So in my last post I wrote that that this weekend I would be going on a geology field trip and although I did do that the plans got changed again. Instead of making the trip and over night adventure my professor decided that we would do it all in a single day. This new travel plan meant meeting at the old campus in Tarhir square at 5:30am and return to Cairo around 11pm. With that all in mind, on Wednesday I came up with a plan. For those of you who know me, you know I am not a morning person and I am not friends with Mr. 5am. So, I decided that since I was done with classes at noon on Thursday I would take the 1pm bus back to campus, take a nap,(which gloriously lasted 5 hours) then do homework through the night and just not go to bed. That way I would have made up for not sleeping the day before and I would not have to get up at 4:30am to make it to the bus on time. I thought it was brilliant. It worked out mostly, but I was pretty exhausted when I finally went to bed last night.
Thursday evening was a little bit of failed execution on my part. After I got up from my wonderful nap I went to Harrys pub in the Marriot hotel with Erin and Katie for a little bit of Saint Patricks day fun. They had a live Irish band playing and while they only played one Irish song (and only because of a request) their music was really good. It was interesting to note that first we where about the only people in there under 35 and second it was and Irish band, in an Irish pub, playing American music, to am American crowd, with all Egyptian workers, in Egypt. It was an elixure of culture.
We came back to the Residence hall a little after 1am. Katie decided to head to bed and Erin stayed down in the lobby with me for a little bit. She was picking rooms and since we are 7 hours ahead now that mean late for us. She left about an hour later which left me chilling alone in the study lounge. I ended talking to my dad on skype for an hour or so which helped the time go by a lot faster. All in all, the goal to get homework done and study for midterms did not happen. That just means that today I really need to be on the ball.
The field trip itself was...long. We went to a desert camp site near Fayoum next to a man made lake and then went off to Wadi Al-Hitan, The Vally of the Whales. (The lake is fed by underground aquifers which in turn are fed by the Nile) It is a large expanse for desert with fossilized whales. What makes it impressive is the number and concentration of them and the species of whales that are present. There are over 100 whale fossils known/uncovered and they are continuously finding new ones. It is thought that the area may have at one point been a shallow inlet bay and when the whales did for what ever reason the winds and currents blew their corpses to the area and they accumulated over thousands of years.
This link is the Egypt Tourist link of you want more details about the area then I am going to give you. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/valleyofwhales.htm
Another important note is that the species of whales found, such as Basilosaurus, provide the evolutionary link between mammals on land and those at sea. In some of the skeletons you can see their stubby little arms such as in the photo to the left. I really recommend the link if you didn't do so already.
After a lot of walking around the area looking at dried up dead things we had some time to just chill and hang out. Since the protected area was the Vally basin, myself and a couple other students decide to climb the sandstone deposits and get a better view. In short, it was awesome. Yes the whales where cool but the geology and topography of the area was what impressed me. Once we finally reached the top of the Plataea the view was amazing. (the wind was impressive too) For as far as you could see in every direction it was just an arid waste land full of nothing. Sand dunes and limestone/sandstone pillars and mounds scattered about everywhere.
I was amazed by it and how cool it was. I was talking with one of the Egyptians about it and he explained to me that he and all of the other Egyptians hate the desert and that he did not understand why I thought it was so neat. As he said it, "Fuck the Desert because it was hot and dry and sand blows in your eyes." I proceeded to ask if he had ever seen snow before. He said no so I asked if he would want to come to Minnesota and spend a day out in a field walking around the snow drifts. He actually said "Yes that would be so cool." I said no, fuck snow, its cold and its wet and also blows in your eyes. He then understood my point.
We boarded the bus and started heading back to Cairo. May note that the trip took 5 hours both ways. It only took 3 hours to get to Fayoum and from Fayoum its only another 30 kilometers but we where driving a couch bus on a "road" designed for large SUV desert going vehicles. Kudos to the driver though.
I will be posting more pictures of the trip to my facebook group page and am still trying to get the videos posted, sorry about that.
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