My father was an aircraft mechanic who often flew to Morocco in the 1950s to repair downed aircraft, probably at the Port Lyautey Naval Air Station near Casablanca. He sent us postcards of exotic-looking people leading camels through the desert and brought home cherished gifts of tooled leather and decorative brass. I was delighted to finally visit with NextTribe and learn more about this place of my childhood fantasies.
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Back in CairoAfter a quick flight from Luxor, we landed in Cairo, checked into the local Marriott, turned around, and went right back out to continue our tour of the ancient wonders: grand houses of worship, the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx, and the Egyptian museum. This was my seventh day in Egypt, the fifth day on the official tour, and there was still so much to see.
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Kom Ombo
On day 2 of our Nile cruise we woke up in Kom Ombo and proceeded to the Graeco-Roman Temple shared by two gods: Horus, the falcon-headed god, and Sobek, the crocodile god. Yup, a crocodile. The ancient Egyptians worshipped Sobek as a protection from the dangerous crocodiles that once infested the area. The building has two sides, symmetrically built with matching courts, halls, and sanctuaries. You wouldn’t want to show favoritism! Built circa 180–47 BC and damaged by floods and earthquakes, what remains is quite impressive with lots of the carvings still intact. Every surface has some form of symbolic decoration to tell a story or honor a deity. There is an on-site museum with several of the hundreds of mummified crocodiles (!) that were discovered in the area. Continue reading
accidental goddess 