Final thoughts

Reflections on the trip.


Marvelous trip. Trips, really. The combination of places we saw makes me feel as if we were on several different journeys. The only comparable experience was our trip to the Galapagos and to Peru, 8 or 9 years ago, which felt like two separate vacations. It's a nice way to travel, if you have the time.


And "marvelous" is really the word for it, too, because we saw marvels of many types. In Ghana, we saw the marvels of simplicity, and the ability of people to be joyous with what they have. We had the privilege of witnessing firsthand the work we've heard about from the Kipharts for many years and to appreciate exactly how their work had enriched their lives, while also enriching the lives of those they were helping through their work. While the work they are doing could be rewarding and commendable if it were done merely through writing checks, it is their deep personal involvement and obvious connection and true partnership with the people that makes it truly enriching.


Dubai showed the marvels of oil money, creating a glittering, modern city out of a desert. Spending a day there allowed us to see this firsthand.


Petra is certainly a magical place, by day as well as by night. And the Roman ruins of Jerash were also well worth visit. The brief visit to Mt. Nebo, imagining Moses being able to see, but not enter, the Promised Land, was emotional. And seeing the King, or more accurately, waiting with the crowd to see him, was great fun.


And Egypt showed us the marvels of history and civilization, made us appreciate how US history is a brief moment by comparison. The enormity of what they created and left behind is overwhelming, and humbling. Being in the area gave us a far greater appreciation of the political realities we read about daily in the papers. Squeezing in a day of diving in the Red Sea was a great treat. And cruising the Nile or sailing it briefly in a felucca was a wonderful experience. I think it's not possible to consider that you've traveled the world if you haven't seen Egypt.


We were fortunate to have excellent guides and accommodations (particularly Taybet Zaman in Petra and Al Moudira in Luxor and, I guess I'd have to add our ship, Alexander the Great). The logistics went remarkably well overall, with only very minor glitches. As always, it is the people--particularly those we met in Ghana--but also, Ossama in Aswan, Ahmed and his friends in Cairo, and our guides that make the trip particularly memorable.


I'd give the trip an "A," and rank it right up,with the best we've had. And that's high praise. Makes me appreciate the incredible privilege we've had in being able to travel as much as we have and how enlightening, broadening and humbling that experience has been.