Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for egypt
Cairo’s Grand Museum
By Linda Tancs
Opened less than a year ago, the Grand Egyptian Museum is the largest museum in the world devoted to a single civilization. Located near the Great Pyramids of Giza in Cairo, the venue displays, conserves and studies over 50,000 artifacts across 7,000 years of ancient Egyptian civilization. The entrance is marked by a hanging obelisk, the first elevated obelisk in the country. Inside, you’ll find galleries dedicated to Egypt’s most famous pharaoh, King Tut. Additionally, you’ll find colossal statues in the Grand Hall and a collection of boats from the funerary complex of King Khufu, among many other galleries. Advance ticket purchase is highly recommended.
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The Red Sea Reef
By Linda Tancs
The Red Sea Reef is the largest coral reef in Africa and features hundreds of endemic species found nowhere else. It boasts over 220 species of corals accompanied by over 1,000 species of fish, 40 species of starfish, 150 species of crustaceans and 25 species of sea urchins. Egypt’s Ras Muhammad National Park protects a small portion of the reef, and it’s the go-to place for scuba divers and snorkelers to explore this amazing underwater resource. The park is located at the southernmost tip of the Sinai Peninsula.
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A Thousand Minarets
By Linda Tancs
Its preponderance of Islamic architecture has earned Cairo, Egypt, the moniker “the city of a thousand minarets.” Indeed, there’s no shortage of minarets piercing the city’s skyline. One of many standouts is the Alabaster Mosque (alabaster being very common to ancient Egypt and Greece), reported to be the most visited mosque in Egypt. Its unusually high minarets offer sweeping views, including the Giza Plateau. Another mosque, Al-Azhar, sits in the heart of Islamic Cairo. Not only is it almost as old as Cairo itself but it also houses the world’s oldest university and claims to have originated the black graduation gown worn universally today.
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A Big Fish in the Red Sea
By Linda Tancs
The once sleepy fishing village of Hurghada has become a big fish in Red Sea tourism. Now a foremost beach resort town stretching some 25 miles along Egypt’s Red Sea coast, it’s renowned for scuba diving. Check out the old quarter (El Dahar) and consider combining a diving holiday there with Nile Valley sightseeing.
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On the Fringes of the Sahara
By Linda Tancs
Mushrooms. Ice cream cones. Giant pebbles. The desert has a way of making you see things. That’s no less so at the White Desert. On the fringes of the Sahara some 300 miles southwest of Cairo, the desert is a national park of Egypt. It’s best known for its peculiar wind-carved chalk rock formations (hence, the mushroom reference) arising from centuries of erosion and sandstorms. Local Bedouins are available for guided tours.
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Egyptian Splendor
By Linda Tancs
In this week’s edition of Travelrific® Travel Show, the topic is Egypt. From the lush metropolis of Cairo to the regal splendor in the Nile Valley, you’re never far from experiencing ancient history. Explore the splendor of Egypt at www.travelrificradio.com.
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