Yes, indeed! We sailed the Nile for two whole days!
 |
| Panoramashot from the Upper Deck |
Due to unforeseen circumstances -a group of Mexican tourists was attacked by the Egyptian army thinking it was an ISIS convoy- our trip through Egypt got quite shaking around as we had planned on going to the same area, but this was now forbidden. Luckily our local guide, Walid, is an experienced man who has experience of guiding and resetting tours aroudn Egypt. After some back and forward calling between hotels, the Intrepid Egypt head office and our group's wishes and ideas, we came to a new itinerary...
So after packing up in Aswan, we literally set sail north. Our first day on the boat was great! We had no hurry at all and the great sailors brought us down the river Nile without to much problems. It's only then you notice how clean the water actually is. Near cities, it tends to get blurry and dirty, but once our boat went further away from Aswan, you noticed that locals still respect the Nile as they did over 4000 years ago. We had the opportunity to jump in the water and have a nice swim in this ancient river, also being the longest one in the world! Egypt is the gift of the Nile. The Pharaos knew that already and therefore it was forbidden, already back then, to pollute this river, their key of life and success.
After a day of sailing and chilling, we hit land and were warmly welcomed by a local Nubian family. We had a great dinner and continued our evening playing games or chatting with the locals and our fellow travellers. Great vibes in the South of Egypt!
The next day we set off again on our Felluca, a traditional egyptian sail boat with only one big sail. We continued our route north and after a full day of sailing, chilling, swimming and enjoying the magical sights, we set up our boat right next to the coast. Felluca's are not allowed to sail at night, as they have no lights or whatsoever. Following a couple of beers (the first onces in Egypt, finally!) and more good food cooked by our sailors, most of the group ended up on top of the boat, where the main deck is located. The sailors, Nubians, joined us and we ended up singing and dancing to the predictable African songs like "Wakka Wakka", "In the jungle, the mighty jungle", etc. I'm pretty sure the beers and wine had something to do with that, though although I seem unable to find the connection?
We slept on the felluca that night and a small bus took us for the last 100kms from where the boat finished to Luxor, Capital of Ancient Egypt!
_safe travels!
 |
| Lunch on the boat |
 |
| Fish eye perspective |
 |
| *On a boat, obviously. |
No comments:
Post a Comment