Bernie Grafe

3 New Galleries

Check out the Media Section… 3 New Galleries added. Sakkara Fun, Ain Soukna and 7th St. Market.

Enjoy.

Quick Day Trip to Sakkara and Dashur

So, with Sai, his cousin Pak, Mike and Leah we went off for a day trip to some sights in around Cairo.

To start, we hit Memphis, the oldest capital of Egypt. There was not that much to see here other then the gigantic Ramses statue.

Then we were off to the great pyramid at Sakkara. One of the earliest pyramids dedicated to Snefru and co.

Then a quick drive over to the Black, Red and Bent Pyramid. The Red Pyramid we could actually enter. After a hard walk up the side of the pyramid, all but the closterphobic Haley descended into the Pyramid. A 3 x 3 tunnel, 45 degress down for 150 feet. Was tough on the legs going in. After the tunnel ended, a giant perfectly formed Triangle inside the pyramid. Followed by 3 more tunnels and three more giganticly formed triangles inside. The air was very acidic, and I quickly had to get out. The walk back up the tunnel was by far the most physical thing i have had to do in a very long time.

Everyones thighs were sore for 4 days afterword, and we could all barely walk up or down stairs lol.

Check Out the Media Gallery !

2 new albums added !!

Desert Camping and Fun Times around Cairo !

Desert Camping.

Back in November of 2009, we had a holiday for EID in Egypt. Few colleagues and ourselves decided we would head off for an adventure into the west of Egypt and go Desert Camping. Egypt is famous for many deserts, the 2 we were to visit were the Black and White Desert’s. The crew was formed, our friends Wael, Agnes, Neil, Kerry, Ryan and Meghan, Haley and I.

We left Cairo early in the morning to start our adventure. We had an amazing driver, maybe even a little too crazy that drove us from Cairo to Baharia in 4 hours. (Usually 6).

Upon arrival we were holed up in a little Bedouin house in Baharia while our cooks and guides assembled the 4 wheel drive trucks. After a quick breakfast we were off to get some last minute supplies. All loaded up, we then made our way to this natural spring resevoir. The water was unbelievably amazing. You could barely keep your hand inside the water for fear of it burning.

From there we made our way into the Oasis. Lush vegetation in the middle of the desert. Date palms and a myriad of other trees surrounded us as we drove through. We made a quick pit stop for pictures and exploration.

From the Oasis we made our way to a salt water lake in the middle of the desert. The lake was considered a dead lake, as the salinization levels were too deadly for anything to survive in.

Nice group photo:

From the dead lake it was off to the rest area. Bedouin style tents, pillows and blankets are the typical style of rest area in the Middle East. Since there is rarely ever any rain, these lounges are setup for travellers to eat and rest.

After some well deserved relaxation and lunch, we were off to explore the Black Desert. The desert gets its name from the volcanic rock that covers the desert floor. Black stone litters the entire  landscape, giving the illusion that the ground is charred black. High up on one of the mountains resides an old British Look Out station. We climbed the summit and took some time to explore. The station was crudely put together. The place was excellent vantage point to get a panoramic view of the desert.

After some 4 x 4 fun in the desert we made our way to night 1 of desert camping. While the cooks and guides set upon creating our elaborate camp, we took some time to walk around, stretch and even play a little frisbee in the dark. The crew setup a great fire and provided us with some drums. We banged out a few tunes and were welcomed by some real Bedouin musicians that played local tunes on drums and flutes into the late night. After being entertained, we all retired to the tents, looking forward to another fun filled day.

We quickly broke camp and made our way into the Black Desert again. With our 4×4 tracks all over the dunes we had a blast. The guides took turns scaring us as we went hurdling over the dunes. Some of the girls were not that impressed. For me and Ryan, we had the times of our lives.

We then made our way to this gigantic dune. I can not remember the name of it now, but it is quite famous in the Black Desert. After a steep hike up, all of us took time to relax before we decided to body surf all the way down. What was amazing is that miraculously I found 2 cell phones in the sand. Funny thing, they were both Wael’s they had fallen out of his pockets on his trip down.

To clean up, we stopped off at another hot spring bath. Apparently there are dozens of them all over the place. What was funny, was that when we first took a look at the murky, rust filled water, we were turned off by the idea of going in with our naked skin. Our opinions quickly changed when the owner unleashed the valves on the piping and the entire make shift bath tub was rinsed out in a heart beat with this beautiful crystalline spring water.

After a nice bath, few drinks and a good meal, we were off to the white desert. We may have taken a little more time in the tub then needed because we just barely caught the sundown to setup camp.

After a good nights rest, we were surprised by an equally good sunrise.

After breakfast we decided to explore around the area and snapped alot of great pics of the Dali’esque surroundings:

After driving and exploring a lot of different sites, we made our way to Crystal Mountain. An entire mountain made of crystal. We filled our pockets and watched the sun down for the last time in the desert.

What an amazing trip.

We are Back !

We are back from our whirlwind dervishly delightful adventure in Morocco.

Updates will follow in the next couple of days. Tons of photos ! Alexandria, White Desert and Morocco.

In the meantime, good news !

A teacher has left the school, opening up a position for 6 weeks. So it looks like I will be taking over gr. 9 Math, gr.10 Business Intelligence, the computer lab and school website. Crossing my fingers to extend to the end of the year as the computer teacher.

In the meantime, a few extra websites to tantalize the eyes:

my teaching aid site  : Mr Bernie

my botball team : BOT BALL

On Vacation….

Back in 3 weeks with more pictures and up-dates!

Happy Holidays everyone!!!!

xoxo H & B

Class Trip To Fayoum

I was lucky enough to get invited on a class trip with the Grade 11 Social Studies class. Ms. Kelly, 14 students and I trekked out to Fayoum to visit an eco-lodge there. 3hrs outside of Cairo, Fayoum and Tunis border the Kharoun lake. A salt lake, infected with years of inbound over nitrated farm water.  The eco-lodge, founded by artists, poets, and novelists in the 60’s screams hippie commune revitalized into marketable lodgings to eccentrics and born again “go-greens”. The students had a great time speaking with local fisherman, farmers and a pottery artisan. One of the students was nice of enough to snap a few pics of the this guys mug, here attached below.

Latino Night !

Haley and I live in a suburb of Cairo called Ma’adi. People have compared it to living in the suburb of Toronto called the Beaches. We have done quite a lot of local exploring here, but our comfort zone has not reached into the downtown expanses of Cairo. I have taken the subway a few times for local attractions like Giza, Sphinx and the Museum, but we had yet to experience the night life of Cairo. How fortunate for us when our colleague Heidi offered us tickets to Latino Night at the Sheridan hotel in Cairo. I quickly jumped at the offer for a night on the town. Haley and I scrubbed up and put on our finest and met up with our dinner dates:

Lola and her husband Fernando:

Our friends Heidi and Alessia:

The hotel was incredibly beautiful. It had the exact amount of swank we desired, and our attire was fitting for the atmosphere.

The view from the balcony over looking the Nile was really beautiful. A little dancing, and some great food combined with incredible company made for a really fun date night. Oh ya, Haley winning a door prize of lunch for 4 back to said swanky place was icing on the cake.

(SQUIRREL !! )

Camel Ride full of Hurt.

Hello all. I just wanted to expand on Haley’s post about the camel ride experience

The entire experience was just amazing, Waking up early, traversing the back end streets of Giza, and watching the sunrise in the desert with the backdrop of the pyramids. All awhile, gyrating uncontrollably on the back of a beast of burden. I aptly named my camel Chewbacca as the entire time the poor creature would turn to me and snarl like good ole Chewwy.

Chewbacca even took a liking to Haley !

Me and that camel had some good times and bad. I feel like I left a little piece of myself behind that day. More specifically, a precious piece of my ass cheek. Sure, I felt a little violate, but I am sure it was mutual between Chewwy and I. The joke around the table for a few days after was “Bernie had camel butt, and Chewwy had Bernie back!”

Update – Contacts

Hi All.

We have updated the contact page to include some mailing information !

More Updates soon:

1. My Version of the Camel Rides

2. Gallery of Bill and Lisa’s visit

3. Latino Night !

4. White Desert Camping