Saturday was an all day trip to the Valley of the Whales - a long ride by Land Cruiser 4x4s past Fayoum oasis. In 2005 skeletons of 39-43 million year old marine mammals were discovered throughout the desert floor close to Wadi Rayan. I'm not sure how truly accurate the claim is that these whales with vestigial limbs are the "missing link" between land based animals and ocean based animals. I thought it was the other way around that sea creatures gave rise to amphibians to truly land locked types which eventually became the might dinosaurs.
Well, be that as it may, it was still remarkable. What I loved were the "coins" small dime to quarter sized fossils which were once prehistoric single celled creatures around 43 million years ago. I collected a bunch of these from Wadi Ryan as there are millions of them and the geologist at the Valley of the Whales said that we could bring these home. Naturally, my over zealous collecting resulted in a little pouchful and I will have to cull my geological specimens before I go home. I was thinking that they would make interesting earrings but then, I would have to find some way to drill small holes in them - a talent beyond my capabilities at this time.
It was a very long day! We had a great lunch, albeit on the cold side, of chicken, large haunch of lamb and the usual rice with raisins, salad, etc. Our 4x4 jeeps were very axle impaired what with the bumpiness of the road but I made it home relatively intact.
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