One of my fellow Fulbrighters is a paleontologist working out near Wadi al-Hitan and we took jeeps out to the desert to view the area, and 45 million year old whale boans!  Then entire desert in the area used to be a sea.  part of the argument amonst scholars is just how deep that sea was.  Our first stop was to view some petrified HUGE trees.  Sitting in the middle of what is today barren desert!  Really makes the head spin thinking about it.  Well those trees, according to John the paleontologist, are part of what lead scholars for years to think the area was a shallow swampland.  Well, finding huge whales and sharks nearby as well as learning that what appeared to be the remains of mangrove tree roots are actually fossilized burrowing sea creatures, have made scholars realize the are was likely a very deep sea. 

We enjoyed romping through the desert in the jeeps for a couple hours, an hour-long tour wlaking amongst the whale bones, and then a great dinner out in the desert with a view of sunset! 

Sooooo wonderful to get out of Cairo and breathe fresh air!

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