I’m trying to blend in Siwa Oasis. OK THe green eyes give me away.
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Let’s bash some wadis. Our driver was about 16. THe jeeps were
catching air at the top of the dunes. Wonderful sunset.
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They tourism police have AK 47’s or something. Egypt relies heavily on
tourism and the arab spring has impacted the sense of security for
tourists. I feel very safe. And I don’t go walking on my own. We are
looking at 2000 year old burial chamber frescos.
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Dune boards for cool tourists. These are slabs from wood and straps
fashioned onto shaped slides. I think theyed last about 10 feet.
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About to take off on a wild wadi (desert) bash ( rollercoaster ride)
through the Sahara
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Darling kids everywhere in Siwa oasis driving their donkey carts for
all sorts of business. All women cover their faces completely against
the sand and to remain beautiful to their husbands only.
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I was exhausted after a while and began to twist and disco dance for variety.
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The ladies were soooo cute. They had white bones nobs that pierced
their lower lip, corncob pipes with tobacco and the older ladies
demonstrated how to spin cotton from the region. I was tapping my foot
and a lady put a horned helmet on my head and taught me the dance.
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The houses are filled with one foot wide cubbyholes to hide the
children when the slave traders came to kidnap an entire village. Note
how small the village is. THey would spread out and if they heard
their neighbors screaming they would close up their houses. The
interiors were very smokey during the rainy season because they moved
the fires to inside. THe houses had spy holes from the rooves in case
the slave traders were able to get into the ground floor of the
houses.
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The next morning we flew to the northern district of Togo to see a
Tamberma tribe. They have lived in two story mud castles for
centuries. This is their welcome dance. Our guide explained that
everyone indicated the day of the week they were born as part of their
name. He was born on a Thursday and therefore one of his names is
Sarakawa. We drove over mud ruts for an hour or so.
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