Thomson Airlines Boeing 757 Explorer One (G-OOBF)
Cairo, Egypt and Marrakech, Morocco
Wednesday, February 24, 2010

    Today was another long travel day with a quick sightseeing stop in the middle. We were up early for breakfast and then on the buses for the trip to the airport by 7:30 am. We were ushered through security quickly and boarded Explorer One for the short one-hour flight to Cairo. Fortunately, we taxied to the general aviation (GA) terminal instead of the main terminal. This meant that we could quickly transfer to buses with our police security and motor out of the city to the site of the Pyramids and the Sphinx. We were on a very tight schedule, since the clock was ticking on the parking fees for the aircraft. Every minute that we might be late in departing would be extremely costly. I named this part of the expedition “if it’s 12:37 pm, this must be the Sphinx”.

    We arrived at the sight of the three great pyramids and had our instructions. Stopping at the first pyramid, we could get off the bus and could take a long as we wanted photographing it as long as we were back on the bus in 21 minutes. The “professional photo subjects” were out in force here. If you even look like you are pointing your camera at one of them or at their horse or camel, you are expected to pay them. It is always best to negotiate the terms carefully before you take the picture – clarifying the amount (and is that in Egyptian pounds or dollars), and how many shots you will take. Believe me, if you negotiate for 10 clicks of the shutter, they are counting off the images out loud. Photos were hard to get here. The air was quite hazy and it was the middle of a bright day.

    Jay and I were hoofing it back to the bus after 23 minutes and the guides were out there motioning us back with energetic arm waving. We then drove the short distant around the second pyramid to present a view of all three pyramids. Time for another photo opportunity – just five minutes this time, because we need to get back on the bus for the five-minute drive to the other side of the pyramids and the site of the Sphinx. Here we exited the bus and had forty minutes to view and photograph the Sphinx and Pyramids and also to eat the catered lunch waiting for us at the Sphinx. I think it was very good, but it all happened so fast I don’t remember it too well. Our visit was over quickly, but I have viewed the Pyramids and the Sphinx, now.

    Jay and I, after getting in a few extra shots after lunch, re-boarded the bus at 1:40 pm, a full five minutes before the deadline. We made sure that our early return was observed and noted. We made it back to the airport on time and exited through Egyptian immigration. This was really easy, since we had left our passports at the airport upon our arrival for processing, so all we had to do was retrieve our passport and show it at the gate.

    Next came the longer leg of our travel for the day. We departed Cairo on our way to Marrakech. Once again, we had strong headwinds and a somewhat bumpy ride on the six-hour flight to Morocco. Morocco is in the same time zone as England, so we were now on GMT. A short bus ride took us to our hotel in Marrakech, arriving about 7:30 pm. The Hotel La Mamounia is quite old, but updated with modern amenities and was the favorite hotel of Winston Churchill. I must say that I could easily get used to staying at all these five-star hotels around the world.

    Tomorrow we will have a chance to see Marrakech, but the day after tomorrow we head to London and that will mark the end of the Around the World by Private Jet expedition – but that’s still in the future.