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A Felucca Experience
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What an afternoon! Before lunch at one of the restaurants on the Nile side of the Corniche, we were again approached and hassled by felucca captains who are always on the look out for a fare. Although David never got used to this way of doing business, I had grown more accustomed to it and was in the mood for a long felucca ride. Although David went back to the hotel as he was suffering from a common tourist affliction, I was ready to go sailing. My captain was named Ali and his felucca the Zam Zam.
Ali asked me if I would like to visit a Nubian village, which of course I did. I though he meant the village on Elephantine Island, but instead we headed for the West Bank, near the Tombs of the Nobles. As we sailed along we passed several feluccas filled with tourists, including one with eight life-jacketed passengers. We exchanged looks across the Nile. They obviously though I was as demented as I thought them. After all, life jackets in the Nile!
Upon landing and disembarking by climbing over another boat, I was alone on the shore. Except for the myriads of souvenir salesmen at the top of the bank, I was a lone woman tourist. A nearby French tour group eyed me suspiciously and I felt obliged to strike out courageously and explore. An emaciated water buffalo was much friendlier than the French and warranted a photo.
Although there seemed to be no one about in the village, I turned around when a voice unexpected asked if I were with a group. A Nubian lady sitting outside her house while her son played nearby was calling me to ask if I would like to come inside for tea. I did not hesitate to say yes.
Inside her simple but colourful house, I met an older woman who may have been her mother or mother-in-law. As they spoke no English except for the few words I had already heard and I spoke no Arabic, we could not talk. The room itself was lined with beds which also served as sofas during the day and a vast array of kitchen and other gear stacked to the ceiling. The hibiscus tea, "karkady" was delicious and our entertainment was an Egyptian soap opera on the television set which was obviously an item of central importance in the home. Although I could not understand this either, the setting seemed to be Cairo and the action similar to soap operas elsewhere.
I greatly enjoyed this instance of Nubian hospitality although I knew that baksheesh was expected, this did not lessen the delight I felt at an unexpected moment of cultural sharing.
After leaving the house I continued on to a point from which you can start climbing up to the Tombs of the Nobles. As exploring the tombs was something I would have liked to do with David, I did not go up but continued to where my felucca was. Alas, I could not find the captain. After walking up and down for at least 15 minutes and having come to the decision that in a few more I would make my way to the public ferry and return to Aswan on my own, a man appeared and asked me if I was a tourist. I acknowledge the obvious and he asked me where my felucca was. Explaining that I could not find the captain, I pointed to it. He laughed and called to Ali, who got up from the bottom of the boat where he had been having a little nap. Ali told me that he had been worried that I was so long in the village. Perhaps that was why he needed a little rest.
The mystery of the missing captain solved, we then continued our journey by sailing to Kitchener's Island. This is the famous botanical garden which Lord Kitchener made on the island which was presented to him after his service in the Sudan. He imported plants from around the world to form this delightful garden which is now a tourist attraction in Aswan.
The garden was almost deserted this afternoon, which made it even more of a delight to walk there and admire the beautiful plants, the many birds to be found there and quite a few cats. As I was walking through a policeman (or guard) pointed out a special tree and offered to take my picture. He then put a red flower in my hair for the photo. Although I knew this was another baksheesh moment, I was very pleased with the thought of a souvenir photo. Unfortunately he did not hold the camera steady and the picture might well be entitled "Tree during earthquake."
We then sailed around Elephantine Island and tacked back and forth to reach the part of the shore where the Zam Zam ties up. As the wind was very strong, Ali needed to tie up the sail and me to hold the rudder and follow his instructions. Although you cannot call this steering the boat and his instructions were quite easy to follow, I did wonder a bit as the felucca floated close to a cruise boat. However, we were soon tied up and Ali was paid for his afternoon of sailing a lone passenger on the Nile. What an exhilarating experience!
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| 8. | A Felucca Experience - Aswan, Egypt Feb 02, 2005 (  3 ) |
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