by Gordon | Jul 7, 2011 | Alamein (people)
A sullen atmosphere pervades the battlefield of El Alamein, its empty wastes evoking little of the monstrous struggle that took place here 70 years ago. And though the sun still beats down and the nights chill you to the bone, the odd fly gives little idea of the...
by Gordon | Jul 1, 2011 | Alamein (politics)
The Australian troops were all volunteers. They didn’t need to come and fight and die in the desert. They came out of loyalty to Britain at a moment of desperate need. They came inspired by the national saga of Australian audacity and courage at Gallipoli. They came...
by Gordon | Jun 19, 2011 | Stars
Those of us who have come from Britain will never have seen the summer stars as we see them here in Egypt. Back home, in the high latitudes, twilight lingers on till after 11.00 pm, a beautiful time for long conversations in the grass but useless for viewing the Milky...
by Gordon | Jun 19, 2011 | Stars
For a period of over two millennia, from the building of the Giza pyramids till the suicide of Cleopatra, the Ancient Egyptian calendar was in continual operation, the dates of significant events recorded assiduously by a priestly bureaucracy. No other ancient...
by Gordon | May 30, 2011 | Fauna
When driving through South Sinai you may be excused for thinking it a dull and lifeless place, but you would be wrong, it just needs a subtle shift of focus. Go and inspect any desert plant and you will find an alternative universe, thronged with insects of...
