On the way to our resort, we stopped at El Alamien, site of the famous battle between the British forces under General Montgomery and the German forces under General Rommel (the Desert Fox). This battle proved to be the turning point of the war in North Africa and allowed the Allies to maintain control over the Suez Canal and the rich oil fields in the area. Prior to this time, Germany had been very successful in North Africa. Churchill had replaced several generals before he found Montgomery who was able to defeat Rommel. The conflict was back and forth for several months – one side would drive the other back and then the retreating side would regroup and forge back. Often this was due to the side who was victorious would out run their supply lines while the retreating army would have a chance to re-supply more easily. The air forces and navies also played a key role especially with supplies. The soldiers described the battle in North Africa as a “war without hate”. The desert conditions were so tough on the men of both ides that when in battle they developed a respect and camaraderie that did not exist in other fronts. On the way home we stopped again at El Alamien and visited the British Cemetery which is located nearby the museum.
Over 7,000 men are buried there from all throughout the British Commonwealth. It is a very striking cemetery, much like Arlington except for the granite stone markers and the desert terrain. There are British cemeteries throughout North Africa. The Germans and Italians also have cemeteries but theirs are mass graves with a single memorial monument. Churchill, on the importance of El Alamien, said “Prior to El Alamien, we didn’t win a single battle; After El Alamien we didn’t lose any.” Later on in our holiday, we stopped at Marsa Matruh where General Rommel had his underground headquarters or cave -- right on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Several artifacts and maps were located in the cave.
We stayed at Almaza Beach Resort (http://www.iberotel-eg.com/almaza/index.htm) just outside of Maras Matruh on the Mediterranean. The resort is called an ‘Italian” resort with nearly 400 rooms. It is 5 star facility with restaurants, lounges, swimming pools, health facilities, sauna, etc., along the most beautiful white sand virgin beach we have ever seen.
What made this so special was that we were the only guests in the resort! This is the off-season so the Egyptians were not there and there were no European charter groups in. We had a fantastic time. The staff pampered us and we had full run of everything. We walked the beaches, swam in the Med, and enjoyed the sauna.
Our stay was half board so we enjoyed breakfast and supper in one of the restaurants. It was first class all the way. During the evening, we ventured to the lounge for two nights of fun. The first night I put together a Quiz Night with 10 questions in: History, Sport, Music, Movies, Broadway and of course Thanksgiving. On the second night, another staff member had prepared a similar activity using pictures. The resort staff thought we were quite loud and competitive!!
On Friday, we took a day trip into Marsa Matruh – a resort city with over 100,000 people (during the busy season). Of course since it was the off season, it was like a scene out of the Twilight Zone where it seemed we were the only people around.
Just outside of Marsa Matruh we visited “Cleopatra’s Bath” a natural bath area on the Med where Cleopatra came to bathe and Ageeba, a unique cliff area on the sea. All of the areas have security and shortly after we arrived at Ageeba, a security escort was called by the security at Ageeba to escort us back to Marsa Matruh when we were ready to leave.
One of the members of our staff is married to an Egyptian professor at the university in Cairo. He joined us for the holiday and told us that the reason they were called was because there was a group of young Libyian boys at Ageeba and with Libya only 2 and a half hours away the security thought it would be best to provide security for the Americans. It was so nice having him along with us as he was able to translate a lot for us and help us in many ways.
All in all, we had a great time. The scenery was so beautiful and our staff is much fun to be around. The only thing that could have made this better for us would have been to have our families share the holiday weekend with us.
