CNN
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Soaring high into the sky, paragliders are used to enjoying fascinating aerial views of some of the world’s most famous ancient landmarks. But the landmarks don’t usually have dogs hanging out on top of them.
While flying over Egypt’s famous Great Pyramids at sunrise earlier this week, American paraglider Marshall Mosher and other paragliders saw the unexpected sight of a stray hunting dog, also enjoying the view around the top of one of the ancient wonders.
“We noticed something running back and forth on top of the pyramid,” Mosher told CNN Travel. “One person thought it was a mountain lion.”
The adventurers quickly grabbed their phones and zoomed in to the top of Khafre, the second-tallest pyramid—which is off-limits to humans—only to find a dog apparently chasing some birds atop the 448-foot-tall (136-meter ) structure.
Mosher remembers feeling a bit worried. “Maybe he’s stuck up there,” he thought. But his worries quickly disappeared.
“If he got up, he might come down, unless he found a secret portal that helped him teleport to the top of the pyramids,” he joked.
The next day, curious to see if the dog was still there, they flew over the pyramid again, without success. However, a fellow adventurer recorded a video of what appeared to be the same dog that must have been heading down the pyramid.
It’s unclear if it was the same animal, as hundreds of stray dogs roam the pyramid complex, some often seen close to the base, Mosher explained. The paraglider says he is actively looking for animal shelters in Cairo to help these strays find safer, less adventurous homes.
The videos of the dog quickly went viral on social media, with Mosher’s first post garnering millions of views on Instagram overnight.
Although Mosher has been creating content for a few years, he was surprised by the great interest in the dog’s adventures. “I thought the ability to fly over the pyramids was a decently interesting piece of news, but nobody cares about that,” he said.
Some online commentators have drawn a connection between the dog and Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of the dead, often depicted as a man with a jackal’s head.
Mosher regularly paraglides over the Great Pyramids of Giza as part of an annual flying event organized by SkyOne Egypt, which offers a unique way to explore the iconic site.
“I can see why the dog wanted to go up there. It is absolutely the best prospect for Cairo street dogs that I can believe exists,” he said.