Walk Like An Egyptian

After having a thoroughly lazy day yesterday, it was perfectly reasonable to embark on a 5 km walk this morning, BEFORE we were allowed any lunch! Bedecked in a variety of sun hats borrowed from the supply on board, we expected that our desert walk would have us in the blazing sun all the time! We were wrong! We weren't expecting such pleasure as walking under the shade of thousands of date palms, on sandy tracks used by the local farmers. Again we were blown away by the lushness of the crop growth here& the clever use of irrigation channels. We saw date, mango, banana & orange trees & were introduced to a uniquely Egyptian fruit called a 'dom'. It looked like an orange that had turned very rotten, but had leathery looking skin. Apparently it has a very strong flavor & our guide didn't express any enthusiasm for this fruit. We saw nature at work wonderfully here. there is a white bird, who walks amongst the crops & animals, obviously feeding off the bugs. When asked what was the name of the bird, we were told 'farmers friend'! Our walk was over well before we expected it to be & we had another treat instore; refreshments at a traditional village cafe. This is the domain of men, where they drink coffee, smoke the narghila & solve the problems of the world. I'm not convinced they were happy with our presence, but there was no hostility. this time my wonderful Egyptian black tea had a sprig of fresh mint in it, which was delightfully refreshing. Such a fantastic walk could only be followed by an equally fantabulous egyptian lunch; falafels, hommous, salad, fuul, & the most heavenly eggplant with a relish on it that we had many happy moments trying to work out what the ingredients included. Ahhhhh, life is good & the Nile god, Hapy, continues to bless us!