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[RC] riding in Egypt - Maryanne GabbaniHi all, I am sitting in MaryAnne's dining room while she makes up another fabulous meal and if I could pinch myself I might think I was dreaming that we are actually here. After cruising the river Nile (a must to do in one's lifetie) we are now settled at MaryAnne having turned ourselves to her care and guidance in seeing Egypt from horseback. She is a 10 minute hack from the Red and Bent pyramids which was the start of our 20+ mile ride today. I had to beg her to slow down as the sights were going by too fast for my brain to handle!! Her horses, mostly Arabs, are lovely to ride, very accumated to the bustling donkey-camel-water buffalo-sheep-goat-and children traffic in the villages. After a fun sprint across the desert we rode right up the the base of the black pyramid which was built of mud bricks rather than stone. From there we could see the "lake" where we were to take lunch but not before riding by the nomads grazing their animals in the marshy grass. The contrast from desert to shaded palm villages is amazing. Mary Ann is the known English lady to whom all the children salute in the little English they know while she chats easily in Arabic to the villagers. I can remember reading her graphic descriptions of her riding out from her farm on Ridecamp and I complimented her on how well she painted the picture, but honestly, words fail how to describe the experience. Steph, thank you for bringing Mary Ann to us through Ridecamp as she is incredible to open her home and the Egyptian experience to those that visit. We plan on visiting an Arab stud and do more riding before we leave. BTW, we saw some very, very nice horses on the streets of Cairo next to some rather sad examples but that is to be expected.John and Sue Greenall -- Maryanne Stroud Gabbani msgabbani@xxxxxxxxx Egypt Face to Face www.alsorat.com Weblog Living In Egypt miloflamingo.blogspot.com
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