Safaga, Egypt - November 1

Today was an interesting day.  I had an excursion so I had my usual pancakes for breakfast but they were disappointing - the edges were crusty - I think they had sat for too long.  Judy (Lee) came by and talked to me for a bit and then I left early for my excursion.

The excursion was called "Safaga Ghost Village" and was set up on the roll call on Cruise Critic.  The vans were supposed to leave at 9:30 but there was a mix-up as to where we were supposed to meet - on the dock or at the port gate.  When they hadn't shown by 9:25, we all hopped on the shuttle to the gate where we did find them.  Well, sort of.

The description said we would have three air-conditioned vans until the last stop which was supposed to be a Bedouin village (you will see the word "supposed" frequently) which we would get to after transferring to 4x4 vehicles.  Instead, there were four 4x4 vehicles waiting for us and to get into the back of them you had to step up on to the back which was 17 inches off the ground (yes, I measured).  My knees couldn't do it and I knew if I could get in (I was offered help from some on the tour) I could not get down and then have to repeat the process at each stop.  

I was telling the lady that organized the excursion that I was not going to go, when the guide told me to ride in the passenger seat in one of the vehicles.  It was still high off the ground but it had places to hold on to rather than one strap.  So, I went after all.

We drove for some time on mostly dirt roads so I could see the need for the 4x4 vehicles - the vans could not have done it.  We made a bathroom break at an interesting building in the middle of nowhere - literally.  They gave us a glass of cool hibiscus tea while we waited for everyone to use the facilities and then a bottle of water as we left.

Then it was off on more dirt tracks with, in some places, sheer drop-offs on both sides.  I held my breath a number of times.  I don't think the people in the back (who sat facing each other) noticed.  We finally went up an especially steep and windy path to the owner's villa that overlooked the village and were told the story of the place.

The village's actual name was Umm El Huetat and was built about 1902 by a mining company that was removing phosphate from the surrounding mountains.  It was used until 1996 (according to the guide although information I found online said 1988) when the company could not make enough profit and closed it down.  It was a typical company owned town - they owned all the buildings and ran the stores, hospital, and schools.  One of our guides lived there and took us to the house where he was born and lived and the high school he went to.  At one time, 16,000 people lived in the town.

It was then back to the rest stop from before and this time we were given a cold can of Coke (which really tasted good after being out in the sun).  We stayed, and stayed, and stayed.  Finally, the guide told us that the vans were going to pick us up and we would not have to ride in the 4x4s anymore.  More time passed and then we were told to get back in the 4x4s and the vans would meet us where the paved road began.  He also said the company was going to pay for our lunches instead of the $20-25 that was supposed to be on us.  All in all, we spent well over an hour at the rest stop which put us way behind schedule since we were supposed to have lunch at 1pm and did not leave the rest stop until after 2.

We met the vans but there were only two so we were crammed into them like sardines but they were air conditioned.  At that point we were supposed to have lunch and five more stops - a bit too ambitious for what was supposed to be a six-hour excursion.

The drive to the restaurant seemed to go on forever and I even started to nod off a few times.  The restaurant was changed also (likely less expensive than the one we were going to pay for).  The guide didn't seem to know where the restaurant was, so we drove around for some time.  Finally, at 3:30 we arrived.  The food was delicious and there was plenty of it.  First, we had plates of rice, hummus, and salad and a bowl of very tasty soup, as well as two bowls of mystery ingredients which we assumed were for dipping the bread in (at least, that is what we did).  Then we were given a plate with three types of meat which we decided were beef, lamb, and chicken (that one was easy) that all had been grilled.

So now it was 4:30 and we were supposed to be back on the ship at 5pm with five stops still on the list.  The Bedouin village was scrapped first (the rest stop was kind of like what we would have seen).  I had brought along a head scarf for the second time to visit a mosque and, just like the first time, the mosque was eliminated.  We were given a half hour to visit the fort (on our own) and/or do some shopping at the souk.  Since it was getting late, many of the shops had reopened (they usually close in the middle of the day) so the city was coming alive.

Our last stop (and it was getting dark) was at the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Martyr Barbara Church.  We had time to walk around the church (which is Coptic Orthodox) and then into the vans on the way home.  I was in the very back and it was very bumpy even though we were on a newish divided highway.  My Fitbit must have thought all the movement was me jogging (as if) and I got almost two miles on the 45-minute drive home.

Just before 7pm we got back to the port gate where we had to wait about 15 minutes for the port shuttle which took us back to the building where we had our bags screened and walked through a metal detector (we had to do this leaving the port this morning, also), back on the shuttle bus to go about 200 yards to get on the ship.  It's good the ship was in port until midnight (many had taken the 13-14 hour excursion to Luxor) since the tour ran two hours longer than it was supposed to (my last "supposed").

Once on board I grabbed my computer and went up to the Lido to get some ice cream and work on my pictures.  The pictures load much faster up there, so I think some of my late-night issues are because the signal is not good in my cabin.

I am finishing this up at 12:25 am and we are just leaving port.  We have eight relaxing sea days coming up.

Smooth sailing until next time!

the rest stop building

two shots of the inside of the building which was amazingly cool

above and below are two pictures of the ghost village taken from the villa of the owner

the Mosque at the village

above and below are the remains of some of the houses

the elementary school

the high school

 

the guides had us write our names on the chalkboard (which remain plastered on the wall in each room) and then he wrote it in Arabic

my name in Arabic

the guide (in the orange shirt) showing us through his home

back at the rest stop I made friends with these two

street scenes in the city of El Quseir (above and below)

below is the restaurant where we had lunch and the pictures of the food (it was very dark inside)

picture of the fort built in 1517

above and below are pictures in the Souk

the Shaykh Al Ferran Mosque that we did not go to

never did I ever think I would see yarn for sale in Egypt (no, I didn't buy any)

above are three pictures of the Coptic Church