When one thinks of Africa, the first images that float through one's minds are of large animals, safaris, and roofless jeeps. I have not yet experienced that part of Africa - yet. You'll be the first to know when I do.

But I have stepped into the African continent twice so far. The trip to Morocco was part of a tour that included Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar. But it was the tour of Egypt that provided me the opportunity to explore a land so ancient and so full of treasures that it had been almost mind-boggling. Our adventure into Egypt coincides with the 'Arab Spring' and although there was a constant tension bubbling below the surface, much of the political issues of the country are so easily forgotten when one is touching structures that were built 4,000 years ago.