Walk like an Egyptian

All of us have dreams of things we would love to do or places we hope to visit.

When I was a little girl, my aunt gave me a book on the pharaohs, and I’ve been interested in Egypt ever since. I wanted to see the pyramids, sail down the Nile, visit the temple of Karnak and take a camel ride. A few years ago, when I celebrated my 60th birthday, it dawned on me that I’d better start making an effort soon.

So last fall, in spite of the fact that I couldn’t find anybody else who wanted to go with me, I located a tour that promised to deliver on all my wishes, signed myself up and left for Egypt in mid-February.

It was simply a wonderful trip that met all my expectations and provided a few surprises as well. At our first stop, our guide, an Egyptologist, began his talk by saying, “This is what we would call a ‘new temple,’ built approximately 2,200 years ago.”

Any monument constructed after Alexander the Great had established the Ptolemaic Dynasty is not considered “ancient.” Yikes! What a concept for Americans, who think that anything built before the Civil War is old!

The cruise on the Nile from Aswan to Luxor provided wonderful panoramic views of the Nile Valley. I had no idea that the desert encroached quite so close on the river. We would pass lush marshes on either side and see the sharp line of demarcation where irrigated fields gave way to the arid sands. The water itself was clear and, judging by the large number of waterfowl that I saw, free of pollution.

Unlike most of the trips I make, this was not a birding expedition. However, I did purchase a field guide for the area, packed my binoculars, and managed to add quite a few new birds. Many of the ducks, such as shovelers and pintails, were the same species that we find right here in Virginia. Of course, the red-crested pochard, a native of Europe and Asia, was new, and it was fun to see so many European wigeon.

The camel ride turned out to be a real adventure. I guess it hadn’t quite sunk in on me that the camel would rise first on its back legs, leaving the rider perched up there at a ridiculous angle and trying desperately not to slide off the front end and over the camel’s head. Even after we got moving, there was a lot of swaying back and forth, but I managed to prevail and didn’t wind up stuck face-down in the sand.

I arrived back at home late last week and, as always, one of the best moments of any trip is when I open my front door. As I often tease my husband, who hates to travel out of the country and rarely does, “I missed you and the dog terribly (although not necessarily in that order).”

News and notes
The Lynchburg Bird Club will sponsor an evening woodcock walk Saturday at Buffalo Creek Nature Area on Virginia 24 west of Evington. We will meet at 6:20 p.m. in the parking area. Wear dark clothing and sturdy shoes. Bring both a flashlight and binoculars. In the event of really cold temperatures or rain, the trip will be postponed. For questions, call the field trip leader at (434) 298-7773.
For those of you trying to attract purple martins, it is time to get the boxes or gourds in place. Although I have not had any reports yet this year, the early date for Lynchburg is March 1.