I had breakfast with Erich and Ulla. We were going our separate ways today; their Land Cruiser had arrived and will be ready for use today. I picked their brains on various parts of Africa. They talked about Chad and how they had seen some canyons with water there; I thought for a moment that they saw some Kenyans with water (perhaps in pots on their heads) while in Chad.
After breakfast, we bade each other farewell. I packed and rested and walked to the felucca after 1100. Naturally, having been in Egypt before, I expected some trick or surprise from Ziggy the felucca man.
The surprise was that there was no Canadian guy; he left 30 minutes before because he wanted to do a longer trip. Yeah, sure! This is Egypt! The good thing is that my price was unchanged at EGP400 for a 3d/2n trip to Kom Ombo. This is inline with the guidebook’s minimum rate at halfshare.
Lunch was prepared by Ahmad, the elderly second crew member, just before midday and we set off soon afte. We zigzagged down the Nile. As we got away from the city, it was very relaxing and quiet. The solitude was only broken by the odd cruiseliner passing, or the sound of cows and donkeys.
The patron saint of the boat must have been Bob Marley as there was a flag of him on the bow and also on top of the mast.
It didn’t take long before Ziggy offered to upsell the deal to take me to Edfu during the same cruise duration. This would be achieved with extra sailing time during the night. What he was offering was my original plan and it became a question of price. What I had already was ridiculously cheap as it was halfshare with a non-existent Canadian. After some deliberation, I agreed to a price which was still below the minimum in the guidebook.
After dinner, Ahmad left for home. With Ahmad out of the picture, Ziggy started suggestions of sexual favours. That was high uncomfortable and fortunately it didn’t go beyond just talk.
This isn’t the first time, something of this nature had happened on a felucca. Twenty two years ago, just on a short felucca ride in Luxor, the boatman Khalid exposed himself to me and my companion then played with himself! While uncomfortable as well, there was no suggestion of audience participation so we didn’t feel threatened.
Later, Ziggy let the boat loose and we drifted down river for several hours until about 0200. I needed blankets but it wasn’t as cold as in Dongola or Wadi Halfa.
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- With next to no tourists, many cruisers are idle.
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- Patron saint of my felucca is Bob Marley.
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- Scene along the banks of the Nile from my felucca.
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- This was the cruiser which I was nearly booked on.
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- A dahabiyya is a recreated old boat; it looks nice but it is towed by a noisy tug since it doesn’t have it’s own propulsion.
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- Ziggy with his friends who were on the bank as we passed by; we stopped for a cuppa.
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- Scene along the banks of the Nile from my felucca.
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- With only one paying passenger, the felucca is like a floating bed. The ultimate in relaxation.
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- Ahmad cooking dinner under the bed with two gas burners.
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- Ahmad putting the sail away for the night. Not bad for a 63 year old.
