Mountain and Desert Safaris

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 Cultural tours and adventure holidays in Sinai with Wilderness Ventures Egypt

 

Together with Wilderness Ventures Egypt we can arrange mountain and desert adventures for those who are intrepid enough to make the jump from sea to land -- after all, fish managed it 350 million years ago!

 

 

Activities:

Trek in the Sinai Mountains
Sinai has some of the best trekking in the world with high peaks, beautiful wadis, gullies, springs and Bedouin gardens where you can grab a fig or crack a nut and spend the night. Camels carry all the gear. All you need to sling over your shoulder is a day pack.

Learn to ride camels
We run the only serious camel school in Sinai where you can learn to handle camels with trained Bedouin teachers. We keep a ratio of one teacher to every two pupils, which allows full supervision and a good relationship to develop between you and the Bedouin.


Discover the deserts on camelback
Once you can handle camels, you can take a camel safari where everyone is mounted and moving quickly across the desert. This is in contrast to the traditional camel safari where the camels are used as pack animals with the tourists and Bedouin plodding along on the ground.

Explore Mt. Sinai
Don’t join the usual commercial walk up the camel track at night. Take the day to explore the mountain and discover hermit cells and the remains of early monastic settlements. Sleep the night in a Bedouin tent and then join the pilgrims on the summit for sunrise.

Learn about St . Catherine’s Monastery
Take a guided tour round the monastery and view the icon gallery which is ignored by everyone else. It’s a wonderful museum with the oldest icons in Christendom and ancient manuscripts in Old Church Slavonic, Georgian and Syriac as well as Greek and Latin.

Discover Bedouin gardens and herbal remedies
The Bedouin cultivate fabulous gardens where you can feast of the fruit and nuts and have traditional Bedouin meals of goat’s cheese, olives, herbal dips and bread from the fire. They can also explain the medicinal uses of the herbs that grow in the profusion.



Gaze at the stars
As well as fine coral seas, Sinai has the best night skies this side of the Hubble Telescope. Our resident astronomer can explain the stars and the Zodiac and show you the planets, distant nebulae and galaxies with an 8” Meade Telescope. The observatory is installed at the Camel School

 

Tours:

Other programmes of any length can be arranged on request

2 days tour: Mt. Sinai and the Bedouin gardens
A good introduction to Mt Sinai and the surrounding landscape. You can explore Mt Sinai, visit the monastery and spend time in the Bedouin gardens where you can learn about the medicinal herbs and feast off the fruit and nuts and have a traditional Bedouin meal

2 days tour: Camel riding school and camel trek
It takes a day to master the basic skills required to ride camels independently. It takes another day to build up confidence on a camel trek. One camel teacher is assigned to every two pupils for the lessons and the trek. Everyone will be mounted. There is also an opportunity to study stars at the Camel School where our observatory is installed.

3 days tour: Hiking around Jebel Katrine
An opportunity to discover the High Mountains and climb the highest peak in Egypt. Overnights are spent in the Bedouin gardens. Pack camels will carry all the gear.

6 days tour: Sinai mountains, deserts, stars and gardens
Over a week you can climb Mt Sinai by the old pilgrimage trails and explore ancient Byzantine sites then head off into the High Mountains and spend the nights in Bedouin gardens. You can also learn how to ride camels and explore the desert on camel back while discovering the stars in the evening.