Greetings from sunny Egypt!

Greetings  from sunny Egypt! After a good night’s rest, our group enjoyed a beautiful breakfast at Le Meridian hotel. We met in the conference room briefly afterwards. Our trip leaders, Jonathan and Jennifer Greer of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, opened by sharing Psalm 47 then introducing some basics of Egyptian history. We have 74 in our group, plus our guides,  so we are slowly getting to know one another and sharing this trip experience.

 A short bus ride took us to the Giza plateau where we could see, touch and learn about the pyramids. The three pyramids, one of the Ancient Wonders of the World, represent father, son and grandson: Khufu, Khafre, and Menkare. The Great Pyramid, Khufu, took 25 years to build and consists of 2.5 million blocks, anywhere from 1-17 tons apiece, with no mortar between them! Did you know that the corners of the pyramid are oriented accurately to the four  cardinal directions of a compass? It is truly a wonder of engineering and craftsmanship.

 We also saw the museum containing the Solar Boat of Khufu, a design marvel made of cedar wood from Lebanon. It is hard to believe we saw something intact that is over 5,000 years old! We made our way a short distance to visit the Sphinx. The entrance contains huge blocks of solid red granite from further south in Aswan, an area we will visit later on our tour.

After a delicious lunch of charbroiled chicken and homemade pita bread, we made our way back to the Cairo airport for our charter flight south to Luxor. We arrived and were welcomed at the Nile Palace hotel and enjoyed a wonderful buffet dinner. Off to bed for a good night’s sleep and a big day in Luxor tomorrow!