Nile and Deserts of Egypt and Sudan

An extraordinary journey for real adventurers!

Exploratory style trip with constantly changing itinerary due to the nature of the area travelled through. May well not follow brochured itinerary. Roads often just tracks crossing deserts. Staying in small villages, visiting remote archaeological sites way off beaten track. Unique journey ideal for adventurous travellers but also visits all Egypt's main highlights. Trip is highly recommended by our leaders who would bite their own hand off to lead it.

So it is a great opportunity to experience rough roads, remote deserts, few western amenities and a true expedition!

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Itinerary / Highlights

Week 1 - Cairo

Situated on the banks of the River Nile, Cairo is the largest city in Africa. There are many amazing sites to visit around this ancient city. The Egyptian Museum, which holds the fabulous Tutankhamun collection, mosques dating back to the times of Mohammed and the famous Khan-el-Khalili bazaar are just a few of the sites that Cairo has to offer. You can spend time visiting the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza and at night you can witness the famous sound and light show. Nearby is the Necropolis of Saqqara, which you can visit by horse or camelback through the desert. On our guided tour of Cairo we will visit the pyramids at Giza and Saqqara and the Egyptian Museum. the western desert route Desert travel is uniquely romantic. No matter what desert you are crossing, being in the middle of no-where, surrounded by solitude and wilderness, is a fantastic experience. It is even better when you can camp out in the desert and visit true oases. The Egyptian Western Desert has five thriving oases and on our route through the desert we will be able to visit four of these, Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga Oases. The added bonus of travelling through this desert, is that most of these oases have a long and interesting history stretching back to Pharaonic times. Bahariya oasis & white desert situated in Egypt's Great Western Desert is the smallest of the four oases in this area. It used to serve as an artery between Libya and Egypt but these days people come here to enjoy the hot springs and palm groves and to get a feel for the Western Desert. There are numerous sites of antiquities including the Temple of Alexander and various Ptolomaic tombs. We will visit the museum that houses the golden mummies. Just south of the oasis lies the White and the Black Deserts. we will spend a day exploring these as well as visiting Crystal Mountain. Dakhla oasis verdant cultivated areas and a great wall of rose-hued rock across the northern horizon make a feast for the eyes in Dakhla Oasis. Dakhla has Pharaonic, Roman and Coptic
antiquities, dunes, palm groves and hot springs to explore. We can also take the opportunity to trek out into the desert here for the day or even overnight on camels. The overnight trip is usually the favourite as we can head off into the desert on camels and camp out by hot springs for the night. The next day we will return to the oasis.

Week 2 - Luxor

Luxor (Thebes) was the ancient capital of Egypt for 500 years. We will organise a guided tour of the awe- inspiring Karnak Temple, the largest and most impressive temple in Egypt. Its history and complexity are such that a guide is essential. On the West Bank of the Nile are numerous temples and tombs for you to visit in your
free time, but we will organise a trip to the Valley of the Kings. You can either hire donkeys or cycle. The Valley holds so much history it is difficult to take it all in. It has become world famous for the fabulous finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun. In reality Tutankhamun was a short lived and not very important boy king and his tomb is tiny in comparison to those of Seti I and others. Nearby the valley is the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Tombs of the Nobles. Back on the East Bank it is worth visiting the Luxor Museum, and of course Luxor Temple. It is easy to walk around town, but why not catch one of the caleches (horse drawn carriages) which ply their trade through the dusty streets.

Aswan
Aswan is a very beautiful town. Situated on one of the most picturesque parts of the Nile in Egypt, it has stunning vistas, a great and vibrant souk and is characterized by the Nubian people. It is set just above the first Cataract where the golden sands of the Sahara stream down into the waters of the Nile. It is an ideal place to relax perhaps by taking an afternoon boat trip, finishing with drinks on the terrace of the Old Cataract Hotel. Later in the evening take a wander into the souk. The atmosphere of the Aswan souk is second to none and some excellent bargains can be had. At Aswan we can visit the Philae temples, a quarry with an unfinished obelisk, and the high dam, built to control the flow of the Nile thus creating Lake Nasser, the largest artificial lake in the world. There is also an opportunity to trek into the desert by camel to a deserted Sixth Century monastery. You may take an option to fly or drive down to Abu Simbel to visit the two magnificent temples. They were moved uphill from the rising floodwaters of Lake Nasser by an UNESCO project in the sixties. The temples of Ramses II and his wife Queen Nefertari are stunning edifices, but you should also make sure you take a trip through the incredible man-made mountain, which they are now set into.

Week 3 - Lake Nasser crossing
The crossing of Lake Nasser is certainly an experience. Do not expect a Nile River Boat, otherwise you will be sadly disappointed. An old passenger ferry plies the waters between Aswan and Wadi Halfa and it has limited comforts. However to make up for this, you will be travelling through the spectacular scenery of a harsh craggy desert landscape. The journey usually lasts seventeen hours, but it is notoriously unpredictable. Depending on
sailing routes and conditions we should past the beautiful temple of Abu Simbel.

Sudan
The friendliness of the Sudanese people is legendary in traveller circles. For a country that has experienced such bad political problems and such a long and drawn out civil war it is amazing that the local people are so welcoming. People are genuinely warm and always willing to help. This is the country where you want to brush up on your splattering of Arabic. Just a few words can open doors into chai houses, into front living rooms and into the world of Sudanese hospitality. People are genuinely curious and pleased to see outsiders.

Wadi Halfa and the Sahara
Wadi Halfa is not a place that fills the visitor with a warm and pleasant glow, it is more a place that makes you think "Oh God, why have I come here". It is very hard to get enthusiastic about the town, but then again it is only a port and an entry or exit point to the Sudan. It is where it is located that is special. Wadi Halfa is situated on the southern most tip of Lake Nasser in the Sudanese Sahara. It is the most northerly place in Sudan. It is from or to here that journeys in the Sudan often start or end. To journey in the Northern Sudan is to journey across deserts, not on tarmac routes, but off piste, finding your way through the dunes or along the plains. You will pass countless camels, making their way along the infamous '40 Day Camel Route'. These magnificent animals travel in herds of up to a thousand with just two or three herders. They come from either the western
province of Darfur, or nowadays increasingly from Omdurman and Khartoum and are on their way to the great camel market in Cairo. Sudanese camels are highly valued in Egypt. We camp out in the desert vastness and it is a strange sight to see and hear these caravans passing as we sit around our camp fire in the middle of this awesome wilderness. Occasionally a nomad will stop and join us for a meal, and the code of desert hospitality means we have a duty to feed and water anyone that asks. Our off piste desert crossing will take approximately four days.

The Kingdom of Kush
Early signs of culture in Nubia (Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt) began about 3500BC, when Egypt was in the throws of the Old Kingdom. At this time, the Nubians traded with the Egyptian kingdom. The Nubian Kushite kingdom began to become increasingly powerful and civilised and consequently the Egyptians began to feel threatened. They therefore invaded and subdued the Kushites. Between 1500 B.C. and 1100 B.C., Kush became a province of Egypt. The Egyptians controlled all the trade and the mineral wealth, in particular the gold
mines. This made Egypt the richest nation on Earth between about 1500 and 1100 B.C. The two cultures were assimilated and in reality became one. The Egyptians withdrew from Nubia about 1100 B.C. and in the vacuum a group of powerful kings arose. These pharaohs of Kush had aspirations far beyond their frontiers.One of them Pharaoh Kashta was invited by the powerful priests of Amun in Thebes to intercede on their behalf in the internal conflict with the reigning Egyptian Pharaohs. Consequently, he and his successor Piankhy, received the blessings of the priests, proceeded north, conquered and reunified the warring states
and thus began the rule of the “Black Pharaohs”. From 760BC through to 660BC the Black Pharaohs did more than rule, they reinvented Egypt with a cultural renaissance. Some of the finest treasures temples and artwork date from the period of Nubian Rule The Nubian period in Egypt is known as the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. However, their reign in Egypt was short lived as at the Zenith of their glory, the Assyrians invaded Egypt and the Nubian pharaohs fled south with their armies and court to the kingdom of Kush, from where they continue to harass the new Pharaohs of Egypt. About 593 B.C., the Egyptian pharaoh, Psamtik II, had had enough of the Kush kings claiming his throne and he invaded Nubia with Egyptian troops, Greek mercenaries, and a fleet of ships. During this invasion, temples and towns were destroyed and the Nubians butchered but the kingdom of Kush was by no means finished. The invasion was the last successful incursion by Egypt into the kingdom of Kush. Ironically, while Egypt was to endure successive invasions from Persia, Macedonia and finally by Rome, the Kingdom of Kush continued to flourish under an unbroken line of kings until the fourth century A.D.

Wadi Halfa to and from Abri
The road between Abri and Wadi Halfa heads inland from the Nile along a rough piste through rocky terrain. We are well away from civilisation and you will see few other travellers on this section of the journey.

The Northern Kushite Temples
From Aswan in the north, through to Karima in the south, there is a succession of ruined temples along the River Nile. As you would imagine with such a long history of civilisation these date back to many different periods of Kushite and Egyptian history. Many are in a poor state of repair, but some are classics. They are often very inaccessible and we will not guarantee visiting any particular temple. However we will try to visit one or more of the following, the Temple of Sulb, the Temple of Kawa near Dongola and the Pyramids and Temple
complex on top of Jebel Barkal near the town of Merowe (as opposed to Meroe which is near Atbara). This portion of the trip is really quite rugged. We will be travelling through the desert sands, following the Nile as it cuts through vast fields of sand dunes. Along the Nile small villages and towns cling to a narrow belt of cultivation. Trade routes through the area date back to the ancient times, but the roads are mere sandy tracks,
often difficult to find and always a struggle to get through. You will be expected to help sand mat the vehicles and to be part of this expedition. We need no passengers here, but people who are prepared to get stuck in
to achieve their goal, the exploration of the relics of the Kushite kingdom and the Nile Valley of Northern Sudan
temple of sulb dongola and abri. The road between Abri and Dongola heads along the River Nile. Oases punctuate the beauty of the desert. Date palms line the shoreline and the traditional plain white houses are all dotted with coloured Nubian doorways. Our route takes us from village to village through deep-sanded tracks.
Across the river opposite the small village of Wawa, lies the remains of the temple of Sulb. The temple is pretty spectacular and very much in the Egyptian style. We take a half hour boat trip by small boat along and across the Nile in stunning scenery. It is the positioning and the remoteness of these sites along the Nile that make them interesting. We usually stay with a local family in the village of Wawa for a night.

Kerma Discovery
In 2002, Charles Bonnet, an archaeologist with the University of Geneva in Switzerland, made a remarkable discovery. In a pit near Kerma, south of the Third Cataract, they found seven stunning statues from the ancient Kushite kingdom. The statues are literally masterpieces and are representations of King Taharqa, the
most celebrated Nubian king to rule Egypt. The seven statues have the names of five of Nubia's kings: Taharqa, Tanoutamon, Senkamanisken, Anlamani, and Aspelta and are up to 2.7 metres high. These statues
were obviously thrown into the pit by the Egyptian armies during the invasion of Kush in 593 B.C., by Psamtik II.
Depending on the current state of play at the site, when we are in the area, we may try to visit, to see if there is anything of interest at that time. To date we have not been able to organise this.

Jebel Bakul
Jebel Barkal was one of the earliest capitals and spiritual centres of Kush. The allpowerful Pharaoh Ramses II constructed a temple to the Theban god Amun here in the 13th century B.C. Six hundred years later, the great Nubian pharaoh, King Taharqa, had the mountain's peak covered in gold during his reign in the 7th century B.C. A monument remains to him with his name inscribed on it. The area has numerous sites including
some great tombs and pyramids at El Kurru, just south of Jebel Barkal. These contain the tomb of the famous Kashta and his son Piye (Piankhi) (the conquerors of Egypt), five earlier generations, together with Piye's
successors Shabako, Shabatko and Tanutamun, and fourteen pyramids of the queens. The Pyramids at nearby Nuri contain contained 21 kings, together with 52 queens and princes. Taharqa, the penultimate king of the 25th Dynasty was the first king to build his tomb at Nuri, and it is the biggest pyramid ever built at the site.
These pyramids are on the opposite bank of the river from Jebel Barkal and are much larger than the earlier pyramids at el-Kurra, reaching heights of 20-30m. However they are in pretty poor condition and probably
only warrant a short stop. There are some excellent views of the pyramids if you have the energy to climb to
the top of Jebel Barkul.

Week 4 - Southern Kushite Sites
Perhaps the most splendid of all the Kushite temples and pyramids are those at Meroe, Naqa and Musawwarat. The pyramids at Meroe are the most impressive in Nubia and the site is very well preserved and
restored. By the fourth century BC, the Kushite kings had moved south down the Nile and set up the royal city in and around Meroe. The southern culture gradually prevailed over Egyptian culture and the area became a powerful centre of trade between the north and the south. The site of Meroe was home to a large population
supported by advanced irrigation and a centralised political system. This was high culture, and the area was in its zenith. Roman baths, royal palaces, pyramids and temples, all tell the tale of an advanced Egyptian style civilisation. Today the site is virtually unvisited. Scattered across the sands of the desert are numerous steep
pyramids with entrance pylons. The guardian of this Nubian site has been there since 1977 and has probably seen every visitor who has passed through since then. While the mainstream tourists flock to the Egyptian ruins to our north, we have this remarkable site to ourselves. A few travellers and one or two tour groups a
year will come here. South of the site at Meroe are two more sites which we will try to visit, the Lion Temple at Naqa and the palace at Musawwarat es-Sufra. Both sites are unique, difficult to get to but well worth a visit.

Khartoum
Khartoum cannot be described as a tourist attraction. In fact few tourists visit Khartoum, but it does have attributes that make it attractive to travellers. If you can bare the heat and the dust then Khartoum is a place to explore. The city is really three cities, the colonial city of the British and General Gordon on one side of the river and the sprawling settlements of Omdurman on the other. Here you find one of Africa's most interesting markets and on a Friday we will visit the spectacle of the Whirling Dervishes. This is unique to Sudan. Here
the Sufi "whirling dervishes" dressed in the traditional patchwork clothes favoured by the followers of the Mahdi and his successor the Khalifa, dance themselves into a passion of religious frenzy. Some collapse, others take on a trance like euphoria as their feet pound the dusty floor of the Omdurman market square. The crowd builds up in the afternoon to witness this amazing spectacle. It is worth spending a few hours exploring the market here. (Please note the dervishes do not whirl during the months of Ramadan). For the souvenir hunters you can get some excellent Beja Ben Amer tribal swords. The Beja people were immortalised in the poem "Fuzzy-Wuzzy" by Rudyard Kipling, and their weaponry and horse and camel equipment can still be openly purchased in the market. Indeed these tribal people are easy to spot. Very tall, distinguished looking, with the tell tale hair (from which they get their name) and traditional swords slung over the shoulder. Their ancestors played a major role in the Dervish uprisings in the 19th century and suffered terrible losses at the battle of Omdurman. The best place to find out more about this period of Sudanese history is in the Khalifa Museum in Omdurman, near the Mahdi's tomb.

Other Details

Accommodation Details

Many wildcamps, some campsites and hotels. (60% camping, 40% hotels)