Cairo to Cape Blog
20 November to 24 November
With our visas in hand and the sites seen in Cairo it was time to board our 1st class train back to Luxor.
Our train trip back to Luxor was not that eventful. We arrived at the train station in good time, found our platform and people watched while waiting for the train. Cairo Station is like any other train station in the World, alive and vibrant with travelers from all walks of life going somewhere. The tourist police decided to change our tickets to a later train and took under their watchful eye for a couple of hours before escorting us onto the train and led us to our 1st class compartment. After Fred had done some taping of the air vents to warm up the esky (chili bin) compartment we shared some wine and snacks before settling in for the night.
Time to say goodbye to Egypt
We joined our final convoy from Luxor to Aswan, the southern tip of Egypt. Again driving too slow for the police and after an hour the trailing police vehicle overtook us and left us to our own devices.
We have thus far driven over 1400kms through desert and along the Nile (and the landies are doing brilliantly); traveled on trains, and experienced hair raising taxi drives through Cairo. We have pretty much done all the key sites in Egypt and now it was time to leave and continue to Sudan. While some of the group visited the sites including Abu Simbel the rest of us started the process to leave Egypt.
 Donkey Power, Egypt |
 Fire Escape Sign in Egypt |
How Many Stamps to Exit?
It is not possible to cross by land border between Egypt and Sudan; the only way to cross is via boat across Lake Nasser. We had booked a vehicle barge to depart Aswan on 22 November; and us on the passenger ferry on 24 November. The vehicle barge takes 3 days so our grand plan was to have both vehicles and us arrive at the same time into Wadi Halfa, Sudan! But as this is Africa, all great plans are made so they can be changed!!
Entering Egypt in your own vehicle is an adventure in itself; however it is nothing on actually trying to leave this ancient world. There are stamps on bits of pieces of paper required from different police departments, mountains of paperwork to complete, ferry tickets to collect, lengthy customs process, police clearance, surrendering number plates and local license, and finally loading the vehicles ... the maze is thick, process confusing, and everything is done on Egyptian time over many cups of sweet black tea. Although it is possible to complete the process within 1 day, all depends on whether the official responsible for stamping bits of paper and clearing our papers decide to come to work.
Loading the vehicles can be rather stressful for young players; the port is filled with 50 well-meaning Egyptians all yelling directions on how best to load; forward, backward to the left, to the right ... it was not long before Thiemo stepped in and took control of the loading process. In total 12 vehicles including 3 motor bikes were to be loaded and the space was tight. As we had block booked the ferry for our group months ago we were given priority on loading first. As the barge filled up it was clear that the 12th vehicle may not fit on the barge. All the vehicles were re-arranged once again; with only a few centimeters between the vehicles and the side of the barge all 12 vehicles finally were on the barge.
 Thiemo Directing Vehicles Onto The Barge |
 Loading The Vehicles On The Barge To Sudan |
2 days to complete the process and finally by 3pm Sunday the 23rd November the vehicles were on their way - not bad. A quick chat to the Captain who seemed as keen as us to make up for lost time assured us the vehicles will be in Wadi Halfa about the same time as us ... Only time will tell.
Time to Chill on the Nile
With the vehicles on their way we decided the perfect way to finish our time in Egypt was to take a few hours and a few beers on a felucca for a sunset sail followed by a traditional meal at a Nubian home. The meal was eaten in traditional style; a simple but tasty meal of barley soup followed by rice, chicken and vegetables. The highlight of the evening was when the girls (and Fred) decided to take up the offer of having henna tattoos on different parts of their body (for the sake of Linda’s kids I have not included all the photos of the henna tattoos!!).
Cruise across Lake Nasser... So in a couple of hours we leave for Aswan Port and board the passenger ferry to Wadi Halfa, Sudan. I am sure the next entry will be full of tails of the ferry, unloading vehicles and of course my favorite part of the Cairo to Cape – crossing the Sahara Desert.
 Jenny Taking The Rudder |
 Relaxing Felucca Sail On The Nile |
Don’t forget to check out www.offexploring.com/cairotocapetown Sue and Russ have a blog telling their story and photos of tourist attractions along the way.
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