The Screaming is the Soundtrack

I left Siwa a few days ago, and I would like to take this opportunity to recommend it wholeheartedly as a destination on any trips to Egypt you may be planning. It is really a special spot. The setting is amazing, the history is fascinating, but like anywhere, it's the people who make the place. But it is growing fast, so come as soon as you can, just in case. Inshallah, it will remain lovely for a long while yet.


How did I manage to entertain myself for seven days in a small town in the middle of the Libyan Desert? Good question. Generally, I slept in, then headed to Abdu's Cafe for some fuul (fava beans) in tomato sauce with pita bread, a typical Egyptian breakfast, but I never had dates and olive oil for breakfast like the Siwans though it sounds divine. After that I might hit the coffee shop on the main square. Or maybe rent a bike and check out some ancient tombs. Or head to a palm-date-covered island in the salt lake and lounge. Or take a "Desert Safari," which I did a few days ago. I joined a group of Germans, headed by their unofficial tour guide, Nina. Nina has been to Siwa a number of times and organized a trip for some friends. They had room for one more in the Land Cruiser, so I piled in.

Our driver clearly delighted in taking us to the tip of a very tall dune and then pausing. His captive audience audience squealing, he would then careen down the dune. As Nina said, "The screaming is the soundtrack." But we had plenty of time to stroll on foot too, and the Great Sand Sea is just that - a place where you are just a tiny thing in something so vast you can barely comprehend how anyone ever found Siwa, much less made it across North Africa. There really must have been a lot of money in the caravan business because making these trips in the summer with only the stars to navigate by would have been a daunting undertaking. We also visited some natural springs, both hot and cold, and checked out some fossil plateaus before heading back to dinner at a local camp with a hot spring, where I had been a few times already.

But after a week, it was time to leave Siwa. I had my tickets ready, but some ipod music swapping took a little longer than planned. Luckily, my Siwa entourage came to rescue, and I arrived at the station in style. Ali gave me a lift in his donkey cart, and Mohammed and Sasha joined me to send me off. At the bus station, I realized I knew everybody there except for the drivers. How's that for making friends?