Aswan Felucca Ride around Elephantine Island

About this trip

One hour under sail on a felucca, Aswan's traditional wooden boat, circling Elephantine Island and passing the botanical gardens on Kitchener Island. Pickup and return by air-conditioned car, and water, are included.

The day

1. Start

   Pickup from your hotel or Nile cruise

   Your Egyptologist guide meets you at your hotel or cruise boat in Aswan, and a private air-conditioned car takes you to the riverbank where your felucca is waiting. Have a hat and sunscreen with you, because there is little shade on the deck of a felucca in the daytime.

2. On the water

   Setting sail

   A felucca has no engine. The boatman raises a single large sail and works with the wind and the current, so the boat moves quietly and the exact line it takes depends on the breeze that day. You sit low on the deck, close to the water, with a wide view in every direction.

3. On the water

   Around Elephantine Island

   The ancient Egyptians called Elephantine Abu, meaning elephant, a name often linked to the ivory trade or to the rounded gray boulders along its shore. For centuries it was Egypt's southern frontier post, where goods from Africa entered the kingdom. Your guide points out the island's ancient remains and the Nubian villages that still stand on it.

4. On the water

   Past Kitchener Island and the Botanical Gardens

   Next you pass Kitchener Island, just west of Elephantine. Lord Kitchener, then commander of the Egyptian army, was given the island in the 1890s during the Sudan campaigns and turned it into a garden of exotic trees and plants, now Aswan's Botanical Gardens. From the boat you see the palms and thick greenery along its banks.

5. Finish

   Back to your hotel or Nile cruise

   After an hour on the river the felucca returns to the bank, and the car takes you back to your hotel or boat. The felucca, the transfers, the water and all charges are already paid, so you only need some cash for tips for the boatman and your guide.

Questions about this trip