By Setarreh Massihzadegan
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
Raymond and Ursula Wolfe had been living at Linden Ponds, in Hingham, for just a few days when they popped in on a meeting of the community’s travel club, the Linden Ponds Vagabonds. The short walk to the performing arts center eventually led them to Egypt.
Though the Wolfes had traveled much of the world, Mr. Wolfe always wanted to add Egypt to their list. As it happened, that day, Vagabonds leader Marilyn Pula presented a trip there.
"When this came up, it had his name on it," Mrs. Wolfe says.
Memorable moments
Four people who live at Linden Ponds, including the Wolfes, took the 15-day excursion to Egypt, with stops in Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan, and Luxor, among others.
The Linden Ponds travelers joined a group of about 40 people for the trip, which included three-night cruises on the Nile River and Lake Nasser.
Pula conducted extensive research before selecting the trip with Vantage Deluxe World Travel. And she had plenty of tips for the Linden Ponds travelers, since she and her husband went to Egypt just three years ago.
"Marilyn did an absolutely fabulous job of lining everything up and making everything easy for us to understand," says Carole Vickery, who had wanted to visit the country since living in Egypt, Mass., which is now a part of Scituate. "We saw all that you would want to see in Egypt."
For fellow Linden Ponds resident Joanne Gaines, the trip to Egypt was one she had hoped to make since reading Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile. Once there, Gaines especially enjoyed people watching. "Outside of the museum in Cairo, I sat and watched the girls and boys flirting just like kids do around here," she says.
Throughout the trip, the Wolfes say they noticed the stark difference between the primitive Nubian villages and the elaborate dwellings of the wealthy in Cairo and elsewhere.
"It’s really a land of contrast," Mrs. Wolfe says.
Getting around