Oh my. This is so sad. I have great sympathy for the Egyptian people in Luxor and other areas so dependent upon tourism to make their livings. What is the answer to getting the tourists back? Stability - and a feeling that they will be safe. Will Egypt see stability any time soon? And will tourists ever feel safe?
Personally, it grieves me that at one time I contemplated making a trip with Mr. Don -- a boat trip down (up?) the Nile River, stopping at places like Luxor. Oh, how he wanted to go to Egypt! But our budgets just would not allow. And then, that dream went
pouf with the Revolution and consequent unrest and open warfare among various factions trying to take (or regain) power. Now, with Mr. Don passed away, well - that's just one trip I would never make by myself. So I will never see Egypt. I feel like crying.
Governor, alternatives like agriculture, industry necessary
22 January, 12:25
(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) - LUXOR, JANUARY 22 - With the tourism industry in deep crisis in Upper Egypt, it is hard not to encounter people including street vendors, boat, taxi or carriage drivers ferrying tourists along the Nile in Luxor or to visit archaeological sites not begging visitors to buy something.
'Please, I am hungry, buy something, you decide the price', they say. Western tourists walking through Luxor are few although clashes and casualties registered between the two souls of Egypt - Morsi supporters and opponents - are relatively far from here.
'Here in Luxor we have taken to the streets at two historic times: on January 25, 2011 and in July 2013', said Boutros, a Coptic trader. Luxor residents chose to demonstrate for the ouster of two presidents, Mubarak and Morsi, as well as others across the country. 'However we are not interested in politics.
We only want to work', said Gamal from a nearby spice store smelling of cinnamon and cardamom with an old radio playing verses from the Koran.
Almost everything is sold at half price or on sale at markets as well as big hotels. A number of luxury hotels even offer Spa services with 50% off. The Art Museum, a three-storey bazaar selling products made by local artisans and spices which used to be open from 9 am until 10 pm, is empty. So retailers have decided to open only once a week.
'Only if a hotel or travel agent calls we open', said the manager. All products are half price or cost even less. The worst year, according to many, was 2012 under the government of the Muslim Brothers.
And the new governor of Luxor, Tarek Saad El Din, who took over the post last August, has far from an easy job. Four governors have filled the post since 2011 and the problems are still there.
About '70% of people here in Luxor work in tourism and my top objective is to attract again foreign and Egyptian visitors to this region', El Din told ANSAmed.
As a consequence, he started meeting ambassadors of France, Italy, Great Britain, Russia, Japan and Egypt, asking them to come check the situation on the ground. In Luxor, recalled El Din, 'nothing has ever happened. No violence'.
Numbers however show a harsh reality. 'In August, the rate of visitors was 1%. In the past few days it has risen to 28%'. A significant impulse, said the governor, was given by the visit of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
In order to confront the emergency and literally feed the starved tour operators in Luxor, 'the government of Cairo has allocated 3 million liras for guides and 2.5 for carriage drivers (and their horses)and all those working with feluccas all year', said El Din.
While waiting for the negative trend to stop, it is necessary to aim high. 'There are no factories here', said the governor. 'With the industry minister, we have decided to start two projects to develop food and beverage industries in the areas of Bogdadi and Esna. All this respecting the environment'.
The governor's idea is to develop renewable energies, in particular solar energy.
'So far we have installed panels on three different public buildings in the city', he said. Before becoming governor, El Din was executive director of the authority to develop Egyptian tourism. 'The agency has 1,74 million dollars in investments, 72% of which are in the hands of local entrepreneurs. We have confidence mostly in Egyptian investors'.
(ANSAmed)
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She rested in peace for about 2,000 years until utility crews came shortly before Christmas to install a new waterline on Pine Island Road in Davie, Florida.
That's when the fully intact skeleton of what is believed to be a Tequesta Indian woman was found -- perhaps the best-preserved remains of an ancient human uncovered in the past 40 years, authorities said Thursday.
"It's either Tequesta or the member of a people that predates the Tequesta," said Bob Carr of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy in Davie. "It's unusually well preserved, considering it's been under a highway with thousands and thousands of cars going over it every day."
The woman, about 5 feet tall and about 20 to 30 years old, will now be analyzed by state and local archaeological authorities and then reburied in about a month in a secret location, with Seminole and Miccosukee Indians conducting the ceremony.
No artifacts were found with the skeleton, and it had no distinguishing marks to indicate how she died. "There's nothing in the bones to indicate trauma," Carr said.
The discovery began as crews were about to start installing a waterline on the east side of Pine Island Road near the Forest Ridge subdivision, between Griffin Road and State Road 84.
But before the backhoes began biting into the ground, Broward County archaeology officials warned that the waterline might run through a historical site and began surveying the area, Carr said.
After the skeleton was unearthed, Seminole and Miccosukee Indian officials requested the discovery remain quiet until Thursday and insisted no photos be taken of it.
"This is fairly standard protocol," said Gary Bitner, whose public relations firm represents the Seminole Tribe of Florida. "It's done with an obvious respect for the remains."
Because of a state requirement that all construction sites must be surveyed to ensure no historical objects are destroyed, Carr and other archaeologists have found numerous bones and artifacts. But finding full skeletons is relatively rare.
Three other intact skeletons were found in the same vicinity in the 1980s and another skeleton was found in a new development in far western Miramar about 12 years ago.
The most recent one was the best preserved and among the oldest, Carr said. The age estimate was based on "context," as artifacts found earlier near the discovery site, including pottery shards, were determined to be at least 2,000 years old.
"There was no carbon 14 dating or DNA testing, as the Florida tribes don't want any physical destruction of the bones," Carr said.
In 2002, Carr discovered the foundation of a Tequesta Indian home estimated to be 1,000 years old in downtown Miami. Four more were found nearby last year.
He and other archaeologists also have found Tequesta artifacts in Parkland in 2008; a major Tequesta settlement, dating back to 800 A.D., along Fort Lauderdale's New River in 2009; and bones up to 3,000 years old, believed to be those of members of the Jeaga tribe, along State Road A1A in Delray Beach in 2012