Two countries; Four cities; Eight days: SALAAM ALAIKUM
We conquered Mount Kilimanjaro the last time my brother and I travelled together. That was 14 months ago. We took on Arab Africa this year, with hopes of bringing back pyramids and camels. Maybe crude oil as well?
We came back with more than we had bargained for. He found his calling at the Hanging church in Cairo.
He's an ordained preacher today. Exhibit A below
HO-MY-GODOOOOOO
REWIND: My
brother has pestered me about the Kingdom of Morocco since 2010, only God knows
why. I even thought he was looking for a second wife. People walk around with
death wishes you know but #AsikhoLapho.
I was tasked with making the holiday happen, being the trusted travel
agent and all. I added Egypt for the pyramids of Giza; Tutankhamun;
Hieroglyphics etc.
We departed
just one day after Good Friday, no plan in mind just Historical landmarks for
me as always. I love Museums, military especially. Morocco/Egypt being former colonies were bound to have a rich
history.
Umpteen hours later we landed in Casablanca
spending 2hours at customs due to long queues and limited staff. My main worry
was my visa that had a ballpoint pen correction LOL! I said a correction done
using a ballpoint pen. Let me explain: A few days before departure the visa
agent called to say the visa had come back with a misspelt name and they had
sent it back #Warrafck? They phoned me
the following DAY for collection. What? How? “No they used pen to correct it,
it is ready” I thought ok, I shall not interfere with Moroccan Home Affairs.
I had
realised a few days before departure that Casablanca had no desert, sooooo… how
on earth were we going to ride and buy camels huh? I sold the idea of going to
Marrakech by train. My brother's
response was “I do not care where we are going or what we are going to do, I
trust you I know we are going to have fun” That melted my heart.
Once settled down at the hotel, we walked to
the train station to check the times so we could plan better. The train ride
was 3 hours, I suggested we set an entire day aside for Marrakech.
We
navigated the streets of Casablanca on that first day towards La Corniche,
where Hassan II Mosque resides.
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| Hassan II Mosque. Largest mosque in Morocco |
This is the largest mosque in Morocco. It took a very
long walk but hey it’s not like we had babies waiting to get breastfed. It
became even more interesting asking locals who spoke little to no English, many
of them refusing to even speak to us all together. We even sought help from the
police. Look I'm a black South African that grew up in the 80s. Police are to
be feared & not asked for help of any form.
We got a street map the following day.
Tour guides
are a waste of time and money. Visiting
a country/city for me means interacting with locals, walking the streets;
eating street food; kissing strangers... Ok ok I kid. The world has become such
a dangerous place we live in fear, gated communities and drive with closed
windows, go on and smell Braamfontein perhaps that will make you understand the
plight of those PikItUp employees. I digress.
We challenged ourselves to 10 landmarks and
ended up marking more than 15 covering a distance of more than 30kms on foot.
I’ve said this before, my brother and I would win the #AmazingRace with ease.
We left
Casablanca at 6h50 for Marrakech the following day.
3hours in a
train, looking outside the window comparing Morocco to our country bobbing to
Biggie Smalls; Kanyi Mavi ; Teargas and Duncan. He introduced me to a track
called Devil featuring Njabulo. The track deals with a story of an
unemployed young black man tormented by
the devil. It became our soundtrack for the trip
CLICK BELOW
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| Thabo Mbeki, Marrakech |
Another
street map in Marrakech to guided us to Saadian Tombs; Koutoub Mosque to
mention a few landmarks ending at El Bahia Palace, where we had agreed to meet
the agent from the Camel tour company.
Marrakech is different from Casablanca, less busy; low
storey buildings and a lot of palm trees. We got water to keep dehydrated and
walked the streets.
We landed at El Bahia Palace eventually to meet the
tour guide. The place was so full of tourists however, how would we know we
were at the correct entrance? Our phones were acting up, no network. I played
the girl card and went to the nearest shop leaving my brother behind. I asked
the male shopkeeper to make a call for me using his phone and communicate with
the guide. Within a few minutes, the guide was there to pick us up. I thanked
the shopkeeper and gave him a tip, the South African way.
The tour guide was a French dude, who spoke throughout
the tour. For 2 hours the hippie never paused for a second. We were lucky there
was a French couple with us on the tour, he kept switching between the two
languages, that’s the only way we got a break, FarraGaad. The guy was like a
kid on glucose.
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| Our guide, look how excited he is. FadaGaad |
STREETS OF MARRAKECH
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| Koutouba Mosque |
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| Saadian Tombs |
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| Opera House, Marrakech |
By the last day In Morocco, our old bodies were stiff
from all the walking and climbing but the fun was about to begin. We were off
to Egypt, baby!!!
Arab Republic of Egypt
The history of Egypt has been long and rich, due to Nile
river; Hieroglyphics; Pyramids of Giza amongst others. If you went to school
before democracy banned religions at schools you must have read the story of
Moses freeing slaves from Egypt. Human settlement in Egypt dates back to at
least 40,000 BC. I went to Egypt for Tutankhamun; Nefertiti; Isis; Nubians;
Hieroglyphics and pyramids
GODS AND PHARAOS
Hollywood made a movie not so long ago about gods of Egypt.
The movie was an epic flop scoring a spectacular 12% on rotten tomatoes. I wont
get into race issues but Egyptian gods were black #AsikhoLapho
TUTANKHAMUN
Tutankhamun , born 1341 BC was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (ruled c. 1332–1323 BC ), during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom/ Empire Period. He has since his discovery been colloquially referred to as King Tut. His original name, Tutankhaten, means "Living Image of Aten", while Tutankhamun means "Living Image of Amun". In hieroglyphs, the name Tutankhamun was typically written Amen-tut-ankh, because of a scribal custom that placed a divine name at the beginning of a phrase to show appropriate reverence.
Tutankhamun was the son of Akhenaten
and one of Akhenaten's sisters, or possibly one of his cousins. Yes, incest keeping royalty in the family
namsayin?
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| Tutankhamun's Death Mask |
King Tut died at the age of 18. What caused Tutankhamun's death has been
the subject of considerable debate. There is some evidence, advanced by
Harvard microbiologist Ralph Mitchell, that his burial may have been hurried.
Mitchell reported that dark brown splotches on the decorated walls of
Tutankhamun's burial chamber suggested that he had been entombed even before
the paint had a chance to dry
Yup, they murdered a kid who was not even at drinking age.
Humans!!!!
NEFERTITI
Nefertiti,
whose name means "a beautiful woman has come," is one of the most
famous women of ancient times and an icon of feminine beauty.
She was the
queen of Egypt and wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten during the 14th century B.C
arguably the wealthiest period of Ancient Egyptian history. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a
religious revolution, in which they worshiped one god only, Aten, or the sun disc.
Akhenaten and Nefertiti were responsible for the creation of a whole new
religion which changed the ways of religion within Egypt . Some scholars
believe that Nefertiti ruled briefly as Neferneferuaten after her husband's
death and before the accession of Tutankhamun, although this identification is
a matter of ongoing debate.
ISIS
Isis (means "Throne”) is an Ancient Egyptian
goddess, wife of Osiris, the king of the afterlife. Isis is usually represented
as a woman with the throne-hieroglyph on her head, symbolizing her as the wife
of Osiris, the king of the afterlife. Isis can also be represented as a bird
(called a kite) wearing the same headdress. Isis is sometimes portrayed as wearing a headdress shaped like a throne and
with an Ankh in her hand
In the typical form of her myth, Isis was the first daughter
of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, goddess of the Sky, and she was born on the
fourth intercalary day. She married her brother, Osiris, and they conceived
Horus, God of the sky and kingship.
HIEROGLYPHICS
Egyptian
hieroglyphs (/ˈhaɪərəˌɡlɪf, "god's words") were a formal writing
system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic
elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on
papyrus and wood. Early hieroglyphs date back as far as 3,300 BCE, and
continued to be used up until about 400 CE, when non-Christian temples were
closed and their monumental use was no longer necessary.
NUBIANS
The Nubians are one of the oldest civilizations in the
world, having lived alongside the Nile river in what is now southern Egypt and
northern Sudan for thousands of years.
he beginning of the Dynastic Period of ancient Egypt
Nubia was an important trading center that provided Egypt with gold, ebony,
ivory, exotic animals, and slaves. As trade with Egypt increased, the region’s
power grew, but during the Middle Kingdom Egypt expanded into Nubia, which the
Egyptians called Kush. The region
remained politically disorganized until the first in a series of three kingdoms
was established. The first, called the kingdom of Kerma, lasted from about 2400
to 1500 b.c.e. Kerma’s kings accumulated enough power to build large walls,
tombs, and other structures.
During the New Kingdom, Egypt expanded farther into Nubia
and built a new capital at Napata, which lasted from 1000 to 300 b.c.e. and was
powerful enough to conquer Egypt, with its kings ruling Egypt as the Twenty
FiFth Dynasty (770–712 b.c.e.).
Today Nubians live in
the region of Aswan we were told .
EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS
The most famous Egyptian pyramids are those found at Giza,
on the outskirts of Cairo. Several of the Giza pyramids are counted among the
largest structures ever built. Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the "Great
Pyramid" and the "Pyramid of Cheops"); the somewhat smaller
Pyramid of Khafre (or Kephren); the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure
(or Mykerinus), along with a number of smaller satellite edifices known as
"Queen's pyramids"; and the Great Sphinx. The Pyramid of Khufu is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World still in existence. The shape of a pyramid is thought to be
representative of the descending rays of the sun, and most pyramids were faced
with polished, highly reflective white limestone, in order to give them a
brilliant appearance when viewed from a distance.
WE CONQUERED THE PYRAMIDS
The Egyptian Revolution
The Egyptian Revolution of 1952 also known as the 23 July Revolution by the Free Officers Movement, a group of army officers led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser. The revolution was initially aimed at overthrowing King Faruq but also moved to abolish the constitutional monarchy and aristocracy of Egypt and Sudan, establish a republic, end the British occupation of the country, and secure the independence of Sudan (previously governed as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium). The revolutionary government adopted a staunchly nationalist, anti-imperialist agenda, which came to be expressed chiefly through Arab nationalism, and international non-alignment.
The early successes of the revolution encouraged numerous other nationalist movements in other Arab, and African countries, such as Algeria, and Kenya, where there were anti-colonial rebellions against European empires. It also inspired the toppling of existing pro-Western monarchies and governments in the region and the continent.
The Revolution is commemorated each year on Egypt's national day, Revolution Day, on 23 July.
I was most interested in the Arab Spring. As already mentioned in #LessonsFromMyDad it is said that at a very young age I knew Heads Of States throughout the world and Mubarak was one of them. When his rule came to an end in 2011, more than 30 years later I asked my dad “ Is Mubarak, the President that is being toppled the same one I used to talk about when I was a kid?” He laughed. I’m in my 30s, brethren it is not so common for a President apart from the Big Rob of Zimbabwe to have spent that long on the throne
The Egyptian Revolution of 2011, locally known as the January 25 Revolution began on 25 January 2011 and took place across all of Egypt. It consisted of demonstrations, marches, occupations of plazas, riots, non-violent civil resistance, acts of civil disobedience and strikes. Millions of protesters from a range of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The revolution included Islamic, liberal, anti-capitalist, nationalist and feminist elements. Violent clashes between security forces and protesters resulted in at least 846 people killed and over 6,000 injured. Protesters burned over 90 police stations. The protests took place in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities.
The revolution led to Mohamed Morsi being elected to become the fifth President of Egypt, from 30 June 2012 to 3 July 2013.
On 3 July 2013, Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coalition to remove the only democratically elected President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, from power and suspended the Egyptian constitution. The move came after the military's ultimatum for the government to "resolve its differences" with opponents during widespread national protests. The military arrested Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders and declared Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Adly Mansour as the interim president of Egypt.
As Francis Underwood would say “Democracy is so overrated”
Back to our holidays. We tried to do the street map thing but Cairo is vast with a population of around 18 million 20000 people per square kilometre versus 4 million in Casablanca. It was impossible, the landmarks were so far apart and even navigating the streets was more difficult. Cairo is a very old city. Street names are not widely respected we opted for a driver to take us around.
That’s when we got introduced to Mr Mahmoed. A very knowleadgable gentleman, he loves his job so much he would sing mid-sentence *sigh* He knew so much about South Africa as well to the level of how Government assists small businesses, very impressive.
He told us the history of the pyramids, unfortunately for him he was dealing with me a colossal baby. Once I saw the pyramids, I lost interest in what he had to say. I had dreamt of that day for decades and would have appreciated being let to be left alone in my excitement.
Nile River cruise by night was rather funny. There was a belly dancer as expected. When she started coming around tables to take pictures with the audience I noticed that most of the local couples stood up and went outside. I was not sure whether belly dancing was frowned up or what. Well I doubt gentlemen had complaints but they were with their better halves and we all know how that goes “How dare you stare at this naked skank?” LOL! Well I even asked to touch her belly and feel her jewels *shrug*
I was not gonna leave Egypt without seeing Alexandria of course. We took a road trip there to see Mediterranean sea; Pompei's pillar and the Roman amphitheatre. If you've read Julius Caesar you'll understand
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| Pompei's pillar
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Coptic Cairo/Old Cairo
We visited Coptic Cairo on the last day. We were beyond exhausted at this point, I swear we were only going through the motions. Coptic Cairo is a part of Old Cairo which encompasses the
Babylon Fortress, the Coptic Museum, the Hanging Church, the Greek Church of
St. George and many other Coptic churches and historical sites. It is believed
that the Holy Family visited this area and stayed at the site of Saints Sergius
and Bacchus Church Coptic Cairo was a stronghold for Christianity in Egypt
until the Islamic era, though most of the current buildings of the churches in
Coptic Cairo were built after the Muslim conquest of Egypt
Hanging Church
The
Hanging (The Suspended) Church is named for its location above a gatehouse of
Babylon Fortress, the Roman fortress in Coptic Cairo (Old Cairo); The church is approached by twenty-nine steps; early
travellers to Cairo dubbed it "the Staircase Church.
LOOK AT THE CLOUDS....YET YOU STILL QUESTION GOD'S EXISTENCE.
KILL YOURSELF ABEG!!!
THAT'S MR MAHMOED GIVING HIS LIFE TO GEEZOS. MY BROTHER'S SERMON WAS THAT GOOD
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| Church of St. George |
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| POLICE. WOULD YOU RUN?! |
 
MOKATTAM HILL
PRAYER
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Citadel   
I LEFT AN AUTOGRAPH
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Highlights; Contrasts and observations
1. Casablanca we hardly saw women. All restaurants were filled with men in suits all day, I even questioned whether it was work holidays or what. Do they work at all? Where are the women? Raising children at home?2. Morocco: Locals did not seem to know street names. We’d show them the map and ask what street we’re on and they would debate amongst themselves before giving an answer, Puzzling indeed. Their first reaction would be I don’t know
3. Egypt: Locals were so fascinated with us, I had to ask Mr Mahmoed whether there are no black people in Egypt. His response was “Yes, there are lots of Nubian workers who come from Aswan…” He had not completed that sentence when he corrected himself and removed “workers” Racism exists throughout the world, your Highness. Locals seemed to have never seen black people before. Lark don’t you have TVs? Michael Jackson; Beyonce; Chizama? Some simply laughed at me, I thought is it the hair, I did not have the afro this time to avoid such incidents, I put on straight extensions. Even that didn’t help. I was exhibit A for a few days. I also said to my brother perhaps it’s the fact that I’m walking around with my hair out while theirs is covered.
My confusion is still confused
4. Mr Mahmoed’s ignorance: He knew so much about South Africa yet he asked two puzzling questions  |
| I was a Exhibit A |
a a) Do you have cars in South Africa?
b) Do you hold discos in the jungle?
I was confounded by such ignorance coming from a knowledgeable man.
5. Egypt AND Morocco, shopkeepers never make contact with your hand, at least not mine. They threw Change on the counter instead of giving it to me. Hygiene issues perhaps? They eat with their hands, what could be so dirty about my hands? I was confounded by such ignorance coming from a knowledgeable man.
6. Bad driving in both countries. No mirrors, no observation before crossing lanes. I swear hooting is part of changing gears. We never came across a single accident throughout our stay however. SANTACO take a bow. You're the best drivers in the world.
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| As seen in Cairo: That door is NOT open. There is NO door, period. |
7. Riding a camel carrying an umbrella #IAmChizama. The guide was so amused he asked to take a picture LOL!
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| #IAmChizama |
8. Local Beer: I have a ritual: Local beer in every country. It's not like I can tell the difference, beer is naaasty but hey
8. 8. Travelling with my brother once again and experiencing the beauty of Africa together. We have vowed to travel together at least once a year. Our families will have to understand, we are inseparable.
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| ""Ultracity"" to Alexandria |
9. How could I possibly forget white chocolate coated Oreos? We first discovered them at Casa-Voyageurs Railway Station, Casablanca. They came 12 in a box, we'd destroy them in minutes and say "Well fck it, we'll go to gym next week" LOL! Can Jacob Zuma bring these into our country already? We vote you know
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| How beautiful are my travel bags? Brazil and Kenya |
KING AND QUEEN OF SELFIES
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| ""I love you" look |
ALEXANDRIA
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| HE WAS RAPPING HIS MOST FAVOURITE TRACK. ONE MORE CHANCE. HE'S BEEN RAPPING THIS TRACK FOR 20 YEARS NOW |
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| Nile River by night |
admire relationship with your brother.
ReplyDeletelove the pic on camel. well traveled, informed and read. bows
I love the way you write, it makes me feel like I was travelling with you guys, every detail is upbeat and interesting... maybe someday I will join you in your Safaris.... you now have a follower in me.
ReplyDeletethe way you write, i can proudly say i was with you in that adventure... nice one
ReplyDelete