Gifts of the Nile

April 9 - April 10 2026

Cairo, Egypt

Aswan, Egypt

Abu Simble

We arrived by commercial airline in Cairo, having left Petra, Jordan before sunrise. Our tour was not able to get approved airspace in the region for a charter flight as was planned. The results of the war in the Middle East have an impact on our schedule as well as the advantage of so few competing tourists at very popular venues. On from Cairo, we flew to Aswan in a charter plane.

Before we left Petra, we were treated to head scarves and a lavish feast with entertainment among the rocks and ruins.

A small but intrepid tour group, all Americans and two Canadians, with our Jordanian guide, coach driver and guard. My silk scarf only allowed me the Princess style

Flying from Cairo to Aswan to arrive at the famous Old Cataract Hotel on the Nile was a reward for a very long travel day. Known as the place Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile and set some of the story on this place. Prominent guests ranging from Princess Diana, Winston Churchill and Omar Sharif photos are on the walls. The lovely setting on the Nile overlooking a diorama of ancient sandstone ruins with pretty boats floating by and palm trees and grassy grounds. The interiors are recognizable as a 19th century Victorian Palace on the Nile.

• Abu Simbel was a short plane ride away from Aswan. Consisting of two massive rock-cut temples near the Sudanese border, the Pharaoh Rammesess II commissioned the jaw-dropping temples, one in honor of his favorite wife, Nefertarti. Incredibly, the two temples were actually moved from the original sites after the Aswan High Dam created Lake Nasser would have flooded the structures. Inside the walls are covered with hieroglyphics.

A monument to the workers who built the massive Aswan Dam which produces hydropower electricity and flood management. The resulting gigantic lake is 300 miles long and extends into neighboring Sudan.