It was time for us to take a much needed break from West Africa. With two other employee couples, also assigned to West Africa, we spent a week discovering ancient Egypt on the Nile. Our visit included Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan, Abu Simbel, and Luxor. We ended our adventure at the Sinai Resort town of Sharm el Sheikh. We stayed at a wonderful Marriott hotel which was as nice as any Marriott in California or Hawaii. We needed a luxury hotel; they are very hard to find in West Africa.
I was surprised what a step up Egypt is from West Africa. In Cairo we visited a beautiful new 5 story mall called Sun City. I was impressed with the shopping; Gregg loved the food court which was full of all the fast food restaurants that you can only dream about in West Africa. I didn't even know McDonald's had a double quarter pounder with cheese. Can you eat that and not feel guilty? It's hard to believe but Gregg lost 5 pounds on this trip and he ate like a horse.
We went SCUBA diving in the Red Sea. What a magnificent and colorful aquarium. Gregg's favorite was the giant moray eel. I saw the biggest lion fish of my life; although they are venomous, they are not aggressive and left us alone. The Red Sea is full of anemone and clown fish. I love clown fish. And I was just as happy that we never saw a single shark.
We celebrated my birthday in Sharm el Sheikh. Gregg surprised me with a birthday cake delivered to our room. It was a great and very memorable birthday.
