When in Cairo.....

Yesterday was a no good, horrible, terrible, bad day - after being awake for more than 24 hours, in an airport with nowhere comfortable to fall asleep, we found out that our Cairo flight was going to be another hour delayed meaning that we would miss our connection to JFK and NEVER GET BACK TO AMERICA!!!! When all of us were at our very crankiest, we boarded the plane at 6AM and all fell asleep before we even took off, ready to get to Cairo and dreaming about other connecting flights that would get us home.

When we landed, the display boards showed our flight still boarding, so we sprinted to the transfer desk only to be told that the board hadn't been updated and our flight was gone.  We didnt believe this and just assumed that everyone is trying to make us stay in Africa - especially after they told us that we would be in Cairo for 24 hours and they would put us in a hotel but we had to leave our passports at the airport - SKETCH.  Naturally, we did it anyway.

After taking a quick nap and eating lunch, we decided we had to make the best of the situation and ignore the warnings of everyone we have ever met and go explore Cairo.  Together with our new friend Dominique, who was also trying to get to JFK, we hired a driver (a very safe, reputable one from our hotel) and headed to the pyramids.  Our driver basically forced us into purchasing a camel ride - which we were all annoyed about at first because we didn't want to spend any money, but after we talked him down to $25 a person we were sold.  It was AMAZING!!!

Katie, Marc, their camels, the pyramid and Adam the guide.

Dan just getting on his camel.

We had all seen camels before but are pretty sure that you never realize how tall you are until you are sitting on one, riding across the desert, in front of the PYRAMIDS.  They are huge!! We got to ride right up to them and climb around and play on the ruins for a little bit before we had to say goodbye to our camels.  Dominique's camel was sassy and spit all over her and made a lot of noise, other than that they were very gentle and we all really enjoyed ourselves....when will we ever be in Egypt again?? (do NOT reply with "next year when your flight gets delayed again")

Katie, Marc, Dan & Dominique hanging out on the base of a pyramid.



The Sphinx!  Dont judge our photography - all photos taken while hanging onto to camel for dear life.



Crazy camel

 Our driver took us for a tour of Old Cairo, New Cairo, the religious area, and downtown - it was all really cool, there is a lot to see in Cairo and much of it is very beautiful.  We stopped to take some pictures by the Nile, and watched everyone preparing to break fast since we are in the middle of Ramadan.  Our driver warned us that it was time to head back at around 5;  he says that a couple hours before time to break fast everyone can get a little crazy and he wanted to make sure we were back before then :)



The Nile in Egypt.

Against our will, we have really enjoyed our time in Cairo.  We landed this morning determined to go back to America or be in a bad mood and ended up having a blast at one of the seven wonders of the world instead! Hopefully our travels tomorrow go off without a hitch and then next time you hear from us it won't be with a surprise stop in another country!