November 9th, 2006 Aswan – Nile River,

November 9th, 2006
Aswan – Nile River

Last night I feel asleep quite early (20:30). Thus, I woke up at about 6:30 and was ready to go! We packed up our things and headed down to breakfast. Breakfast consisted of bread, cheese, and a hardboiled egg (which I no longer eat because I am sick of them).

At 10:00 we met up with the rest of the group in the hotel lobby. Once everyone was ready we made our way to Aswan harbor. It was a very short walk (just across the street) and our captain and first mate immediately greeted us. They showed us their boat and told us the plan for the next few days. The felucca is a 30-40 foot sailboat with a cushioned center (where passengers chill out and sleep).

Once introductions/orientations were complete we set sail! Though we were heading downstream (north), we had to tack back and forth to deal with a very strong headwind. I was surprised by the strength of the wind and its ability to cool things down. When not in the sun it was cold on the felucca.

At 1:00 we stopped on the banks of the Nile for lunch (all meals on the boat are vegetarians). Though there was no meat in the food, I found it quite tasty. After lunch I decided it was time to go swimming. I jumped off the side of the boat and into the river. While cold at first, the water was pleasant after a few minutes. I was quickly joined in the water by many of the other passengers.


I spent the rest of the afternoon drinking local beer as we sailed down the river. At 17:00 the sun began to set and we pulled to shore for the evening. Shortly thereafter we had a good vegetarian dinner. Once we were finished eating Dan (our guide) and the crew started a fire on the banks of the river. We sang, danced, and ran around the flames.

At 21:00 everyone started to wind down and we made our way to bed. Thankfully, a mosquito net was draped over our sleeping area to prevent us from getting eaten alive. Everyone crawled into his or her sleeping bags and we were all surprised by how cold it got in the evening. We fell asleep sprawled across all over the cushioned deck of the felucca.