This was a sacred travel journey with Nicki Skully of Shamanic Journeys, Ltd. and Quest Travel, departing Halloween 2008 and returning November 15, 2008. Here's the trip itinerary provided soon before departure — but note that surprises and flexibility in scheduling were part of the experience.
The flight from JFK taxied at least an hour before getting airborne, but eventually we arrived at Cairo airport and got checked into Mena House for the night. We had a dinner and first group meeting at Mohamed's house just across the road.
We had our first early wakeup call for a private dawn visit to the sphinx and Giza plateau.
As a surprise, our group got to meet and hear Zahi Hawass after the sphinx visit and Mena House breakfast.
That same afternoon we went back through Cairo traffic for a shoppers' experience at Khan el-Khalili .
And that night we spent on a train heading south to upper Egypt.
In the afternoon after we'd gotten settled in the hotel, we took a felucca to the ancient sites on Elephantine Island.
We weren't in Aswan long, but we did visit a papyrus institute and visit the Nubian Museum as we got resettled for the cruise down the Nile to Luxor.
We boarded the Sonesta Sun Goddess in Aswan and stayed on it until we'd been in Luxor a night, visiting Philae, Kom Ombu, Edfu, and Karnak before deboarding.
