| Objective: Sailing a felucca on the Nile River Location: Luxor, Nile River, Egypt Duration: 3 hours |
Travel on a traditional wooden sailboat with a large triangular sail on the Nile River. Built for river navigation, a felucca allows you to slowly enjoy the countryside. If you have the time, drift gently past villages like travelers during ancient times. On hot summer days, jump into the cool Nile water for a quick swim.
| Traveling like the Ancient Egyptians | Swimming in the Nile | Mythical Nile | Lunch |
Traveling like the Ancient Egyptians
It’s just a short walk from the center of Luxor to the Nile. Two feluccas and a motorized support boat are waiting for us at the river’s edge. A felucca is a traditional Egyptian sailboat with a single colossal sail like a shark’s fin. We remove our shoes before boarding the felucca. The open-air deck is like a giant mattress with sleeping pads, blankets, and pillows. Fabric drapes above the boat providing comfortable shade. Find a comfortable spot on the cushioned deck and enjoy the journey.
The crew hoists the sail up the angled mast and we catch some robust wind. The felucca smoothly tacks in a zig zag fashion. The speed is calm. The ride is relaxing. The water gently rushes by and the breeze is soothing. You place a cushion beneath your head and you watch the green shoreline floating by. For the next few hours, surrender to the rhythms of the Nile. Palm trees, reeds, and river birds drift past you. As the ship frequently turns, you receive nice patches of alternating shade and sunlight.
Swimming in the Nile
Next to a donkey pasture, there is a nice swimming spot. We gingerly wade into the cold water. The edge is muddy and full of reeds. The water is shockingly chilly. You must hop in. Your feet tangle easily in the slippery vegetation. Once you start swimming, your feet wriggle free and you warm up soon enough. Swim past a camel and turn back at the cow. When you get back to shore, try and avoid the donkey’s road apples. Deep blue + green + yellow + light blue. That is the formula for the river, cultivated plants, sandy hills, and sky. As a reward for swimming in the healing blue Nile waters, a pre-lunch refreshment is ready for us.
Mythical Nile
The Nile was the heart and soul of ancient Egypt. It flooded the plains in the summer. The waters deposited fertile sediments in the surrounding farms. Too much or too little resulted in ruined grain harvests. The myth of death and fertility associated with the god Osiris reflects this rise and fall. Set killed his brother Osiris and chopped him into pieces. Osiris’s wife, Isis, restored his body, but not his life, so she could conceive their son Horus.
Lunch
After drying off, a wonderful meal and lemon mint drinks await on the support boat. They have arranged multiple tajin pots across the long table on the upper deck. The first clay pot contains stewed potatoes, the next has tomatoes and assorted vegetables. There are plates of chicken, rice, baba ghanoush, and pitas. The spices are warm and fragrant.
After lunch, we bid farewell to the feluccas and ride the boat to the bridge. Our bus is ready to take us to the next site in Upper Egypt.
