True to his nature; whenever he was presented with a challenge or problem, George always rose to the occasion. If the challenge turned out to be an idea of his own making, he applied ever more persistence in order to achieve the goal…even if it took one small step at a time.
In spite of our earlier set back of not being able to place a trampoline on the top of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, once again George demonstrated his outstanding resilience; and came up with an alternate idea that was successful in finally accomplishing his goal.
This time George was determined more than ever…….that a trampoline would be on top of the pyramid.
If the Egyptians could build a pyramid by moving “one stone at a time” to the top, George planned to do the same thing with a trampoline!
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| (1955) J-55 Nissen Trampoline |
George figured that the bed and bungee cords could easily fit into a back pack, leaving only the metal frame pieces to be physically carried to the top. I agreed with George’s concept, although we both knew it would require more than just the two of us to carry the metal pieces to the top. In addition, we knew we would incur expensive over-weight limits on our flight to Cairo, but none of these deterrents stood in our way.
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So in November, a mere six months after his first attempt; we were off to Cairo again.
As in the past, Adli and Lt. General Gadawi met us at the Cairo airport, and during the drive to our hotel we explained to them the details of how we planned to put a trampoline on top of the pyramid. We then asked for their assistance which included hiring someone to help us carry the heavy metal frame pieces to the top. They both were keen to help and by the time we arrived at the hotel all the arrangements were in place.
As in the past, Adli and Lt. General Gadawi met us at the Cairo airport, and during the drive to our hotel we explained to them the details of how we planned to put a trampoline on top of the pyramid. We then asked for their assistance which included hiring someone to help us carry the heavy metal frame pieces to the top. They both were keen to help and by the time we arrived at the hotel all the arrangements were in place.
The morning of our adventure arrived, and Adli picked us up at 3:00 am. The extreme early start-time was selected to not only take advantage of the cooler desert temperatures but, we figured the security level around the pyramids would be low as well. We also wanted to avoid attracting the throngs of curious tourists that appeared during our early attempt in April.
As we drove up to the base of the great pyramid we spotted two young men waiting for us, per Adli’s prior arrangements. Not only did they both speak good English but were enthused as well to be involved in such an adventure.
After quickly unloading the car, we began our climb by staging ourselves on different stone blocks, making sure we were close enough to each other to hand the parts upward as we went along. It was a “bucket brigade” of trampoline parts. Adli stayed behind on the ground to run interference in case any problems arose, as well as to take telephoto pictures once we were on top.
We continued systematically placing all the pieces on the top and by the time we finished the two bedrolls came “alive” and suddenly we had a very surprised audience.
Two young men emerged, and their first question to us was, “What are you doing here?” We answered, “We’re putting a trampoline on top of this pyramid…What are you doing here?”
After a short exchange with the two young French Canadians, they revealed that their plan had been to be the very first to sleep on top of the pyramid…only now to be outdone by a couple of Americans with a TRAMPOLINE!
As the sun continued to rise we quickly assembled the trampoline. George and I brought a camera with us, but we found that the French Canadians had one as well, and they asked if they could take pictures. We even had them shoot one roll of our film in their camera.
Once everything was assembled, we were quite relieved to find that the pole structure in the middle of the pyramid didn’t interfere with the placement of the trampoline. Our only challenge then was to find level placement for the legs on the pyramid blocks. It ended up being at the very edge of the pyramid! But, being that close to the edge made it all even more exciting.
The “bouncing” began…and, George was on top of the world!
The final photo was of the entire gang. We placed the camera on one of the large boulders and set it to automatic. We captured an image of everyone who was witness to the “Caper”.
After turning a few more somersaults, taking pictures and just having fun, we came to the realization that we still had to take the trampoline apart and return to the bottom of the pyramid. That’s when the real fun began!
Of course by now, an enormous crowd of Egyptians and tourists had assembled below. Our young Egyptian helpers and the French Canadians became concerned that they would get in trouble once we made it to the bottom. But George and I assured them that there would be very little trouble. Never the less, we made the suggestion that if anyone approached us once we all were on the ground, our new found friends should quickly disperse and leave us to do the talking.
The decent certainly was much quicker than it had been going up in the dark, but still felt difficult due to carrying the metal parts and the effects of the now extreme heat.
I was first to touch ground and when handed one of the metal pieces, I put it on my shoulder. Immediately, I began walking through the crowd towards our car which Adli had parked along the road next to the pyramid. As I moved forward a large Egyptian man grabbed the metal piece on my shoulder. Thinking he wanted to carry it for me I instinctively pulled away saying, “No thank you, I will carry it myself”. This turned out to be a big mistake on my part as the Egyptian then hollered, “You’re under arrest!” and, pulled a gun out of his tunic.
Shocked, the crowd pulled back. I became irritated, especially when the gun was then put directly in my face accompanied by his shouts of, “You’re under arrest, you’re under arrest!”
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| "You're Under Arrest!" |
At that point I said probably one of the dumbest things I ever said in my entire life.
“Don’t put a gun in a man’s face unless you’re going to use it!”
Once the words left my mouth, I realized how foolish the comment had been. Luckily for both of us, we could only understanding half of what each other was saying.
By this time, the young Egyptians and French Canadians were long gone. George was now standing on the ground next to me laughing, although we both weren’t sure what the next step would be!
Just then, another guard came over to us and said we both were under arrest. As a small police wagon quickly pulled up the guard said that George had to go to see the Director of Antiquities, while I stayed back at the pyramid still under arrest.
Off George went…and, in 15 minutes he returned saying everything was OK. The only thing was, we had to promise, “that we would never do it again!”
“Do it again?” I thought to myself, “Are you kidding me?”
George, Adli and I quickly packed up the car and were "out‘a there!” in a flash.J
Jump to: "Epilogue"
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