Are We There Yet?

....or will we get there at all?

When I wrote the opening bi-line for my travel blog on New Years Day I had no idea just how bumpy things were going to get.

It all began with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it coup in Tunisia followed by civil unrest in Egypt, Jordan, other parts of the middle east, and now what looks like civil war in Libya. After weeks of am I, aren't I, will I, won't I, I AM..... not going on the holiday I originally booked. Thankfully the first tour to Jordan and Egypt with Intrepid will go ahead, minus a trip out west to Siwa Oasis (more on that later). However, my second tour from Cairo across the top of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco with Gecko's has been cancelled.

I will not be travelling to Libya and Tunisia. Now is not the time to be travelling to Libya and Tunisia, so Im not devastated about not going, but a little sad that I will most likely never see some of the things I was looking forward to there. Like the Skywalker troglodyte house and Mos Isely bar in Matmata, Tunisia ("Tatooine" for Star Wars fans), or the amazingly preserved Greek and Roman ruins of Cyrene and Apollonia in Libya, or the war memorials at El Alamein in Egypt and Tobruk in Libya. But Im still having one hell of a holiday!

Morocco still beckons and I will now spend more time there on my own once the adventure tour with Gecko's is over. Watch out Marrakech and Essaouira!! And.... if Im really lucky..... the stars will align with the bus companies in Cairo and I can make my own way out to Siwa Oasis in Egypt to stay at the amazing Adrere Amellal Ecolodge for two nights. Seriously people... Google it!!

Now with only 3 more sleeps to go, and my packing spread from one end of my dining table to the other, Im getting a little bit excited!!