Egypt; more than a trip

Photo by Lea Kobal on Unsplash

Growing up as an only child, books were my companions. I buried myself in them. Slept, ate and drank the stories. I fell in love with space and wanted to be an astronaut — the youngest Nigerian in space. Life happened.

I got into high school and fell in love with Geography. I enjoyed map reading the most. Nerd alert! 😂. I found love in another type of “space”. I buried myself in Encarta, visiting other lands and learning about other cultures. I was particularly captivated by the wonders of the world. What I would give to see the hanging gardens of Babylon.

Visiting Egypt was not just another trip. It was one of many dreams to come true — to visit every wonder of the world. This was the first step of many.

Things you should know before visiting Egypt:

1. Egypt offers visa on arrival to Nigerians. However, there are certain things you need to do before arriving — submitting your itinerary, accommodation and flight bookings. You need to do this to get an “okay to board”. This is what will allow you to fly out of your city and get your visa on arrival in Egypt.
2. Expect to spend an average of 2 hours getting through passport control. I spent about 3 and half hours. Nothing special but the wait time. First you purchase your visa sticker at the bank counter, then you proceed to passport control. They check your details and your “okay to board”. Then they take your passport and the visa sticker inside for processing — this is where you wait. All things going well, the next time you hear your name, you’ll be given your passport with the visa stamped.
3. There are no e-Sim for purchase in Egypt. If you’re going to purchase a sim, go with a phone that has a physical sim tray. Vodaphone has a 30 days tourist package for about $10, I think. If your phone is only e-Sim enabled, you can use apps such as airalo or holafly to get an e-Sim.
4. Get a tour guide. You can do it DIY style but I don’t think Egypt is a place to go DIY, especially if you’re there for a short time. I visited Egypt with a tour group organised by The Creatives Island and had the best time.

Egypt was a vibe! Waking up to the view of the pyramid every morning, hiking inside the pyramid, visiting the national museum, going on a dinner cruise on the Nile, gave everything and more. I was like a kid in the candy store. I remember feeling more energised after the hike in the pyramid than before I went in. It was invigorating!

Activities I did:

• Visited the pyramids and entered one of them
• Passed by the Sphinx
• Went camel riding
• Visited the 3 pyramids papyrus institute — Learnt about the first type paper, the first calendar, and the folklore of ancient Egyptians here. I got my name written in hieroglyphs and was gifted with an art piece
• Visited Heaven’s Essence, a perfumery
• Went for a dinner cruise on the Nile
• Visited the hanging and the underground churches
• Stopped by the first mosque on the continent
• Ate Egypt’s national dish — Koshary
• “Got lost” in the national museum
• Went ATV bike riding around the pyramid at sunset
• Walked the streets of Giza after dinner at local fast food restaurant
• Went on a day trip to Alexandra
• Saw the great library of Alexander
• Saw the Qaitbay fortress from the sea
• Crawled the catacombs of Kom el Shuqafa
• Had dinner in one of the fun restaurants in New Cairo called Hookah and they have the best Shisha ever, according to Seun.
• Shopped at the Cairo Festival mall.

Owo ti ku waso! I became unable to dispense cash 😂. I had a thoroughly good time and I wondered why I felt so fulfilled with this particular trip. I was satisfied in a way I rarely experience and I think it’s a combination of things:

1. It was a dream come true
2. I was with one of my closest friends, Seun.
3. Having some money. There’s nothing more disheartening than going on a trip and not being able to do things because of a lack of funds. A few things were not included in the tour package — entering into the pyramid, the dinner cruise on the Nile and the ATV bike ride at sunset, but doing them made for a much fuller experience.
4. My senses weren’t overwhelmed. I was able to experience the trip:

• As part of a small group of amazing people
• By myself. I was able to separate myself from the group and be by myself — “Getting lost” in the museum, hiking the pyramids (there are sections of it that you have to go alone)
• Together with Seun, away from the main group — shopping at the mall, the boat ride at Alexandria

In all, I’ll give the trip a solid 10/10. Of course it wasn’t entirely smooth but what is an interesting life without a few bumps?

I tried something different on this trip, I kept a daily journal. I’ll be sharing them soon.

Till my next trip, hopefully soon, Shukran!