The Traveling Journal: Walking Like an Egyptian

Kalifa Warren was excited to become a student ambassador with us so that she could not only share her travel stories of Egypt, but also excite other students to want to step outside of their comfort zones and experience the world in new ways like she did.

“Any frustration from the long day of traveling left when we got to Egypt and began driving through the streets of Cairo. Our first hotel was amazing and huge! It had many gardens to sit in and dozens of cats roaming about. My mom and I even got a massage in the hotel spa the second day, it was very rejuvenating. When it came time for dinner the first night, I had never thought about what Egyptian food was like, so it came as a surprise. There were a lot of Mediterranean components that I knew from home such as hummus, falafel, tahini, and tzatziki. These were all good, but the rice and Turkish style stuffed chicken was my favorite.

The first tour day was jam packed as expected with many temple sites, tombs, and famous landmarks to visit. We had the opportunity to see King Tutankhamun’s tomb and mummy in The Valley of the Kings. There were two more mummies in the Egyptian Museum that were the grandparents of King Tut. We then took a bus to Abu Simbel on the Aswan desert highway, and I still could not believe we were in the desert. We took a couple of smaller boat rides to a Nubian village and the Philae Temple which were both beautiful. After visiting the pyramids, we had the chance to ride a camel through the desert. It was a little scary but one of my favorite parts of the trip.

A part of the trip I will always remember was taking a cruise down the Nile River. This was the first cruise ride I had ever taken, and I was happy to be getting great views of Egypt from a different perspective. The cruise ship had lots to do on it, it had a restaurant, a spa, and even a pool.  I ended up getting another massage in the cruise spa and got a great deal. The food on the ship was buffet style, but the croissants for breakfast were my favorite. While on the cruise, we had the opportunity to wear Galabia style dress and attend an Egyptian night in the bar lounge. One of the tour guides taught us some dance moves.

One thing I learned is that Egypt has a large low-income population. There were even children who appeared to be seven or eight years old selling little key chains for one dollar. While on the cruise ship, there were salesmen rowing up to us and connecting their boats to the ship and displayed their items for sale to the passengers. It was very amazing to see how hard people work and how creative they had to be to make a living. Even when we were on the sailboat to the Nubian village, kids on paddle boats would come up to us and sing for money.

I learned a lot about myself on this trip.  I realized I can have a good time and be happy under any circumstance. When we arrived in Luxor and Aswan the temperature was much higher than Cairo. We were visiting many temples in 114-degree heat, and I have never experienced that before. Keeping in mind that I was seeing structures-built thousands of years ago made it worth it.

I think other students should join a WorldStrides trip because it allows the opportunity to experience cultures and new ways of life. Traveling is a mind opening experience that stays with a person wherever they go. Some big skills that can be gained are adaptability and cultural competency. Being on a tour in a different country can really make someone’s world bigger than what was ever imagined and may spark interests you never knew you had. Traveling with Explorica was more than just going on vacation, the itineraries are filled with excursions you wouldn’t have thought to do if you went without a guide. Our tour guides shared their knowledge with us every step of the way, this was one of my favorite things about traveling with Explorica.”