Reflections

Well we are back from our trip and really had an amazing time. Most of what we did probably could have been done at home, but you know how it is. There are always projects you could do around the house, friends to play with, errands to run, etc. Getting away from all that allowed us to spend time together without those interruptions and that was nice. I got to spend some quality time with Tarik, which I haven't been able to do much of since I went back to work. Boy has he really grown and become part of our family. I also took Jack and Katie to see an IMAX movie called "Mysteries of the Nile." I wasn't sure exactly what this would be about but thought the kids would like to see an IMAX, so off we went. Turns out it was a movie about a rafting expedition from the mouth of the Nile river to the Mediterranean Sea. The mouth of the Nile is in Ethiopia so the movie spent a great deal of time talking about and showing parts of Ethiopia. The river then runs through the Sudan and into Egypt where it flows into the Mediterranean. I found this amazing because it was a movie about all the places Jen and I were in only a short time ago. I also spent most of the movie answering questions from the kids who were thrilled to see the places mom and dad went.

I am bringing this up because it made me really reflect on our trip and also realize that we haven't said much here about our journey. I told you all the funny stories from Cairo and we kept people up-to-date on Tarik's medical issues while we were in Addis, but we have never given our thoughts on the trip as a whole. We haven't posted any pictures or videos except for a couple from Cairo. Well starting today I hope to rectify that problem.

Cairo

This was an adventure as anyone who has read our blog knows. Overall it was an amazing place, very hectic and noisy, and if we had to do it all over again, we would probably do everything differently. (Except maybe lodging. We LOVED our hotel) We tend to be independent travelers, liking to do things on our own terms and this has worked for us in the past. Not so much here. I would strongly suggest anyone traveling to Egypt to go with a group, preferably a escorted travel group. I think that 99.9% of things that drove us nuts there would have been eliminated if we had had that kind of buffer. It seemed to us that the people there (okay maybe only the ones we dealt with) enjoyed trying to take advantage of tourists. The things we saw were simply unbelievable but the manner in which we were treated at times, took away from this incredible place. I think Jen regretted taking the trip because it made our trip that much longer and by the the end of the two weeks she missed the kids terribly. I have to agree that it was a very long trip and would I never have guessed how much I would miss them, however I don't regret going. Seeing the pryamids up close is something I will never forget. I probably won't forget the taxi cab drivers either and that is not a good thing.

One other interesting piece of information. There were two main roads which you travel on extensively to get around Cairo. One was called "26th of July", the other the "6th of October." In case you don't know, Jen and I were married on the 26th of July and our first child, Katie, was born on the 6th of October.

I am going to try and find some good video from Cairo this week and post it and I will also see if Jen wants to add anything about Cairo. Next stop will be Ethiopia, and soon, I promise.