In this safari you will actually trek into the heart of the desert on camel and by foot. You will visit some of the awesome Sinai canyons and spend time with a Bedouin tribe, learning about their techniques of survival in this harsh desert environment. We will also take you to some of the ancient bi
Day 1: Arrival at Sharm el-Sheikh (or Taba) airport
On Arrival you will be picked up and transferred to Dahab situated approximately 100km north of Sharm. In Dahab, you will check into Coral Coast Hotel, on the northern side of Dahab's seafront. Coral Coast Hotel is designed with a Bedouin ambience, offering clean rooms with en suite bathrooms, balconies and fantastic sea-views. Coral Coast Hotel is Bedouin owned and employs a nearly all Bedouin and Egyptian staff.
Coral Coast Hotel in Dahab
Camel waiting patiently to be loaded
Day 2-5 : Camel safari after Introduction to Bedouin guides
On your second day, you will be introduced to Embah Safaris, a unique team with almost 20 yrs of safari experience within the Sinai area. Embah successfully combine a complete understanding of Western needs with Eastern knowledge and culture. You will be transferred by jeep to the starting point of your camel safari, where you will meet your Bedouin guides with their camels waiting patiently to be loaded.
The next few days you will experience the desert in its most natural form, travelling in the ancient traditional way either by camel or on foot. The steady rocking progress of a camel ride can be very therapeutic, allowing you to relax and watch the landscape open up around you. It is difficult to judge distances across the vast plateaus and wadis (dry river beds) that cross them. The softer sandstone rocks are worn into wavelike patterns by the constant battering of wind and sand. This produces unlikely shapes, which rise from the desert floor long before you reach them and change as you pass them by.
Along the way, you will visit many incredible natural features including the White and Narrow Canyons, the Frozen Dinosaur and the Great Dunes.
White Canyon
Entrance to the White Canyon
Camel riding through the Sinai desert
You will always be accompanied by local Bedouins and their essential desert skills - only those who live here know how to find the shade, firewood and water needed to survive. You will learn how the hardy shrubs that survive here can be utilised for food or medicine, bake flat bread on open fires and spend some time with the Bedouin families located at the eco-lodge, who continue to live a traditional life-style.
Bedouin lunch along the way in the desert Some of the gorgeous food prepared in the desert
Once in the solitude of the deep desert the silence becomes intense. Sitting amongst the changing colours of the rocks of the desert as the sun sets, without a sound to be heard, it is easy to see why so many people have chosen the desert as a place of retreat. Meanwhile, your Bedouin guides will erect the Bedouin tents - with carpets and sleeping mats on the ground – in perfectly chosen locations (including 1 night at the eco-lodge) and prepare wholesome meals. Camping underneath the stars in the clear desert skies can be an even more fulfilling experience. Star constellations and the Milky Way emerge as the sky darkens and the bright streaks of shooting stars are often glimpsed by the patient stargazer.
View from Mount Matamir
St Catherine's Monastery
Day 6 : Transfer St. Catherine’s Monastery
On this day, a jeep will pick you up from the eco-lodge and transfer you to St. Catherine’s Monastery, set beneath Mount Sinai, where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments and the site of the biblical Burning Bush. This area is the roof of the Sinai, where rocky peaks reach over 2500m and even snow falls in winter. In the middle of the desert, St Catherine’s Protectorate offers a surprising ecosystem with many freshwater pools and even some streams! We avoid the overused paths up Mount Sinai and therefore take you to up a more challenging trail with superior views across the Sinai, e.g. Gebel Katherine. You will be staying the night camping in St Catherine’s area and at the end of day 7 return to Dahab by jeep.
Day 7 : Transfer and return to Sharm airport
After a good night’s rest in Coral Coast Hotel, this last day can be spent in whatever fashion you like. Whether it is just relaxing in one of Dahab’s many Bedouin style restaurants, shopping in its bazaar or walking along the beach, one thing is for sure, the Sinai and its people will leave an everlasting impression.
Transfer and return to Sharm airport.
