Egypt Fishing Safari
For anyone tired of the hectic day to day life that so many of us seem to consider the norm, I can easily see how this type of holiday would be ideal. Stunning desert scenery, peace and solitude, wonderful winter sun, who could ask for more?
This is a blog about a December 08 trip to Lake Nassar, Egypt, to sample our fishing tours (with a group of 9 anglers) and sample a desert cruise trek.
Day 1
Our flight from Gatwick arrived bang on time in Luxor airport, where we were met by our Egypt Uncovered reps. A few moments later we were through visa control and speeding through the streets of Luxor to the local MacDonald’s for dinner (not my choice I hasten to add, being a pesky pescatarian). Faces stuffed with junk food, we jumped back on the minibus for the evening ride south to Aswan. This 3-hour drive was mostly done after dark, but nevertheless the rest of the group was very excited with the chaotic scenes unfolding through the windows of the bus. By about 11pm we arrived at the Basma Hotel in Aswan, a nice 4-star hotel with all the modern amenities you could wish for. After meeting our fishing guide Negrashi and discussing the plans for the morning, we retired to the bar for a couple of beers and a shisha pipe (local water pipe popular all around the Middle East that burns a sweet, fruity molasses tobacco) before hitting the sack for a few hours sleep and an early start in the morning.
Day 2
Today was an early start as the fishing group headed out for the hour and a half drive to Garf Hussein to pick up with their boats and start fishing. I headed further south and my 3-hour drive took me through stunning desert scenery to Wadi Al Seboua, and the start of my desert cruise trek taster. I had been offered a chance to sample this unique form of travel by my good friend Negrashi, who is pretty much the only one in Egypt to do this type of travel. After introductions to the other members of the group, three Germans and three Swiss, we took a guided tour of the nearby temples, all of which had been reclaimed from the rising water of Lake Nasser. As this area is so remote it gets very few visitors and thus we had the entire place to ourselves, a real rarity in Egypt. The boat, which had started out from Aswan a couple of days earlier, turned out to be a dumpy double-decker, painted white and red. Downstairs consisted of a long table and box benches for dining, two chemical toilets, a shower and a cook’s cabin. Upstairs was open deck, with the front half covered by a sun roof, which even though it was winter, was essential for keeping off the worst of the sun. By night this area was strewn with mattresses and used as the sleeping quarters for the guests. After a short cruise along the lake we stopped off for a brief wander into the desert and a chance meeting with a herd of camels watering and feeding along the shore of a small inlet. Our guide Stephen explained our surroundings and the local wildlife as we walked and the peace and quiet of the desert was overwhelming at times. Back on board the boat we took lunch, which consisted of salad, meat and Egyptian bread all basic but tasty and filling, then cruised on to another drop off point. This trek took us deeper into the desert and the scenery could only be described as breathtaking. We climbed high up onto the top of a rocky hill giving fantastic views across the desert and across the lake, and then barefooted made our way down the ridge of a golden sand dune to meet up with the boat. A refreshing swim in the lake from the sandy beach made an excellent end to a great first day. After a dinner of rice, salad, meat and Egyptian bread everyone just chilled out for a while then turned in for the night to watch the stars take shape in the desert sky.
Day 3
After breakfast, we cruised on up the lake and stopped off for more swimming and trekking into the desert. For those interested in fishing, there was a rod and reel on board and plenty of fish in the lake. My section of the cruise ended at the Temple of Amada, but the 5-day cruise continued on to Abu Simbel, and it was quite hard to leave as everyone onboard were having the best time ever and I wanted more of it. But time constraints meant I had to leave and return by road to Aswan where I would be staying the night before taking a boat ride out to the fishing group.
Day 4 -7
About three hours or so by boat and another hour spent searching finally saw me reunited with the fishing group. The set up for the fishing was a mothership, pretty similar to the one I had just been on, and satellite boats. The guys would go out fishing first thing in the morning, come back for breakfast, go back out fishing for the rest of the morning, come back for lunch, fish the afternoon and come back for dinner. All food was served on the mothership, which slowly made its way back from Garf Hussien to Aswan and the guys would sleep on their own boats, though there was plenty of space to sleep on the mothership had anyone wanted. Fishing had been slow but everyone had caught, with the biggest around 35 lbs. Everyone was in high spirits and enjoying the adventure and the photographers in the group were getting excellent pictures of the scenery and the wildlife, including scorpions and snakes. The food was not to everyone’s liking, consisting of salad, rice, meat, fish and Egyptian bread, pretty much every day, so the topic of conversation constantly revolved around all the favourite foods that weren’t available on a boat in the middle of Lake Nasser. If it wasn’t food then it was bad stomachs and general illness and the causes thereof. Being a well seasoned traveller to me it was so obviously down to the guys’ lack of personal hygiene, something about which I am fastidiously careful. This was reinforced by the fact the only three people not to get ill at all were the two trained chefs in the group, both of whom were just as fastidious when it came to personal hygiene, and me. So the next few days unfolded in much the same way, fishing, eating, fishing, eating, fishing, eating, drinking, and sleeping. I escaped this cycle by either chatting to the boat crew, swimming, reading, or trekking into the desert to take pictures of the scenery and wildlife. At the end of it we arrived back into Aswan and from there transferred back down to the Isis hotel in Luxor. The transfer back to Luxor was mostly by day and was a great opportunity for the guys, many of whom hadn’t been further a field than Spain, to really appreciate the differences in culture from that of England. Once in the hotel, we all got together for a final dinner of pizza at the hotel’s Italian restaurant. The guys wanted to do some shopping and I suggested they buy the local Galabeya (Egyptian robe) and headdress as a souvenir, which they were all enthusiastic about. Little did I know!
Day 8
In the morning I had arranged a donkey ride for the group to the Valley of the Kings and when they all assembled in the hotel lobby turned out in Galabeyas and headdresses I realised it was going to be a very long day. Luckily I had several meetings during the day and couldn’t go with them but the whole episode worked out well and they made a lot of friends both locals and tourists. In the afternoon they took a guided tour around the Temple of Karnak before we transferred back to the airport for our flight back to the UK. Everyone had a fantastic last day and for many it was the highlight of the trip, which just goes to show, fishing isn’t everything!
This is a blog about a December 08 trip to Lake Nassar, Egypt, to sample our fishing tours (with a group of 9 anglers) and sample a desert cruise trek.
Day 1
Our flight from Gatwick arrived bang on time in Luxor airport, where we were met by our Egypt Uncovered reps. A few moments later we were through visa control and speeding through the streets of Luxor to the local MacDonald’s for dinner (not my choice I hasten to add, being a pesky pescatarian). Faces stuffed with junk food, we jumped back on the minibus for the evening ride south to Aswan. This 3-hour drive was mostly done after dark, but nevertheless the rest of the group was very excited with the chaotic scenes unfolding through the windows of the bus. By about 11pm we arrived at the Basma Hotel in Aswan, a nice 4-star hotel with all the modern amenities you could wish for. After meeting our fishing guide Negrashi and discussing the plans for the morning, we retired to the bar for a couple of beers and a shisha pipe (local water pipe popular all around the Middle East that burns a sweet, fruity molasses tobacco) before hitting the sack for a few hours sleep and an early start in the morning.
Day 2
Today was an early start as the fishing group headed out for the hour and a half drive to Garf Hussein to pick up with their boats and start fishing. I headed further south and my 3-hour drive took me through stunning desert scenery to Wadi Al Seboua, and the start of my desert cruise trek taster. I had been offered a chance to sample this unique form of travel by my good friend Negrashi, who is pretty much the only one in Egypt to do this type of travel. After introductions to the other members of the group, three Germans and three Swiss, we took a guided tour of the nearby temples, all of which had been reclaimed from the rising water of Lake Nasser. As this area is so remote it gets very few visitors and thus we had the entire place to ourselves, a real rarity in Egypt. The boat, which had started out from Aswan a couple of days earlier, turned out to be a dumpy double-decker, painted white and red. Downstairs consisted of a long table and box benches for dining, two chemical toilets, a shower and a cook’s cabin. Upstairs was open deck, with the front half covered by a sun roof, which even though it was winter, was essential for keeping off the worst of the sun. By night this area was strewn with mattresses and used as the sleeping quarters for the guests. After a short cruise along the lake we stopped off for a brief wander into the desert and a chance meeting with a herd of camels watering and feeding along the shore of a small inlet. Our guide Stephen explained our surroundings and the local wildlife as we walked and the peace and quiet of the desert was overwhelming at times. Back on board the boat we took lunch, which consisted of salad, meat and Egyptian bread all basic but tasty and filling, then cruised on to another drop off point. This trek took us deeper into the desert and the scenery could only be described as breathtaking. We climbed high up onto the top of a rocky hill giving fantastic views across the desert and across the lake, and then barefooted made our way down the ridge of a golden sand dune to meet up with the boat. A refreshing swim in the lake from the sandy beach made an excellent end to a great first day. After a dinner of rice, salad, meat and Egyptian bread everyone just chilled out for a while then turned in for the night to watch the stars take shape in the desert sky.
Day 3
After breakfast, we cruised on up the lake and stopped off for more swimming and trekking into the desert. For those interested in fishing, there was a rod and reel on board and plenty of fish in the lake. My section of the cruise ended at the Temple of Amada, but the 5-day cruise continued on to Abu Simbel, and it was quite hard to leave as everyone onboard were having the best time ever and I wanted more of it. But time constraints meant I had to leave and return by road to Aswan where I would be staying the night before taking a boat ride out to the fishing group.
Day 4 -7
About three hours or so by boat and another hour spent searching finally saw me reunited with the fishing group. The set up for the fishing was a mothership, pretty similar to the one I had just been on, and satellite boats. The guys would go out fishing first thing in the morning, come back for breakfast, go back out fishing for the rest of the morning, come back for lunch, fish the afternoon and come back for dinner. All food was served on the mothership, which slowly made its way back from Garf Hussien to Aswan and the guys would sleep on their own boats, though there was plenty of space to sleep on the mothership had anyone wanted. Fishing had been slow but everyone had caught, with the biggest around 35 lbs. Everyone was in high spirits and enjoying the adventure and the photographers in the group were getting excellent pictures of the scenery and the wildlife, including scorpions and snakes. The food was not to everyone’s liking, consisting of salad, rice, meat, fish and Egyptian bread, pretty much every day, so the topic of conversation constantly revolved around all the favourite foods that weren’t available on a boat in the middle of Lake Nasser. If it wasn’t food then it was bad stomachs and general illness and the causes thereof. Being a well seasoned traveller to me it was so obviously down to the guys’ lack of personal hygiene, something about which I am fastidiously careful. This was reinforced by the fact the only three people not to get ill at all were the two trained chefs in the group, both of whom were just as fastidious when it came to personal hygiene, and me. So the next few days unfolded in much the same way, fishing, eating, fishing, eating, fishing, eating, drinking, and sleeping. I escaped this cycle by either chatting to the boat crew, swimming, reading, or trekking into the desert to take pictures of the scenery and wildlife. At the end of it we arrived back into Aswan and from there transferred back down to the Isis hotel in Luxor. The transfer back to Luxor was mostly by day and was a great opportunity for the guys, many of whom hadn’t been further a field than Spain, to really appreciate the differences in culture from that of England. Once in the hotel, we all got together for a final dinner of pizza at the hotel’s Italian restaurant. The guys wanted to do some shopping and I suggested they buy the local Galabeya (Egyptian robe) and headdress as a souvenir, which they were all enthusiastic about. Little did I know!
Day 8
In the morning I had arranged a donkey ride for the group to the Valley of the Kings and when they all assembled in the hotel lobby turned out in Galabeyas and headdresses I realised it was going to be a very long day. Luckily I had several meetings during the day and couldn’t go with them but the whole episode worked out well and they made a lot of friends both locals and tourists. In the afternoon they took a guided tour around the Temple of Karnak before we transferred back to the airport for our flight back to the UK. Everyone had a fantastic last day and for many it was the highlight of the trip, which just goes to show, fishing isn’t everything!
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