The last month has been very emotional and hectic. We have gotten a lot of support and well wishes. We cannot thank people enough for being understanding. People ask us if we miss the USA, and we say “not so much the place, but we really miss the people”.

Now the travel adventures continue”¦ Our flight to Cairo was at 2100 (9:00 pm) on Friday, which meant we had to drive to LA during Friday rush hour traffic. Ugh. Our goal was to leave no later than 1500 (3:00 pm), giving us plenty of time to get to LAX, check in, get through security, and so forth. We had a very long “to do” list to tackle before 1500. We started the morning with tearful goodbyes with Eric’s parents, then headed to San Diego to say goodbye to Christi’s side of the family and run our errands. Unbelievably, we got through everything on the list that could be done (some things couldn’t be done for various reasons), and were on the road at 1530. Traffic was not nearly as bad as anticipated, which was a pleasant surprise.

We had brought two small, light suitcases and two backpacks with us from Egypt. We were going back to Egypt with two gigantic duffel bags full of boat parts, in addition to our two small suitcases and 2 backpacks that were now crammed as full as possible with assorted items difficult to find outside the USA. The suitcases all weighed a ton, and we were braced for crazy over weight fees, but the bags just barely made the limit. Thank goodness.

The flights were once again uneventful, and all seemed to be going smooth. We arrived in Cairo just under 24 hours from when we left San Diego for the airport. It was 00:30 local time (12:30 am) on Sunday morning. It had been a long day and we were tired. One of our bags was missing. It was the only bag missing on the whole flight. Of course, it was a large bag of boat parts, and we were worried it may have been confiscated for somehow being suspicious. We were told the bag was in London and assured it would arrive the next day on the same flight, and that it would be delivered to Port Ghalib for us. Eric had been stressed out about getting back to Kosmos and this was not good for his stress level.

Since we knew we would be getting in so late, we had booked a room at one of the hotels at the airport. Just like the conflicting information we got about the bathroom, we got conflicting information about transportation to get us to the hotel. After jumping on the wrong bus, we finally found the right bus. The bus driver tried very hard to drop us off at the domestic terminal, then the airport shopping center, before he finally took us to the wrong hotel. Whatever. It wasn’t too far of a walk to the right hotel, but it was kind of a bummer to do it with such heavy bags. We forgot to tell the hotel it would be a late check in, and Eric was worried they gave our room away. Fortunately, we had no problems checking in. It was close to 0300 when we went to bed.

We awoke at 1330 (1:30 pm), when the front desk called demanding to know when we were going to check out. Oh no! 1330! We needed to book the connecting flight from Cairo to Marsa Alam in person at the domestic terminal at the airport, and we wanted to be there first thing in the morning to make getting seats more likely. The flights only run a couple times a week, so if we didn’t get on today’s flight, we’d be stuck in Cairo for several days. We called Egypt Air to check availability. They only had a few seats left. We quickly showered, checked out, and hopped on the hotel shuttle to the domestic terminal. We were relieved that we managed to get on the flight, though they only had business class left. Phew. One of our biggest stress items was taken care of.

We went to the area where the hotel shuttle would pick us up. There were several people crowding around us asking us if we needed taxis, tours, etc., to which Eric said “No, No” and waved them away. Eric called the shuttle driver on his cell phone and put the phone back on his belt clip, where he normally keeps it. The shuttle was there in 5 minutes. 5 minutes later, we sat down in the hotel restaurant, where Eric discovered his phone was gone. There is a slight possibility he lost the phone, but we are 90% sure the phone was stolen in that 10 minute window, likely by one of the people standing close to us near the shuttle stop. Sigh. Eric is beating himself up about it. We had been warned time and again that petty theft, such as pick pocketing, is a huge problem in the tourist areas of Egypt. Airports definitely qualify as tourist areas. It was probably a big mistake to have the phone exposed, and to have drawn attention to himself by using the phone in such a busy spot. The lost bag, the stolen phone, and the close call on getting the Marsa Alam flight all make us appreciate traveling by boat even more.

While eating, we talked about how to spend the 7 hours of free time we had before we needed to be back to the airport for the flight. Eric decided he needed to decompress. The time at home had been very busy and stressful, as well as emotionally challenging, for both of us. The extra aggravation with the phone only made him that much more reluctant to want to go out. We knew that going sightseeing meant battling pushy touts, people arguing with us over insufficient tips, and possibly even more pickpockets, and we really weren’t up for that. So we sat in the lobby, where Christi read and Eric played video games. It was an odd sort of calm we had not had in a while.

The flight to Marsa Alam was a quick, one and a half hour puddle jumper. The only bummer about the flight is it left about a half hour before our bag was supposed to arrive from London. It would have been nice to be able to claim our bag when the plane pulled in, rather than wait another day or two or three for delivery. The flight was actually pleasant, thanks to business class. We arrived at 0130, expecting to see a long line of taxis. There was one and only one taxi, and he wanted USD$30 for the 4 kilometer drive to Port Ghalib. Sigh. We were in no position to argue the price, and he knew it. Remember, the average person in Egypt earns USD$80 a month, so he is getting a week and a half of pay in 10 minutes. He really took advantage of the situation.

We were back at Kosmos by 0230 (yes, in the morning). We are pleased to report that, except for a thick layer of dust and a little bird poop, Kosmos is exactly as we left her. Within a minute of us stepping aboard, a security guard came running up to see what we were doing. He recognized us and we thanked him profusely for doing such a good job taking care of the boat. We really are so pleased with how well we have been taken care of here at Port Ghalib.