With its ancient sites and impressive monuments, both Egypt and Jordan are packed with incredible adventures, and we experience the best of them on our immersive journey, Pyramids to Petra. Read on to experience a bit of the fun through the eyes of some of our fellow travelers who joined us in October 2022.
We didn’t know what to expect on our fourth Wilderness Travel trip. While there would be less hiking than the trips we typically do, we would be experiencing things—from landscape to food, to climate, to history, and current events—that we had never experienced before.
The journey turned out to be one of the most memorable two weeks we’ve ever spent traveling!
Our starting point at the Mena House, located below the Great Pyramids, set us up perfectly for what was to come.
As we visited a number of locations in Cairo on the first day, it became clear that our Wilderness Travel Trip Leader Ahmed was not only knowledgeable, but thought-provoking and entertaining as well. His compelling, clear delivery combined with his ability to tie things together across the ages kept us spellbound throughout the entire trip.
We traveled south of Cairo to Saqqara and the oldest stone building on the face of the earth, then back for an up close and personal visit to the Great Pyramids of Giza followed by a “ride” to lunch.
A very active following day had us traveling to Aswan to visit the Temple of Isis, then Abu Simbel to visit the Temple of Rameses II before a sunset boarding of our private yacht that will take us down the Nile for the next few days. A great experience!
The trip down the Nile was both relaxing and beautiful. We spent some time sailing on a local felucca and were able to hop on and off the ship to visit various locations.
Seeing original preserved colors on pillars and walls that are thousands of years old was only one of the many amazing and unexpected benefits of getting up close and learning about the history of Egypt.
Over our week in Egypt, we visited 4000-year-old pyramids and tombs as well as temples dedicated to a variety of gods, kings, and queens. These sites along with artisan shops, quarries, and ancient city sites were all related to the history we were absorbing.
Then it was off to the Kingdom of Jordan, where we were joined by Nadia who, along with Ahmed, introduced us to a completely different historical, political, and economic environment than we had experienced in Egypt.
We then headed south to Petra…a portion of the trip that could fill a blog on its own.
Just when we thought things couldn’t get much better, we traveled to and through the desert of Wadi Rum. It was vast, quiet, and uniquely beautiful.
Spending a night in the desert with our new friends around the fire was a wonderful way to bring our trip toward a close.
—Text and photos by 4-time WT adventurers Rob and Claire Robinson, Pyramids to Petra.
