Mucho Matza in Israel (18/04/08 - 28/04/08)

I arrived in Israel at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover, celebrating the Israelites escaping the clutches and enslavement of the Pharaohs and crossing over into Israel. Ironically enough I had just done the same trek, no doubt my crossing into Israel was much easier for those in the biblical times. My troubles only begin when I entered Eilat airport to catch a cheap flight to Tel Aviv. I had plenty of time to waste...well so I thought! Little did I know I would make my flight by the skin of my teeth. OK hands up I was ignorant of a few things. Firstly the airport was chocablock with people going home or traveling for the holiday period, something I hadn't taken into account. Secondly I was ignorant of the fact that Egypt had yet to put their clocks forward for day light saving time and Israel already had, for sure a topic one should think about brushing up on whilst traveling around the World. And thirdly and more importantly being a lone Irish female traveler has the tendency to raise The National Threat condition from a low green to a high orange, what can I say in my defense here?!

From the moment I had my backpack off my back at security until the moment I was escorted by security to my flight gate I felt like an outcast and for some unknown reason guilty of something or other. During the 2 hour interogation I'd given my life story a million times and amused them with my future travel plans, my itinerary they failed to fathom. I was told eventually I could go but that my belongings, which were entirely stripped of me in the beginning, were to be sent on the next flight out BUT to a different airport in Tel Aviv. Eventually onboard I befriended an Egyptian who was also interogated in the adjacent cubicle, he told me it was standard procedure here in Israel and that he was well used to being dragged through the mill.

My first experience of Israel aside, I found the country stunning and the people friendly and welcoming. I stayed with some good friends in Tel Aviv where I paid my board by walking their dog daily. I was pampered and fed kosher food, all meals accompanied by Matza a dry cracker traditonally only eaten during Passover. I could not get enough of their Houmous, at any given chance I was stuffing my face with the stuff. My visits and sightseeing were at a slower pace than the rest of my trip so far. It was good to have my backpack off my back for more than a day, so I embellished by becoming a little lazy. I took a trip to Caesarea, an ancient port, a Crusader and Roman city with a fantastic Roman theater facing the Mediterranean sea.

I visited Acre or Akko one of the oldest continously inhabited cities in the world with small alleys and streets full of remnants of the Crusader, Muslim and Ottoman conquerors. I walked through the Rosh Hanikra caves right on the Israel and Lebanon border, the Mediterranean coast here is the most beautiful I have seen yet. I paid a short visit to the city of Haifa to see the Bahai gardens and its fantastic panoramic view of the city and its port.

I also took a day's outing to the oasis of Ein Gedi on The Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, 400m below sea level. I relaxed, floated and took in the scenery of the surrounding Judean Desert. Closeby is the Judean fortress of Mesada, famous for the 1st Jewish-Roman war where the Jewish solders committed mass suicide when defeat was imminent. In Jerusleum I visited David's Tower and walked along the western wall and through the massive Muslim market.
A few leisurely strolls were done in Tel Aviv, along the Bat-Yam and Jaffa beaches where we stopped for lunch and tried some Lebanese food. After 10 days of lazing about I eventually packed my backpack and took off to the Jordanian border. It was a confusing and again somewhat troublesome crossing, 3 different buses and again questioning followed by the Jordanian police taking my thumb print..I might just consider changing my passport and its suspicious picture!

Because it was a leisurely stop on my travels I think a revisit to Israel is required to see Nazareth, the south and spend more time floating and covering myself with mud in The Dead Sea. I can just hear my Israeli friends screaming...NO NOT AGAIN!!! ;-)

Experiencing an ancient civilization (04/04/08 - 18/04/08)

Arriving in Cairo with no accommodation booked nor knowing how to get to the city centre, I need not have stressed much for it didn't take 2 seconds after exiting the airport's main entrance before the locals gave me the correct bus number, guided me to the correct bus stop, gave me a hostel name and address in downtown Cairo and even taught me some useful Arabic phrases!

Cairo, a crazy city on the banks of the Nile where you have close to 8 million people shoulder to shoulder and streets somehow accommodating 6 lanes of traffic, with each vehicle coming within a millimetre of one another whilst performing frantic manoeuvres with drivers apparently unaware of how to use lights by night..Belgian drivers are quite mild in comparison!!

If you are visiting Egypt on a backpackers budget, the place to stay in downtown Cairo is at The Canadian Hostel. The staff were a great laugh and brilliant with helping me plan and book all my excursions in Egypt.

On my excursion with a personal driver in and around Cairo, we began with the Saqqara pyramid where after taking my 1st picture of the stepped pyramid my LCD screen displayed the dreaded Lens Error, it was early morning and there was a hint of a sand storm in the air..thus sand had made it's way into my lens..it had seen it's day! Sh!t happens, what could I do but move on and try not to let it ruin my day. So with my chin up I headed to Memphis and then to the Giza pyramids where I took a 3 hour tour by camel back and was accompanied by the craziest guide on this planet..I really don't know how I keep attracting these kind of people ;-) It was just a magical experience to be on camel back and see the 3 pyramids all lined up, the sky engulfed in a sand storm and the voice of the Muslims praying in the distance.

Thanks to a local I met whilst visiting the Saqqara pyramid, I had a true experience of Cairo by night. I got to see a panoramic view of the whole city and had my first Egyptian beer called Meister (8%) in The Cairo Jazz Club and danced away the night in The Hard Rock Cafe. I was also introduced to the residential suburb of Maadi, with modern houses and villas set in gardens (many the residences of foreigners), where I was shown some Egyptian hospitality and fed some real homemade Arabian food.

I cruised the Nile by means of a quieter and calmer (also cheaper) mode of transport, in a Felucca sail boat...all these cruise ships are overrated if you ask me! I spent 2 nights abroad the small wooden vessel, shared with a fantastic group consisting of 2 French, 1 English, 1 German, 1 Dutch, 1 Italian, an Australian couple and 3 crew members called Captain Cool (also the Entertainer), the cook (managing to fed 12 people 3 meals a day with just 1 little gas stove on board) and a Go-For (mostly sent out for orders of beer, chocolate & cheap cigarettes).
Although the whole experience was just magical and I will definitely do it again, I was never more happier to check-in to a hotel afterwards and finally have a long warm shower, amazing the things you take for granted when you live an everyday life.

1 night was spent in Aswan where I visited the Philae temple and took a 1/2 day trip to the sun temple of Abu Simbel (See Egypt pix). Another night was spent in Luxor where I visited Karnak temple and the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens on the West Bank. While appreciating each temple, it's structure and monuments and it's worship to the gods, I have to be honest in saying that I'm all templed out now :-)

My last adventure excursion of Egypt was camping out in the Western desert (The Black and The White Deserts) for 2 nights only to awoken by a full on sand storm. This time I was with a small group of 4 and was taken care of by a 1 man crew, a guide doubling as a great scout camper and even better 4x4 desert rally driver. We watched the sunset in the White desert and toasted marshmellows while admiring the clear crisp night sky. Again a great experience followed by a much appreciated and well overdue warm shower.

To break my trek of getting to the Taba border to cross into Israel, I had a brief 1 night stopover in Dahab, Sinai where I had some chill out and winding down time by the beach on the Red Sea, drinking fruit smoothies and admiring the views.

I never expected to find Egypt so warm, friendly and welcoming..I'm convinced I shall revisit the land of the Pharaohs and its ancient civilization!

Egypt

A taste of South Africa

TIA...This Is Africa (17/03/08 - 04/04/08)

What can I tell you about my first Non-European experience of my journey so far,only that I've fallen in love with South Africa.What a vast country stretched across 2 Oceans,Atlantic and Indian..with so much stunning and diverse landscapes and with so many things to see,do and still yet to discover.

Of my 3 weeks or so stay I tried to cram as much as possible in, with much help from my good mate Scott...would not have been the action packed holiday without you Bud!

I spent my first ever St.Paddy's Day not in an Irish pub but in a hip bar in Benoni, Johannesburg where I was warmly greeted by the locals and tasted my first of many South African beers named Hansa!

Just one of my most memorable experiences has to be the National Park and Game Reserve of Pilanesberg, where we came across 3 of the big 5, Elephant, Buffalo and an up close and personal encounter with the Rhino..something I will never forget for the rest of my life!

We were out of luck to see the Lion and Leopard, however we did hear the Lion's roar during our night drive, which is believed to be heard as far as 8km..it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck I can tell ya!

We managed to clock up about 5000km on the rented Toyota Yaris with a boot (What's that all about?!) by driving through the desert of Karoo to Kimberley where we visited The Big Hole, a huge open-pit mine believed to be one of the largest holes excavated by man, during the diamond rush and then made our way to Cape Town.

Cape Town, an unbelievable place with the view of the Table Mountain towering over the V&A point where you can sit and wine and dine and treat yourself to the catch of the day...just to be clear...I'm talking fish here ok! ;-)

I also ticked off another of my 'Things to do in life' by climbing the Table mountain in less than 1.5 hours..was very proud of myself!

Another breathtaking experience had to be watching the Sunset on the Atlantic Ocean while being comfortably seated on a Catamaran sipping Champagne. That brings me onto our many Wine Farm visits, Spiers, Fairview and Delheim where we tasted Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot and many of their tasty cheeses.

We got to see thousands of seals on a boat trip and also stopped off at Boulders Beach where a massive colony of Penguins waddle about their daily lives at an arms length.

We took a spin along some of the Garden Route and stayed in one of the most beautiful places on earth, Knysna. Our fabulous wooden cabin overlooked it's estuary which passes two headlands and opens out into the Indian Ocean.

We even got a chance to hold a Black Eagle at a Bird of Prey and Owl sanctuary and to see some Cheetahs up close at a Cheetah Outreach farm...imprinted of course but still stunning to experience. Visitors even had the chance to pet the cats but I felt it unfair to do so to such wild and magnificant creatures. I did however pet an Ostrich while visiting an Ostrich farm but passed on the opportunity to ride one, others in the tour group took advantage though...what a comical sight that was to see!

We also took an adventure tour into the Cango caves, caves containing spectacular halls and grand limestone formations and hellishly narrow tunnels to climb up and through, and of course last but not least my drive through Johannesburg itself, down Commissioner Street and through Yeovil..a totally different experience from the rest of my 3 weeks in ZA.

I must have tried every type of South African food, Steers, Nandos, Jimmy's prawns, Saddles, Spurs, Ocean Basket, Fishmongers and I forgot to mention my new found love for Brandy and Coke..good ZA brandy called Klipdrift..better known as Klippies and coke.

I'll just finish off now by saying that the whole ZA adventure was just lekker man!!!!