Felucca up the Nile…

Tomb of the Aga Khan...

One of Marie’s guide books listed the name of a reputable Felucca captain, who for a reasonable fee would ferry tourists to the island of Seheyl and back to Aswan. We eventually joined him on the banks of the river, directly opposite our hotel.

We sailed up the back of Elephantine Island and upstream towards the Aswan Dam. We passed Kitchener Island, where the botanical gardens are situated, and then sailed past the tomb of the Aga Khan. He came here from Pakistan to seek a cure for his rheumatism, and after being treated with a mixture of sand submersion and special oils, his condition improved, and he finally made Aswan his home. His mausoleum is perched halfway up the slope leading to the desert beyond, and his family still stays there to this day…

Captain Gelal's Felucca, the Elizabeth...

Just short of his home village on Seheyl Island, Gelal sailed his felucca up against a rocky outcrop, and tied up there. He then suggested we swim through a small stretch of rapids, where a rope had been tied to a large rock below the surface.

Sami and I prepare for our dip in the Nile...

Sami and I needed no second invitation and within minutes we were submersed in the cool waters of the Nile.

Khalid and Marie joined us, and we spent a cool half hour being pulled by the current, and then swimming out to clamber back onto the rocks. The felucca had a shaded section where we had been sitting, but despite this, the high temperatures of the Egyptian summer had us all sweating profusely, so the dip in the river was extremely refreshing… There was a moment when I felt my shorts were going to disappear down the Nile, but just before they reached my knees, I managed to get control of the situation and returned to the boat, dignity intact…

Sami and I hanging on in the rapids... Photos: Marie-Helene Biard-Kaab

"Don't look now, but I think I see a Flat Dog behind us...!!"

The best meal we had eaten since arriving in Egypt...

Further up the Nile, we berthed the boat alongside a few other larger vessels and then walked up through Gelal’s village to where his house stood up on a hill. The Nubian architecture of his home with its arched roof was built on portions of the original home which was almost 200 years old! I was a little concerned when I heard this, as we were sitting on the top floor, a few “storey’s” above…!! Building codes have yet to reach Egypt, and the narrow little passageways that led to the upper floors, all showed signs of being hurriedly built, plaster falling off to expose the mud bricks that lay under it…

We were shown into his “magic room”, where a few small tables had been laid out in preparation for our lunch… I had been a bit skeptical when he had offered to make lunch for us, but I was pleasantly surprised by not only the quality of the meal, but the quantity that we were served… A large bowl of chicken and onion soup was brought forward, which Sami and I tucked into with relish, each having second and third helpings… Then came a huge platter of rice and another of salad, followed by more roasted chicken than the four of us could eat… After our meal, we were served Hibiscus Tea, which looked like strawberry choice but tasted a little like vanilla to me… It was the best meal we had enjoyed since our arrival in Egypt, and at about R45.00 a head, well worth it!!

On our return to Aswan, Khalid, Sami and I hopped off the felucca and were towed behind the boat on a long piece of rope. The current was surprisingly strong, and if you let go the rope, Gelal would be fetching you a good deal further downstream…

After four hours on board in the hot sun, we tied up alongside the Cornice, paid for the outing, and then walked back to our hotel. All the way back, we were constantly hassled by touts offering anything from trips down the Nile, visits to temples, hashish, water, rides on horse drawn carriages, taxi rides etc, etc… This is the norm here in Egypt, and if you are thinking about a pleasant and peaceful stroll along the river bank, you’d better find a river in another country!! Tourists in Egypt are the target of conmen and scam artists, and they will do and say anything to lure you into their shops or to encourage you to make use of their services…

The minute you set foot outside your hotel, guys come rushing up to you from half a dozen directions all shouting about whatever it is they are trying to sell… They begin by asking where you are from, and then start offering you stuff at up to 5 times the normal price!! Eventually all this becomes a little irksome, and I gave up trying to be friendly and began giving them answers that were clearly as fictional as the nonsense they spoke and the prices they quoted…

Drifting along in the Nile, towed by the Felucca...

“Hello, my Bruzzer…!! Where you from? I am Captain Mahmud and I have a Felucca…”

“Excellent, I am Captain Kirk, and I have a Spaceship! I am from the Forbidden Kingdom…”

“No, my friend… Really…where you from…?”

“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you…! But if you keep bothering me, I might kill you anyway…!”

“Ho-ho!! Funny man…!”

“Not as funny as the prices you are giving us…!!”

“No… It is the best price….!”

“But we are looking for the worst price!! We are sick and tired of paying the best price! What is your worst price…?”

That normally got them a bit tongue tied…

Seriously though, having to constantly be on your guard does not make for an enjoyable time here. Having to bargain your way for every little thing you want to buy gets to you eventually… You will not find a price on any item, anywhere… The same bottle of water will get you five different prices from five separate shops standing within spitting distance of each other…

If you ask them why they are trying to fleece you, they look you squarely in the eye and tell you

“But you are tourist! You have lots of money…!”

None of us could understand the logic of their arguments, and we eventually got to the point of having a few unpleasant exchanges with a variety of vendors and service providers…

It all gets a bit too much after a few days in Egypt, and I could not get my head around the fact that these people here in Egypt all claim to be Moslems, and rush off to pray at the drop of a hat, yet could come straight out of the Mosque and start cheating people within minutes of having been on their knees in supplication… Maybe this is why they have to pray so often…. They sin a lot…!!!

©GBWT 2010