Day 5

Sunday, June 6, 2010 (Siwa, Egypt) – It was time to get out of Cairo, so the four boys loaded up the car (Elisabeth stayed behind to get some work done) and headed out.

We started north until we hit the Mediterranean Sea and followed it for a few hours Marsa Matruh, where we headed back south.

Ten short hours later, we arrived in Siwa, an oasis in the Western Desert. To be sure, when I skimmed over that trip south a moment ago, I did not remotely do it justice.

For roughly three hours, we drove on one of the most desolate two-lane highways on the planet. I was surprised at how well maintained the asphalt was, but the scenery was the endless miles of desert you would expect.

It was certainly a first for me when I spotted my first camel road kill, a sight we would see several more times during the journey. Without question, we saw more wild camels patrolling the desert than we saw other motorists. And when cars did pass us in the opposite direction, they flashed their lights at us. We still have no idea why they were doing it and if they were trying to communicate some essential message. So we waved at them.

We finally rolled into Siwa around 8 p.m. and drove around the small town for a good 15 minutes before we finally found our hotel. It’s kind of hard to fault us for not seeing it right away. We’re not exactly talking a Marriott with big flashing lights.

The Al-Babinshal was literally built as an addition to the Fortress of Shali, a 13th Century mudbrick fortress. The place is unbelievable, although I’m not sure adding a hotel alongside an 800 year old building is what historians would want.

The thing is, you really can’t tell where the fortress stops and the hotel starts, because the hotel used all the same materials and somehow blended it in perfectly. And, to be fair, the fortress itself is in shambles and is not really used for much of anything, from the look of it. For those interested in more details, the fortress that was built in 1203 was ruined by three days of rain in 1926. That’s right, rain brought down a 723-year-old fort. Seriously, I can’t make this up.

We headed to the rooftop restaurant for dinner. The wind was blowing pretty hard, which is obviously not uncommon for the desert, but it made keeping the paper placemats difficult to keep from flying away.

We were met with a welcome drink, which was some sort of hibiscus tea. Darren slammed his. Sammy took one sip before saying no chance. And Calvin and I pretended it was some sort of magic potion that would somehow help us. It wasn’t easy, but we both finished the glass.

Up until this point, we have stuck mostly to American restaurants or eaten at home. One of my concerns is that I’ve never really cared for Middle Eastern cuisine, but I am willing to give anything a try (especially figuring that the authentic dishes may taste better than the ones I’ve had in the States).

We ordered hummus and baba ghanoug for appetizers, and I tried both dips before finishing off the rest of my plain pita bread.

I did go out on a limb and ordered Safari Stew for my main course, complete with carrots, mashed potatoes and, yes, camel meat. It was similar to a pot roast, so I made a pretty good dent in it before handing it over so Darren could try (inhale) some of it.

I just hope it had no relation with what we saw on the side of the road today.