Looking back at January 2012

Well the word for 2012 is "starting" as the days are starting to lengthen, it is starting to warm up, though only slightly, and the Nile is starting to rise from an extremely low level, so low that at least three cruise boats became stuck down by Armant early in the month.

January Pictures Click on any picture below to see a larger image or CLICK HERE to take the tour.

Two years ago we had no winter, last year it was short though cold, yet this year the winter has been much longer, whilst at the same time also much colder.

If you think it is just because we have become accustomed to Luxor temperatures, which no doubt is somewhat true as we haven't left Luxor since 2004, you can ask Jan as she spent Christmas with us and she was cold. Though Jan has only just left, she is returning for Dr Mohammed's wedding on the 2nd February. Just in case you are not aware, Dr Mohammed is the AWOL veterinarian and a close friend, so we are all looking forward to this most special day. Jan will only be here for a week this time, which is a shame.

Today is the 25th January, and has been called a national holiday in egypt because it was the official start of the Tharir Square protests, though much started before this date and of course President Mubarak did not stand down until the middle of February 2011. Having just returned from the coffee shop on Medina Street it was just like any other day. No extreme police presence, no soldiers on the streets. Just a normal day. All the shops were open as usual, though the banks and government offices were closed.

Over the last week or so it has been noticeable that the police are now back in all their old places around Luxor and actually doing something. The general feeling at the coffee shop is that Luxor feels much safer now, not that we have experienced any problems. We also renewed our visas for another year on Monday, though they were not due until February. This was because Pauline's new passport arrived safely in Luxor thanks to the British Embassy and Mr Gaddis, the excellent British Consul here in Luxor.

With the AWOL Centre well advanced, we will in due course be moving all of the AWOL bits and pieces out of our upstairs. We have been sorting out and decided it was time to let the light in. As you will see in this month's photos, we took off all the large shutters on the Nile side of our villa, only to let the sun shine in on all the cobwebs that were not there before we did. There was a temptation to put the shutters back, though we resisted it. It looks like an awful lot of work to clean it all as well as finish it off. There are drying cracks in the walls that will have to be attended to, as well as lots of other jobs that need to be done before we can use it.

The need for the services of AWOL continue to increase throughout the villages, with our days becoming ever longer, as you will be able to read about in this month's AWOL web site update. This means that I come home shattered. Graham is keeping up with making the tack, though he has also managed to get on really well, with writing the second in his Kathryn Black series. This despite us both having colds. Oh how we long for the heat of the Egyptian summer.

Thankfully you have finally listened to us, as we have had a virtually visitor free January, so we have been able to stay at home in the warm. We have never been able to fathom, why so many of you come to Luxor when it is so cold and also gets dark so early.

It is however, great for us that so many friends have already booked to be back here in February and March, and we are looking forward to seeing you all. It is going to be a busy couple of months. If you are coming to Luxor and would like to meet up, so that we can chat about Animal Welfare of Luxor, what there is to see and do here, what it is like to live here or just say hi, then do drop us an e-mail from the link below.

Pauline and Graham XX and our zoo xxxxxx

Click Here to go to our January photos tour.