First day in Egypt - December 19, 2010

We were all very excited about our Christmas holiday.  Our first day of vacation was actually a travel day - time spent in the plane, airport, taxi, wrong hotel, taxi and finally the right hotel.  It was early to bed and then early to rise the next morning. 

We met our group and were pleased to learn that it was just us and another family of four with the kids at 10 and 7 years of age; perfect for our two.  Today was touring in Cairo.  First stop was the pyramids of Giza.  It was very awe inspiring to see them up close and realize the amount of time and work that went into them.  The work is started as soon as the person becomes king and takes upwards of 20 years or more to complete.

Look guys, I am squishing the pyramid! :)



The boys in the picture with Samantha and Patrick are James (10 year old) and David (7 year old).

Once we had a go around the pyramids we went down to see the sphynix.  This was the guardian and where they prepared the body for burial.

Next stop was the papyrus "museum" (basically a store but they show you how they make the paper).  What a neat place.   The kids are watching as they do our names in hieroglyphics.  Wayne and I bought a few large pieces to be framed and hung on the wall as our Christmas presents to each other.

We then went for some lunch (street shwarma) and were off to the Cairo museum.  We were not allowed to take pictures here but there were some amazing things to see.  We got to see King Tut's things from his tomb, which included: his gold funerary mask and sarcophagus, four huge gilded boxes that fit inside each other, thrones, jewlery, beds etc.  We also got to see hundreds of statues, mummified animals and what not but the museum is so large that we didn't see all of it.  On the way back to the hotel to get our things we did a little tour through the back allies of the city and saw some pretty culture shocking things (dirty and destitute).
We picked up our things from the hotel and were off again for the sleeper train headed to Aswan.  It was a late night for the kids and they ended up falling asleep on us while waiting for the train.  They thought it was neat on the train to be able to sleep on bunk beds though.

This ends our first full day in Egypt!

Wadi Madbah - December 2-4, 2010

Wadi Madbah was our camping destinition for the weekend.  Our friends (Katie, Nate, Meghan and Jad) thought they would join us and give camping with the kids a try!  We got there and got our camp set up and then went for a hike up a mountain to see what we could see.  All that we could see was the other side of the mountain with the sun shining down on it! :)

In the morning the kids were up at their usual ridiculous time so we went for a hike in our PJ's.  Once back at camp we played a bit of cards while waiting for breakfast to be ready.  After breakfast we were off to explore the wadi.  We came across a very "cool" pool and much jumping in and swimming ensued (not me - it was toooo cold!).  We had a picnic lunch at the pools and then off for a hike up the wadi.  Nate found a rock that he decided must come out and got all the boys in on the action throwing other rocks at it to try and knock it out.  Alas the rock could not be dislodged; better luck next birthday week Nate...

A view of our lovely camp and the guys making a fire for supper (seriously - how many guys should it take to make a fire?).

UAE Day at school - December 1, 2010

We had a fun filled day at school today for the UAE national day.  There were all kinds of activities to do and see.

Eid Camping (UAE) - November 16-17, 2010

Off we go for another adventure.  There were more caches on the agenda for this morning.  Again we saw some neat landscapes.  The first picture reminded Wayne and I of place called Goblin State Park in the US due to the mounds of hard packed mud and silt (first picture).  We ended up in a quarry so obviously they were somewhat man-made but still neat looking.  The other neat thing they did at the quarry (just realized I forgot to take a picture) was that they mined the surface gravel but left mounds around all of the trees.  So there are solitary trees standing on platforms / islands of gravel about ten feet above the mined ground level; the entire area covered many square km.  In the second picture we are off on a hike and hunting for a TravelBug Hotel (it's a geocaching thing).

One of our adventures took us to a cool cave.  It wasn't very big but it had an opening out the top.  Patrick thought he would try to climb out it.  He was very close to making it too!

Patrick has taken up surfing in the Omani desert.  He should be a champion, look at that balance :)  Once again Wayne takes a rest while Patrick finds the geocache hiding spot!

We were planning on staying in Oman for both nights, but plans change.  We weren't too happy with what we saw for camping spots so headed to one of our favourite nearby spots in the UAE; Fossil Rock.  One good thing about being super early risers in the morning we are able to get our exploring done early and still have our camp ready for an evening hike and some play time on the dunes.

We were close to some rock outcrops (about 1.5 km away) that had a cache.  We didn't have the coordinates but had tried last year and remembered the general area so thought we would give it a go.  Besides it was a nice hike.  Our goal was to be there by sunset.  We were successful on all fronts (cache found, sunset recorded)!

On the return hike we picked up some more big pieces of firewood that we dragged back.  The campsite and fire were awesome!

The next morning it was actually quite cold for us these days (<15 degrees?).  Wayne had the kids bundled up while I got the fire going, I think he just wanted the snuggles.  The middle shot was through the heat waves of the fire - I so totally took it that way on purpose ;)

After breakfast we tore down and went for a walk.  We found all kinds of bug tracks, some bird tracks that snatched the bugs, and some bigger tracks; Wayne thinks they were from a fox.  The kids had fun following them and speculating what the animals were doing.  While we were loading the truck the kids got playing in the sand making tunnels.  They decided that they would like to do that for a while so Wayne and I actually got some chillaxing and quiet reading done.

A very lovely three days / two nights of camping.  It was a nice week off, relaxing at the end and time to get caught up on the blog :)

Eid Camping (Oman) - November 15-16, 2010

We started our camping trip with a First to Find (FTF) Geocache before we left the city.  It was our first FTF in the UAE and there was a prize for the first one to it.  So now we have a new addition to the family who lives on our antenna.  The kids have nicknamed him Geo!

It didn't take long to get to Oman and the border crossing was easy; they just asked if we had passports and didn't even want to see them.  We drove to our planned campsite and then realized that it was not what we were looking for (rocky and exposed).  We ended up exploring for a better campsite and doing our planned geocaches.  Off in the distance we watched a thunderstorm role through.  You could see the rain coming down and even a bit of lightening. 

In the area we were in, you could see that people just drove wherever they wanted.  There were faint roads but tracks crisscrossed all over the place which made it fun for Dad.  There was some really neat scenery but pretty rocky and sparse for camping.

We decided to have lunch and check out our handy dandy UAE off-roading book for other potential camping spots.  I found one that looked like it could be really good (pools by Shuwayhah), so we set off for going deeper into Oman.

Here is where we actually crossed the boarder (figured it out that the other was just a police checkpoint).  It was still pretty easy, this time they just asked if we had Oman insurance.  It was neat to watch the terrain change from really angular and sharp edged hills to more rounded landforms.   Since it was now getting on in the afternoon we hurried to our proposed campsite....and what a site it turned out to be!  I think it is one of the best we have seen so far.   It was near the start of a wadi and I think it must have been a farm at one time because it seemed the palms were all terraced with low rock walls.  It made for a great camp site - shaded under the palms and sandy.  Wayne and Samantha both seem to think it is fun to sweep a campsite yet not so much at home. :)

Set up was easy because the kids headed off to explore the palms and we could back the truck right up to our site.  Below is where we set up and the view from our tent.

After everything was ready we set off for a hike to the pools.  The pools were not as deep as they used to be because the water is used for irrigation these days but it was cool nonetheless. 

After exploring the pools, we decided to climb higher up to a plataeu.  From up high we could see the whole valley and other campers coming in for the night.

It was coming on to supper time so we headed back to get the fire going.  Tonight's supper was chicken burgers!  Man do I love the new grill. :)  The following pictures are of our site from the firepit, Patrick and Dad having a cuddle, and then everyone getting ready for marshmallows.  The fire was different because we were using palm fronds and the woody base of the fronds.  The fire seems to burn brightly for a bit and then dye down quite quickly. 

We were hoping for a bit of a sleep in because we were protected in the palms from the early sunrise but our kids seem to have the same internal clock set at a riduculous time that Wayne has.  So a morning hike was in order.  The kids and Wayne had gone for a bit of a wander in the dark with flashlights the night before so they showed me where they had gone.  Some nice views!  Our campsite is under those palm trees somewhere!

After our hike we tore down and had breakfast before heading off to a new spot with more caching and exploring to do.

First Camping Trip of the Season - November 12 & 13, 2010

We are so excited - it is finally cool enough that we can go camping!  Stuart, a colleague of Wayne's from the UK office was here for a week and before he flew out we took him for a one-night camping trip to Liwa.  What better place to experience camping in the desert than on the edge of the Empty Quarter by Moreeb dune.  On the way out to Liwa we did a few geocaches and some sightseeing along the way.  Below is a picture of a freestanding sand castle :)  We tried to get a closer look but started to sink (Stuart got stuck) so thought we should back up a bit.  Lesson learned - never follow a 5-yr old over quicksand.

We stopped for lunch at a beach and then were on our way again.  We got to our camp-site (same one as last year because we liked it so much) in the early afternoon.  Stuart and Wayne set up camp while the kids and I got the firewood.  Patrick is making a pit for the fire and I think Samantha is just playing.

Once everyhting was done we had some fun.  The kids and the boyz played with the aerobee while I scouted for some good pictures.  I was able to catch Samantha's wonderful form as she threw the aerobee.

The kids had been to the top of the huge sand dune a few times already and had decided that it was time that the grown ups tackled it.  So once again I found my out of shape self climbing this MASSIVE sand dune.  Stuart is giving us his victory sign for making it to the top.  While at the top (but not really the top if you remember the photos from last year) we did a bit of exploring.  The kids went higher while we walked along the ridge.  When it was time to head down, Stuart and Wayne decided to have a race down.

Once down we checked to make sure eveything was ready for supper (for when we got back) and then headed out for a sunset walk on the dunes.  We had walked about a km (Wayne's estimate, mine would be that the tent and truck were seen as specs) we decided it was time to head back and have some supper - hot dogs on an open camp fire.  YUMMY!!

After listening to the four wheelers come close several times through the night the sun had arrived.  Patrick got the fire back up for coffee and toast.  Wayne found a grill to go over the fire which makes food time that much more enjoyable while camping; at least now we can have some variety and not just cheesy buns for lunch and supper and a PB sandwitch for breakfast. :)

Once we were all packed up we went to Moreeb dune where they race their trucks, dune buggies, bikes up the slip face (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moreeb_dunes).  The kids thought that they would give climbing it a try.  We were smart this time and let them have a go on their own!  You can just make them out about a third of the way up the hill.  Overall a wonderful camping trip was had, can't wait until Monday when we are going to Oman for a couple of nights of Wadi and Mountain camping.

Saying Good Bye to friends - November 5, 2010

Friends of Patrick and Samantha are leaving Abu Dhabi and moving to Doha, Qatar during Eid.  They had a get together of friends to have one last goodbye.  We decided to do a few geocaches on the way out to the hotel where the party was.  This one below was with a different view of the Grand Mosque.

Here is Patrick with his friends Luca and Calissa.  Calissa and her brother Noah (Sam's friend) are the ones moving.  The kids had a wonderful time playing together while the grown-ups chatted.  Why is it that you just start making friends and then someone has to leave?  Our kids were very sad to their friends go; they will be missed.