Sunday, December 11, 2011

Naama Bay

This place is known by its beaches and night life. One can gp kayaking, parasailing, wind surfing, and banana boat riding. Snorkeling is another activity one can add to the list because they have preserved reefs. This place is a must if your traveling to Egypt  



More Interesting facts about Egypt





The Ancient Egyptians divided thier years into twelve months consisting of 30 days with 5 days left over.


Silver was considered more valuable then gold in Ancient Egypt.



The Cat was a symbol of Fertility and sexuality, which is why later Ancient Egyptians painted their eye to mimick those of cats.


The Ancient Egyptians were the first to invent paper, using papyrus.


The average life expectancy for an Egyptian woman was 54 and 52 for a man.


The Jackal represents Anubis, the ancients god of embbalming and the protector of the dead.


Ancient Egyptians were the first to use pigeons as messangers.


source: http://members.tripod.com/~oasis_5/facts.html

Enviromental issues in Egypt

As we all know Africa suffers from many environmental issues such degradation, scarcity of water, and many more. Some of the issues that Egypt is facing are
agricultural land being lost to urbanization and windblown sands; increasing soil salination below Aswan High Dam; desertification; oil pollution threatening coral reefs, beaches, and marine habitats; other water pollution from agricultural pesticides, raw sewage, and industrial effluents; very limited natural fresh water resources away from the Nile which is the only perennial water source; rapid growth in population overstraining the Nile and natural resources (http://www.touregypt.net/aboute.htm)




Endangered Species in Egypt

Based on earthendagered.com there are about 223 species endangered in Egypt . Some of the mammals that are in endangered in Egypt are
 Arabian Gazelle
Arabian Gazelle


Barbary Sheep

Buxton Jird

Cheetah

Dugong
Lesser Jerboa
Four-toed Jerboa

Hartebeest
Hartebeest

Indo-pacific Hump-backed Dolphin

Leopard 



Mehely's Horseshoe Bat



Nubian Ibex
Sand Cat
Sand cat
Slender-horned Gazelle


Slender-Horned Gazelle 
 Striped Hyena


Striped Hyena


If your interested in knowing more about this animals visit:http://www.earthsendangered.com/index.asp

Animals in Egypt

Some of the animals found in Egypt are crocodiles, birds, camels, sand cat, foxes, snakes, scorpions, sand boa, hyrax, caracal, swap cat, jackal, panther, and cheetah. Here's some information about this animals.




Hyrax
Hyraxes retain a number of early mammalian characteristics; in particular, they have poorly developed internal temperature regulation (which they deal with by huddling together for warmth, and by basking in the sun like reptiles)

Scorpion 
they are found in dry climates throughout the world and are certainly not unique to Egypt. They belong to the phylum Arthropoda, class Arachnides. They have four pairs of legs, two large claws and a tail ending with a pair of small stingers that connect to a gland in which the venom is stored.


The Sand cat (Felis margarita)
 also referred to as the "sand dune cat", is a small wild cat distributed over African and Asian deserts. The name "desert cat" is reserved for Felis silvestris lybica, the African wildcat, but it could be appropriate for this species. It lives in those arid areas that are too hot and dry even for the desert cat: the Sahara, the Arabian Desert, and the deserts of Iran and Pakistan. It lives for about 13 years in captivity.


Camel
 There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia, and Bactrian camels are native to Central and East Asia. Both species are domesticated; they provide milk and meat, and are working animals.

Caracal
Caracals are flat-headed and brown to red in color, with tasseled black ears. Is also as fast as a cheetah

cheetah
The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal. With acceleration that would leave most automobiles in the dust, a cheetah can go from 0 to 60 miles (96 kilometers) an hour in only three seconds. These big cats are quite nimble at high speed and can make quick and sudden turns in pursuit of prey.

Jackal Fox
They do not go out for their food in the daytime, but wait till it begins to be dark; and then they kill all the animals they can find that are not too strong for them. Sometimes a large animal like the lion will hear the cries that they make when they are hunting, and will come and snatch away from them whatever they have found. These foxes or jackals have been known to scratch away the earth from graves that have been lately made, and then devour the bodies of the dead


Sand Boa
The majority of these snakes spend much of their time basking below the surface of the sand, with only their eyes or head exposed on the surface. When a potential prey item approaches, they erupt out of the sand, bite and employ constriction to subdue it.

Black Panthern
 one of the most aggressive and most feared animals in the world.  The black panther is not a distinct animal species though.  The term black panther is commonly used for one or several kinds of closely related all-black big cats. 


Fennec Fox
 The Egyptian foxes, the fennec is by far the most suited to the desert. It even avoids the more fertile coastal desert, and shows a preference for sandy desert with just a little vegetation. This is an omnivorous animal reported to feed on large insects, grubs, small mammals, birds and lizards, but at the same time, with vegetation such as berries and roots making up a larger proportion of its diet than most foxes. While it does not much need to drink, it will if water is available.



Snake

Crocodile 
Nile crocodiles have a dark bronze colouration above, with black spots on the back and a dirty purple on the belly. The flanks, which are yellowish green in colour, have dark patches arranged in oblique stripes. There is some variation relative to environment; specimens from swift flowing waters tend to be lighter in colour than those dwelling in lakes or swamps. They have green eyes.



Sources:

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Pyramids

Another place that one needs to visit in Egypt is the Great Pyramids at Giza. Based on an article from National Geographic tourism is the 2nd largest source of revenue. In 2010 they earned $13 million in just tourism. How can it not be? if the Great Pyramids at Giza are one of the seven ancient wonders in the World. The pyramids were supposably built 5,000 years ago. 




This website offers many interesting information about each pyramid: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/khufu.html

References: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/egypt/pyramids-at-giza/

Friday, October 21, 2011

Egypt's Coffehouses (Ahwas)



Coffeehouses are very popular in Egypt. There are coffee shops on every corner some of coffee shops are right next to each other. Most of theses houses are filled with men reading a newspaper or talking, playing table games, meanwhile they smoke hookah and drink iced tea. The tea is always served in a glass on an aluminum tray, the hookah is called shisha and contains flavored tobacco.  Based on the article by National Geographic these houses are called ahwas and they are an Egyptian institution.