November 09, 2007, Audubon goes to Veracruz, By Carol Wheeler, A Journey to Egypt: The Nile Revealed, By Judy Newell

In four days of intensive bird-watching, you finally begin to figure out how to focus your binoculars on the bird in question, and really see it. That’s what I found, anyway (and I’d had a lot of trouble with that basic skill in the past).

It also took two expert guides, two perfectly aimed ‘scopes’, a lot of ideal walking terrain and an unusual variety of delicious Mexican food to get me in the right frame of mind.

But we had all that, and more, on the Audubon trip to Veracruz. From October 17 to 22, 12 of us lucky Audubon members were in the more-than-capable hands of Pronatura Veracruz, an organization that works in every possible way to maintain a green Veracruz, especially in regard to birds, especially including the raptors that fly over a well-traveled path known as the River of Raptors every year, traveling south from their summer homes in El Norte.

We checked off 145 distinct species of birds on the trip, from Least Grebe to Montezuma Oropendola—in between were such delights as the Olivaceus Woodcreeper, the Marbled Gatwing, the Keel-billed Toucan... I could go on for pages, the names alone are poetry, the sight of these creatures, one after another—sights unseen unless you know how to look—is awe-inspiring.

Our guides, Eduardo and his assistant Lionel, were all that anyone could want in a guide. Eduardo was astonishingly knowledgeable, not only about birds, but about which tree they were sitting in (usually briefly), and about much of the flora and fauna in our vicinity. He knew everything, he spoke perfect English, and yet he was delighted to learn new words and he seemed to enjoy the trip every bit as much as we did (though he’d obviously done it many times before).

Along the way, we dropped in on a magnificent waterfall at Texolo, a place where Eduardo told us they filmed Romancing the Stone and Clear and Present Danger. One could see why—it looks perilous as well as spectacular. In fact, as long as you avoid the old bridge (easy if you’re not a human fly) to the falls, it is utterly safe and utterly beautiful (if a bit buggy). The “new” bridge was built by the American Bridge Co. of New York—in 1908!

Our first day of bird-watching took place in the middle of Xalapa, in Parque Ecologico Macuiltepetl, a beautiful and extensive city park on the remains of an extinct 30,000-year-old volcano, as rife with butterflies as with birds. As we listened to Eduardo’s bird calls and looked through the trees, the citizens of Xalapa walked and jogged past us. Some of us, I think, envied their access to such a fabulous nature preserve on a daily basis.

While we were in the town of Xalapa, we spent an afternoon at the impressively handsome Museum of Anthropology, the home of some of the most important pre-Columbian art in Mesoamerica. Beginning with the area’s famed, immense Olmec heads nearly three meters high, created more than 3,000 years ago, the collection covers everything from statues of sacrificers wearing the skin of their victims (somehow related to the earth’s shedding and renewing its skin with the seasons) to charming smaller ceramic animals and toys. Toys with wheels were an amazing sight—early inhabitants knew about wheels but as far as we know used them only on toys.

The middle three days of the trip were spent in Cardel, a tiny and somewhat unremarkable town near the Gulf Coast, chosen by Pronatura after it was chosen by the raptors as a flyway. As a novice, I saw only the town and looked up and saw only the sky. Where were these hawks and vultures and cormorants? Aha, I discovered, you have to know how to see them. Invisible to the naked eye (at least to mine), they fly over in giant groups of hundreds of birds, but until you get used to raising your binoculars to just the right height (quite high—sometimes we feared we’d fall over backward), you see almost nothing. But when you find them, it’s bird after bird after giant bird, catching the air currents to glide overhead. “Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures, Lesser-Headed Vultures,” the experts would cry, and we would strain to see them.

We walked paths and railroad tracks and dirt roads and sidewalks and steps, but never steep inclines or gullies or ravines, so the hiking never seemed a stretch (and our Mercedes van took us from one high spot to the next in total comfort). We were never far from another unusual, interesting, delicious Mexican comida or dinner either, which also added to our delight. And our forays into orchid nurseries and coffee tiendas (Veracruz is noted for both) were further highlights of the trip.

Wherever we went, whether it was Cortez’s one-time home (now more of a tree house), a boat ride on a river, the seashore, a dirt road through a tiny town to a pond, or the garden of a 16th century hacienda, there were birds, more birds than I’ve ever thought possible. Now that our consciousness has been raised and our skill level is at least somewhat noticeable, I think all of us will see more birds now, even in San Miguel, which is, after all, our native stalking ground.

If you’re interested in a similar trip, you might want to join Audubon Mexico. To do so, go to www.audubonmex.org or drop off the US$30 annual fee to Linda Whynman, membership chair, at Box 547, La Conexion. That way, you can be sure to find more excursions like this one in your future.

Carol Wheeler used to write for another weekly paper, The Star in East Hampton, New York. She’s also written for The New York Times.

The Greek historian Herodotus wrote nearly 2,000 years ago that Egypt is “the gift of the Nile”—the country’s existence depends solely on its waters. Flowing through the surrounding desert region, the Nile River has supported sizable populations along its lush, fertile banks for millennia.

Most of Egypt’s ancient historic sites line the Nile and cruising is an idyllic way to discover their rich history. Ashore you can visit monuments, temples and tombs, while aboard your river cruiser the staff and crew do everything but fan you with palm branches.

We traveled aboard the elegant Oberoi Philae in a style that would be the envy of most pharaohs. It offered the well-appointed feel of an Edwardian country house with parquet floors, potted palms, European antiques and Oriental carpets. On the five decks large picture windows reflected the ever-changing river scenes.

The Oberoi Philae has 58 cabins with private balconies and a lounge, bar and stylish restaurant. On the observation deck, sun loungers surround a shallow blue-tiled pool where you can relax and look out on life along the river’s banks.

Nile cruises allow you to gain perspective on rural Egypt, where people live much the same way they did thousands of years ago, in mud brick homes with straw roofs—a surprising number of which sprout satellite dishes.

On the river’s edge water buffalo cool themselves in the river, farmers in traditional galabiyya (flowing robes) tend their fields with wooden plows, passing feluccas are loaded with produce bound for the market, women in black chadors chat as they wash the family clothes and youngsters climb palm trees to harvest dates.

Due to the surrounding desert, 96 percent of Egypt’s population lives in the Nile Delta or the Nile Valley. The river offers a panorama of beauty and ugliness, old Egypt and new. We’d float past bucolic farmlands, only to confront factories wrapped in a haze, pumping waste into the ancient waterway and lifeblood of Egypt.

Nile cruises are very popular. Riverboats now crowd the tranquil waters, often tying up one to another so that you have to cross through multiple ships’ lobbies to get ashore. Not so our vessel, which had its own private docks to moor next to the shore.

Among the passengers on our cruise were Americans, Canadians, Europeans, Indians and a few Egyptians. The food was mainly European with a buffet breakfast and lunch and a la carte dinner selections. The only thing lacking was a decent-size bathroom. The tiny space held a midget-sized shower stall—one rotund lady in our group told us that when she closed the shower door, her hips turned off the water handle.

We traveled with a group of 12 North Americans on a tour organized by Big Five Tours & Expeditions. Each day we boarded a full-sized, blessedly air-conditioned bus for our explorations. Sharing the road, children ran alongside switching at donkeys loaded with bales of wheat and old men rambled down the highway on donkey carts filled with produce.

Over the next few days we packed in visits along the Nile Valley, the greatest open-air museum in the world. The sheer number of ancient monuments there can be overwhelming; frankly you tend to become templed-out and they begin to blur together.

I will never straighten out the soap-opera cast who make up the ancient Egyptian pantheon of gods, but here are some of the most memorable ancient sites.

West Bank

On the West Bank in Luxor, the Valley of the Kings is famous for its 62 royal tombs. For over a thousand years, the kings, queens and nobles of the New Kingdom (1500-1070 BC) were buried in this valley. Realizing that a temple was too obvious a place to bury priceless items needed in the afterlife, kings, queens and nobles were buried in this remote wadi (dry river bed).

The most famous tomb belongs to the boy king Tutankhamun. A separate entrance fee is charged to enter his tomb. At the Tomb of Ramesses IX, I inched my way down a narrow, dark staircase that opened out into an empty room bearing elaborate paintings and frescoes. Claustrophobics should avoid this as there’s only one passageway and you can’t turn around should you change your mind.

Also on the West Bank, the imposing Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at El Deir El-Bahri is one of the most unusual mortuary temples in Egypt. Mortuary temples were designed as places where offerings could be made to the soul of the pharaoh, while their tombs were hidden away in secluded desert valleys.

Hatshepsut’s lover, the architect Senenmut, designed the temple with rows of colonnades on three terraces rising from the desert plain at the foot of a sheer limestone cliff face. From a distance, it appears to be a thoroughly modern building.

In Edfu we visited the beautifully preserved sandstone Temple of Horus—one of the finest examples of Ptolemaic art in Egypt. It is the largest and best-preserved temple in Egypt. Built by the Ptolemaic Pharaohs, its bas-reliefs give a vivid picture of life in ancient Egypt.

East Bank

On the East Bank, Luxor’s extraordinary monuments include the stunning Temples of Karnak and Luxor, once decorated with gold, silver, alabaster and marble.

Luxor Temple was built on the site of the even more ancient city of Thebes, dating back 4,000 years. It was discovered less than a century ago and is one of the most impressive ancient monuments in Egypt. Situated on the waterfront in the heart of modern Luxor, it’s particularly beautiful when illuminated at night. An avenue of sphinxes leads up to the temple that once stretched from Luxor to Karnak, almost two kilometers away.

The scale and complexity of sprawling Karnak Temple is spectacular. After the pyramids of Giza, it is Egypt’s most important Pharaonic site. It was built over a 1,300-year period. The gate of the Temple of Karnak, built by Ptolemy III, is still almost in perfect condition, as is the incredible stone forest of massive pillars in the Hypostyle Hall.

One of the most mystical events on the trip occurred at Karnak when we entered the tiny sanctuary of the lioness-goddess Sekhmet. Her black granite statue is one of the few remaining in its original site. As the door closed us inside the chamber, a ray of sun struck Sekhmet’s face from above and you could sense her compelling power.

The Temple at Kom Ombo, lighted at night, is known for its unusual double temple—one half of which is dedicated to the falcon-headed god Horus, and the other half to the crocodile god Sobek.

Village life beckoned us ashore in the evenings. Strolling along the waterfront in the small town of Essna, we sat down at a sidewalk café, sipped mint tea and puffed on a sheesha (waterpipe)—just like the surrounding elderly men who curiously watched us. The rural village atmosphere was somewhat marred when they clicked photos of us on their cell phones.

My last memories of Egypt are of luxuriating in the Moorish-style elegance of the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan. Overlooking the Nile, it was opened in 1899 and the English crime-writer Agatha Christie penned part of her bestselling novel Death on the Nile here.

Harnessing the power of the Nile

Our voyage ended in Aswan, where we disembarked and drove to the High Dam and Lake Nasser. My impression of the High Dam was that it looked like—well, a big dam. If its appearance wasn’t as dramatic as expected, its impact is huge. It was completed in 1971 to supply the ever-increasing demand for electricity in Egypt and neighboring countries and it dramatically increased the land available for cultivation.

But its construction has broken the ancient cycles of flooding and planting and farmers must now rely on chemical fertilizers to enrich the land they have tilled for generations. Crocodiles no longer live below the dam—eliminating the need for the crocodile god Sobek—and young boys now splash in the river waters.

Construction of the High Dam threatened many temples and tombs with total submersion and 24 endangered monuments were dismantled and reassembled at safe distances from their original sites. One was the island Temple of Philae (for which our cruise ship was named). There we discovered a sacred temple complex dedicated to the goddess Isis. It epitomized a fusion of three great civilizations—Egyptian, Greek and Roman.

We sailed by felucca to the lush Botanical Gardens on Kitchener’s Island, a swath of exotic greenery transported from as far away as India and Malaysia that overlooks a ridge of undulating beige sand dunes below the ornate Mausoleum of the Aga Khan.

The graceful feluccas enchanted me and they are inseparable from my memories of the Nile. To sail on these indigenous boats is an unforgettable and uniquely Egyptian experience. They are part of the river-scape as they agilely glide up and down.

The lateen-rigged vessels are manned by Nubians; when the High Dam flooded their homeland, the Egyptian government granted the displaced Nubians the right to be the only people who could sail feluccas on the Nile.

To cruise the Nile as the pharaohs once did returns you to ancient Egypt and landmarks of civilization through the Pharaonic dynasties. Fascinating, mysterious, majestic, mystical, sensual—words don’t come close to describing my journey on the Nile. The wonders of ancient Egypt still ignited my imagination.

Judy Newell, a writer and travel industry executive, heads the custom tour company Perfect Journeys that specializes in luxury and adventure travel. Contact her with comments or suggestions at JudyNewell_03@msn.com or go to her website www.PerfectJourneys.net. Next week her column “Travel News You Can Use” will return.