In Egypt ...
It was a stop along the way during a day of sightseeing ancient pyramids. Not the famous ones at Giza. We’d spent the previous day exploring those in depth. This was the next day, when we boarded a bus and roamed the arid Egyptian countryside, visiting pyramids much older than the big three at Giza. These lesser known structures were scattered across the desert, weathered and timeworn.
At midday, we had a scheduled stop for lunch. The meal was set up as an open-air affair, covered, but still very much outdoors. Obviously great care had been given to meal preparation and presentation. And under different circumstance might have been quite appealing. The dishes were colorful and artfully arranged, though I couldn’t identify everything on offer from the unfamiliar Egyptian cuisine.
But there was one glaring, inescapable problem.
In the searing heat of mid-day, there were hordes of flies feasting on our lunch. Oh, not just the annoying fly here and there ... oh no, no, this was an onslaught, a biblical plague of flies,
No one in the tour group, absolutely no one, partook of the meal. Lunch consisted of bottled water and colas. It may have been a tragic waste of food. I say "may have been" because I have no idea what the hosts may have done with the food.