I should have titled this blog post “Sunsets in Egypt” – because, wow, do I have a lot of photos of sunsets from my vacation in Cairo! Aside from photos of the landmarks, food, people and souvenirs, I repeatedly see pictures of the sun setting over the Nile River in my phone’s gallery. I clearly couldn’t get enough! I think most people who love the sunset recognise its bewitching quality. Most of nature is special in this way. The sun setting over one of the world’s most historical rivers is a feeling second to none. A close second is the sun setting over the Mayan Ruins in Belize, but that’s a blog post for another day!

The great thing about blogging is that I don’t do this for money, I do this because I love history and culture. I also do this because I love documenting memories of my travels for myself (not in an instagrammy way, but in a “one-day-i-want-to-remember-i-did-this” way). I’ve done it for about 12 years. Being from South Africa originally myself, I like to think I see stuff through a unique lens. I’ve travelled to 5 continents and over 15 countries. I speak 3 languages. I have a bit of world experience 😉 I’m typically very practical and realistic when I travel, with an eye for finding wonders in the detail where most people may not. That’s why this whole blog is hinged on the word “Moments”. There are so many feel-good moments around us every day, if we just look for them. And the best ones are free, like the sunset. While on a 12-day cruise from Cairo to Cairo, iconic moments I took away from a recent (pre-COVID) vacation were the quaint signboards that marked out everything, the snake charmers, the sounds of the mosques at sundown, the hieroglyphs, the date palms and, unexpectedly, the hibiscus tea – apparently a traditional, cultural drink! During our cruise, we stopped for a day in Aswan and enjoyed a traditional meal of hibiscus tea and sweet honey bread with molasses in a Nubian home. That was a moment I won’t forget! The Nubians were known as “Crocodile Whisperers” which is why I’ve included moments at the temple of The Ancient Egyptian Crocodile King – Sobek – that’s nearby. Sobek was an ancient Egyptian deity with a complex and elastic history and nature. He is associated with the Nile crocodile or the West African crocodile and is represented either in its form or as a human with a crocodile head. The Nubians arrived at the same time as the Egyptians and settled along the Nile River. Today, their village is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for crafts and folk art. Below, I’ve included videos I’ve done on both The Nubians as well as the famous nile crocodiles!