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[aggiedog]

Very excited to keep reading, as we just signed up for Egypt and Jordan with Collete. Thanks so much for the excellent report.

If Egypt is like Turkey or Morocco, then cats and dogs are something between celebrated and tolerated. Istanbul has 7 mobile vet vans for the street animals, and we saw cats and dogs inside stores, and even one cat on top a security x-ray machine at the port sleeping in one of those "put your small things in here" buckets. Morocco had cats houses set up near entrances to various places for the street cats to sleep. We heard a story about Mohammed cutting off the sleeve of his robe so a sleeping cat would not be disturbed as one of the reasons for the cultural tolerance. That still leaves lots of animals without the care and keeping we would like to see since ultimately they're still street animals. It's a sometimes uncomfortable dichotomy.

 

[sayhello]

Wow! This was really quite the adventure! I've actually been to a lecture by Dr Zahi Hawass. It was definitely interesting, although I found him more than a little self-aggrandizing. Everything was "I" "I" "I" with really no "We" for the people who did all this stuff with him. But it looks like they run a really great tour! One of the best things about ABD's itinerary is the up close access to the Sphinx; it's good to know this other country does that, too! Although those early mornings sound brutal!

And the camel photos are great! That wide shot Kyle took of all of the camels and the pyramids in the background is quite impressive!

Oh, and I thought I'd mention, based on the experiences of a couple of friends, there is no such thing as a "free" cat from another country. It's quite the hassle and rather expensive to get a cat out of the country and into the US!

Looking forward to more of your post-trip report.

Sayhello