thatched hut. A petroglyph-covered sandstone monolith showing better times with camel-mounted hunters chasing gazelle and oryx would stave off the chill of the north wind; plenty of blankets were handed out to cover the cocooned figures in sleeping bags. If you ask Sabine, everyone slept great. Except for Sabine. Surrounded by snorers, the sounds of the sleeping symphony overpowered even the ruckus of the ruminating camels. Or so I’m told.
Day 4, our last on camels, would take us northwest to Wadi Nawamis, site of more than 2 dozen 4,500-year old rock tombs built by the Nabataeans, the same culture responsible for Petra in modern-day Jordan. Little known, probably due to their remote location, these 6-foot tall and 10-foot circular monuments to unknown dead are constructed of local rock with no mortar, their roofs supported by the lower courses of stones. Lunch of "khubz", a thin bread baked over a fire, tuna, feta cheese and salad provided us with the energy to finish out the trek, where we were met on the paved road by our driver who would take us on to the town of St. Katherine, at the base of Mt. Sinai. Saying goodbye to my Bedouin family was tough as usual, but I left with an overwhelming sense that I’d be back, something I hadn’t felt on previous trips.
In St. Katherine, the group checked into the Monastery Guest House, contained within the walls of the 1,600-year old Monastery of St. Katherine. Begun in 342 A.D., the monastery holds within its walls what is believed to be the Burning Bush, through which God appeared to Moses, as well as one of the most valuable libraries in Christendom. Second in importance only to that of the Vatican’s, inside St. Katherine’s rests the Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th century Greek manuscript of the Bible. Our group was extremely fortunate to meet the only American among the Greek Orthodox monks at St. Katherine, Father Justin, from El Paso, Texas. He was soon to depart for Europe to make some presentations and gifted us with 15-20 minutes of his time. Our guide, Hadi, knew Father Justin personally. This was particularly lucky because, through mutual friends, group member Sabine had known about Father Justin and had inquired about him when we first arrived, but was told that he would not be available. Thank you, Hadi!
Climbing Mt. Sinai can be done anytime, but most pilgrims choose one of two times of the day. Or night as it were. We opted not to climb the day before and sleep on the mountain in order to catch the sunrise. In January at 7,000+ feet, it’s cold up there. So we got up at 3 a.m. and planned on arriving at the summit in time for the 6:20 daily event. Julie and Elsie had already arranged to take camels up but John, Sabine and I were determined to do it as Moses did. I’d done it this way twice before and John and Sabine were good inspiration for me. A third of the way up, though, John and I had outdistanced Sabine and with perfect timing a local Bedu of the Jeballiya (literally "of the mountain") tribe came by with a camel. I wasted no time, put away all shame and hopped on his camel, said adios to John and headed to the arranged meeting point where I reconvened with Elsie and Julie. Some time later, John would arrive and I suffered his slings and arrows for taking the camel. My hat’s truly off to him and Sabine, the only two of our group to do the entire mountain by foot. We took a different route down, via the Steps of Repentance, 3,750 stone steps put in place over hundreds of years by monks from St. Katherine’s. I guess I have to take the Steps up next time. Do you think Moses took a camel? Sorry John and Sabine!
From St. Katherine’s we headed back to Cairo, where we had two days of activities with my good friend Adel Hamza. Adel and I have known each other for 3 years, first meeting when I bought a halter and lead rope from him at the Pyramids, where he works his camel giving rides to tourists. Now we’ve become like brothers, staying up late talking shop and comparing camel work in Egypt and Texas.
Adel took us to the camel market of Birqash (a suburb of Cairo) where he showed us all the finer points of camel shopping. Some camels are destined for the Cairo meat market, others for working. Some had come by ship from Morocco, but most were driven up the "Darb Al Arbain" (40 Days Road) from Sudan. Different colors of paint and various symbols painted on the sides, humps and necks of the camels are all but indecipherable to me, but Adel was able to tell us much about each camel: where it came from, age and likely place of dispatch, etc. From there we headed to Adel’s office: the Pyramids of Giza, the last remaining Wonder of the Ancient World.
We’d decided to take camels around the site and mounted up just outside the Sphinx, riding through a block or two of Giza traffic, then into the Pyramid complex. We stopped outside the Temple of the Sphinx, below the 2nd Pyramid, to take a look inside and take pictures. Everyone enjoyed the detour, but quickly headed back to the camels. From here, we rode due west toward the 2nd Pyramid. On the way, a group of tourists came galloping by on horses, perilously out of control. Julie’s camel had its head down to take a bite of something and was spooked. When it side stepped, so did Julie, the opposite way! Onto her bottom she fell, bruising quite mightily her coccyx, a body part whose mere utterance used to elicit great laughter when I was a kid in health class. Julie opted to sit out the rest of the day’s activities at the hotel, but being a nurse, made the prudent decision to get herself to a doctor for X-rays just in case. Julie told me her family motto has always been: "Have fun first, then go to the hospital." By the way, Julie has 700 jumps to her credit as a skydiver. Could this qualify as 701?
Our next day in Cairo took us to the Egyptian Museum, which houses among thousands of other objects, most of King Tut’s royal treasures. We’d planned 2-3 hours there and that’ll do just fine if all you want to see is Tut’s stuff and the Mummy Room. Wow! You literally could spend days in there. Everyone seemed to find certain things that appealed to them. John, a land surveyor by trade, found a book on Islamic engineering, while Elsie seemed to particularly enjoy the mummified animals (some surprise there!). My favorites were 4 huge cedar boxes that fit one inside the other, like Russian dolls, that housed Tut’s sarcophagi. The wood came from what is now Syria or Lebanon and attests to the wide spread trade that the Pharoahs enjoyed so many thousands of years ago.
From the Museum, we headed to the Citadel, a walled fortress set high on the eastern hills of Cairo, overlooking the Al Azhar, Islam’s oldest university. Begun in 1176 by Salah Al Din (Saladin) to fortify the city against Crusader threats, this was the seat of Egyptian government for over 700 years. Inside its walls are three mosques, the Mamluke mosque of An-Nasir Mohammed, built in 1318, the mosque of Suleyman Pasha, built in 1528 and that of Muhammad Ali, built from 1830 to 1848. When we arrived it was prayer time, so my friend Adel went inside to pray and his 12-year old son Magdi was our "guide". He’s a fine young man and I know the time spent with my friends’ families meant a lot to the members of our group. Leaving the Citadel, John took on yet another personality, that of Hogan.
Wearing sunglasses and with a blue bandana on his head, the very beard that gave John such a "sheikhly" demeanor instantly transformed him into the American wrestling phenom Hulk Hogan! Every pre-teen in the Middle East knows this character and they all seemed to be outside the Citadel as we were leaving. Shouts of, "Hogan! Hogan! Hogan!" permeated the air and from that point on, John was no longer John, nor was he Sheikh Kabir. He WAS Hogan. Ok, ok, I might’ve egged it on a little as we walked the streets of Giza and Cairo, but everywhere we went, heads turned and requests for photographs poured in. On a mini-bus a couple of days later, "Hogan" even bought a man his bus ticket when the fella didn’t have the 50-piaster note required. As I handed the man his fare, I told him in Arabic, "This is a gift from Hogan." He turned to see his benefactor, was overwhelmed and announced to the driver that he had on his mini-bus the "International Champion of the World!" "You are a VERY big man!" said the full-grown man with boyish exuberance. Getting out at our stop, the excited individual stepped out too, gave "Hogan" a bear hug and the all-too Arab adios of kisses on both cheeks and stepped back onto the bus as if he’d just discovered Pharoanic treasures in the sand. Priceless! Adel’s 16-year old son, Mohammed, could not stop laughing.
The entire trip was incredible for me, too. My Arabic was truly put to the test as I’d taken on a lot of responsibilities that on past trips someone else provided. I found myself reaching for my Arabic/English dictionary less on this trip than previous ones. Over the past year I’ve been a committed student, having studied reading/writing Arabic as well as taking weekly Arabic language sessions with a tutor from nearby Baylor University. Now I can screw up two or three languages! Renewing old friendships and further establishing new ones, though, was the ultimate payoff for me. The families of Saleh and Adel are as dear to me as my own blood and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
To Julie, John, Sabine and Elsie: Though I’ve made this trip numerous times now, each experience is different because of the people I’m with. As I said earlier, you all definitely left an impact on my family in Egypt/Sinai. You also left an impact on me. Without the 4 of you, this trip would not have been possible. I appreciate the trust that you put in me and value the friendship even more. "Thanks" seems such a small word to use for how I feel, but it’s what I send to each of you.
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Folks in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area can tune into 660 AM KSKY for the radio program "Dynamic Destinations" tomorrow, February 12, at 12:00 noon. Also available on the web, those of you outside the area can catch it online by visiting www.dynamictravel.com/radio, then selecting "listen via the internet". I am to be the third guest, coming on around 12:35 p.m. I’ve been asked to discuss my camel treks in Monahans Sandhills State Park here in Texas.
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Some of you may remember the film work I did last November for the History Channel. Well the fruits of our camels’ labor are soon to be aired. March 2 and 9, "Secrets of the Qur’an" should be airing. Check www.historychannel.com and click on TV Schedule for times.
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Mid-week I head to Arizona for work with VisionQuest (www.vq.com). The VQ camels, 4 or 5 of the youth in this innovative program and I will be taking part in the Tucson Rodeo Parade on the 22nd. This is the largest non-motorized parade in the US and is made up of nearly 2,000 horses and mules and a half dozen or so camels! Check it out if you’re in the area.
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Finally, the end of the month takes 2 camels and me to just outside Kerrville, Texas for a one-day film shoot. "Baghdad, Texas" follows the fictional exploits of a post-Gulf War Saddam Hussein who flees Iraq, only to find himself among Mexican illegals along the Texas border. Hmmm...Will update.
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Thanks as always for your interest in my camels. I hope this email finds you all happy and healthy.
Doug
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