Sail Down The Nile On A Dahabiya Boat, Elaine Wilson, travel blogger, recounts a memorable trip down the Nile in Egypt aboard our traditional Dahabiya boat “The Orient”.

“The smaller Dahabiya can moor in places where the large cruise ships can’t go, so we got to stop and see lots of interesting but less accessible local sites along the route.”

Sailing down the Nile in Egypt has always been on my ‘to do’ list
When I finally got the chance to tick it off that list, it easily lived up to my expectations. Egypt is struggling for tourists right now and I was happy to work with Djed Egypt Travel and get on board one of their beautiful Dahabiya Boats to sail up the Nile from Esna to Aswan. These graceful boats are built by local craftsmen in Esna following the design of the original 19th-century vessels. They have delightful cabins (with air con) with antique furniture, en suite bathrooms and a view to die for.

A living picture
These boats only take up to a dozen passengers and so it is a very personal experience. It’s nice to have some fellow passengers to chat with up on deck while watching the banks of the Nile glide by. It looks like scenes from the story of Moses. Palm trees, small villages, donkeys, boys, boys on donkeys, water buffalo, and always the cool green, river, glittering in the sunlight. Dahabiya means ‘the golden one’ in Arabic. We were traveling on the Orient, a wooden vessel with two large sails, one at either end.

Dining on the Nile
Our ship’s crew were a real asset. Our captain Mr. Nubi was said to be the oldest man on the Nile at 78, still sailing and cracking jokes with the crew. The chef conjured up three delicious meals a day with super fresh local ingredients in his galley kitchen on board. We even had tea at 4pm on deck with scrumptious homemade cakes. The food was lots of salads, grains and fresh vegetables – tomatoes and cucumbers taste so much nicer when grown in the Egyptian heat. Homemade bread was served with some chicken, duck or fish from the river in the evenings. The beef stew was particularly tasty. […]  Read the original article here Sail Down The Nile On A Dahabiya Boat