All Activities listed will happen,
maybe not necessarily in the order stated!
(Be prepared—Spontaneous changes are part of the fun!)

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Day 1, Monday, March 17th- Depart for Cairo:

EgyptAir Flight leaves JFK at 6:30PM. Dinner and overnight on the plane.

Day 2, Tuesday, March 18th - Arrive Cairo/Welcoming Dinner

Arrive at Cairo Airport at about 11:25AM local time where we will be met by our Quest Travel Tour Managers. They will assist us through customs and immigration before transferring us to our luxury accommodations at the Mena House Hotel. We will settle in to our rooms and meet back up in the evening for our opening circle and welcome dinner, possibly at Mohamed’s apartment near-by. (Breakfast on plane, Welcome Dinner)

The Step-Pyramid at Sakkara

Day 3, Wednesday, March 19th — Sakkara, Service Project

We will have breakfast at Mena House and then our first service meeting. In the afternoon we will visit Sakkara. At Sakkara we will partake in our first service project with some local women and youth gathering the litter in and around the area. We will already have taught the children and women how to make plarn, the plastic yarn they will use to make the handcrafts and otherwise repurpose the plastic. Together, we will enter the temple and learn about the oldest pyramid, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, and its temple of sound and healing. Imhotep, the high priest, vizier and architect to King Djoser during Dynasty III, masterminded Sakkara. This magnificent site includes other Old Kingdom tombs, among them those that hold the earliest known hieroglyphs, the Pyramid Texts that were the model for the Egyptian Book of the Dead. (Breakfast, Lunch)

The SphinxDay 4, Thursday, March 20th,- Vernal Equinox/Giza Plateau/Sphinx/Egyptian Museum/Luxor

We celebrate the vernal equinox with a  private sunrise visit to the Giza Plateau. During this time we greet the Sphinx who sees all of our incarnations on this planet and who keeps safe the Hall of Records where our stories are kept. We will then head back to the Mena House for check-out.

After check-out we will have a late lunch on our way to visit the Cairo Museum. Our world-renowned Egyptologist guides us through this famous museum with a collection of over 200,000 ancient Egyptian artifacts, dating back to 4,000 BC. Sekhmet at KarnakVisiting the museum is an opportunity to see the statues and artifacts that originally were located in the temples, this paints a fuller picture when you go the temples, like seeing the original furniture designed for a house. There you will experience first-hand the different periods of ancient Egypt and the individual artistic and architectural styles of each period. One of the highlights of this museum is the visit to the treasures of Tutankamon.

This evening we take our short flight to Luxor, the ancient city of Thebes that was the capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom and check into our beautiful Afandina’ dahabeya for a late evening dinner. (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)

Day 5, Friday, March 21st—Karnak/Luxor Temple

After breakfast we tour Karnak, one of the largest temple complexes in the world. Karnak recalls us to the powerful acts of creation, of beginning anew, and of building on the divine plan. It has been home for more than 3,500 years to the living statue of the lioness goddess, Sekhmet, who will instigate our mystery school rites of passage. There will be time to explore Luxor in the afternoon. We will visit Luxor Temple in the evening to invoke the sacred within the human vessel that corresponds with “the temple of man” as interpreted by R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz.          (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)

In the Temple at Abydos Day 6, Saturday, March 22nd- Dendera/Abydos

We depart early in the morning for Dendera to visit the exquisite temple dedicated to Hathor, the goddess of abundance, love and joy. The temple is built with a zodiacal ceiling that recalls the origins of Egypt. At Hathor’s temple we will reconnect with the magic of one of the oldest goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon. Hat-Hor, mother of the sun, is a sky goddess and both her ceilings and her rooftops reveal our connection to the intelligence of the stars.

We continue north to the temple at Abydos, dedicated to Osiris. It includes a more recent temple built by Seti I, which contains the most beautiful bas-relief of any temple in Egypt. This temple rests next to and above the Osirion, one of the most ancient and certainly of the premier power places on the planet. Overnight on the Afandina. (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)

Day 7, Sunday, March 23rd- Deir el-Bahari and West Bank

This morning we make a sunrise pilgrimage to Deir el-Bahari, the funerary temple of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. This stunning temple was designed by Hatshepsut’s lover, the great architect Senenmut, who nestled the giant three-tiered monument into the cliffs directly opposite the Temple of Karnak, on the East Bank of the Nile.

We also visit the Valley of the Kings, the West Bank Necropolis that holds the tombs of many of the great pharaohs of Egypt, and the Colossi of Memnon. Back onboard our dahabeya, we will set sail toward Essna, and delight in watching the timeless beauty along the Nile. We will meet on deck or in our lovely living room to have our sharing experience. Overnight on the Afandina. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)

In the Temple at Edfu Day 8, Monday, March 24th Sailing / Edfu Temple

Today we continue basking in the joys and beauty of our sail down the Nile. We will be stop for visits in villages along the way, and perhaps make magic with the local children and our service project. We will have a late afternoon or evening visit at Edfu Temple, the temple of Horus, one of the most beautifully preserved in all of Egypt. After which we will overnight on an island near Edfu. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)

Day 9, Tuesday, March 25th– Continue sailing/Service

We enjoy another stunning day sailing on the Nile as we head south toward Kom Ombo. Hopefully this day will allow us another opportunity to visit villagers and bring to life our service project once more. That evening we’ll get together and share in some Goddess Karaoke. We will overnight on an island near Kom Ombo. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)

Group Circle at Kom Ombo

Day 10, Wednesday, March 26th- Kom Ombo

Today we visit a most grand temple in Egypt, poised between the edge of the river and the encroaching desert sand. This temple, which also functioned as a hospital, was dedicated to two gods: Sobek, the crocodile god of strength, fortitude, fertility and rebirth, and Horus, the hawk-headed son of Isis and Osiris, the current ruling deity of the pantheon. Here we work with issues around polarizing forces—dark and light, and old and new.

We will have a sharing circle on-deck or in the comfort of our living room at some point in the late afternoon, and spend the night anchored at a nearby island. (Breakfast, lunch, and dinner)

Day 11, Thursday, March 27th: Sail to Aswan/Elephantine Island

Today we sail to Aswan, the mythical origin of the Nile River and the home of Nubian kings and queens during the later dynasties of Egypt. If the winds are up will enjoy a felucca sail to visit Elephantine Island and the temple of Khnum. Here we pass through twenty-three layers of time that archeological explorations have unveiled. We gather at what remains of the temple of Khnum for an important initiation during which Khnum rebuilds our bodies and connects us with our ka in preparation for the conscious evolution and mutation to help us adapt to a chaotic and uncertain future. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)

Day 12, Friday, March 28th—Philae temple / Aswan Market

In our private sunrise meditation and ritual we return to the source of all, the Great Mother, to receive the blessings of Isis at her beautiful island temple at Philae. This isle represents a fusion of three great civilizations – Egyptian, Greek and Roman.  The presence of Isis is palpable in the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies of her temple. After exploring the grounds and some storytelling on the island, we return to the boat for breakfast and check out. We will enjoy a special afternoon of free time in Aswan, where you can explore the local market and/or check out the very fine Nubian Museum, which beautifully expresses the history and culture of the region. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner)

Khan el Khalili Market, CairoDay 13, Saturday, March 29th— Flight to Cairo / Great Pyramid

This morning we fly back to Cairo and transfer once again to the Mena House Hotel. This evening we have a special private visit in the Great Pyramid with a culminating initiation in the King’s chamber. (Breakfast)

Day 14, Sunday, March 30th— Khan El Khalili / Farewell Dinner / Closing Circle

Today you have opportunities to shop at the Khan Khalili Bazaar, The atmospheres of this traditional market, together with the labyrinth layout of the streets, give you a glimpse into what medieval markets were like.

In the evening the group will meet for our closing circle and farewell dinner at possibly at our apartment. (Breakfast, and farewell dinner)

Day 15, Monday, March 31st— Final Departure

The group departure from Cairo—EgyptAir flight from Cairo to JFK, 9:15am. (Breakfast)

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