Aswan & the Upper Nile
Long before the cruise ships and the steamers, the Nile was crossed under sail, and it still is. The felucca is the small wooden boat you see leaning into the breeze all along the river, its single tall mast carrying a wide, triangular lateen sail that the Nile has known for thousands of years. There is no engine and no schedule, just the wind, the current and a captain who has read this water his whole life. For many travelers, an hour or two aboard one of these boats is the quiet highlight of the whole trip.
What makes a felucca special is the pace. The river slips by slowly, the sail cracks gently overhead, and the noise of the towns falls away until all you can hear is the water against the hull. You stretch out on the cushions, trail a hand in the cool of the Nile, and watch the riverbank life drift past: a farmer leading his donkey home, white egrets lifting off the reeds, children waving from a sandy shore. It is the kind of unhurried hour that you came to Egypt for without quite knowing it.
The sailing is at its finest around Aswan, where the Nile is at its most beautiful: wide and clear, scattered with smooth granite islands and fringed with the palms and bright houses of the Nubian villages. We love to set you out in the late afternoon, when the heat has softened and the light turns the water to gold, so the sail carries you right into the sunset. Whether it is a single golden hour or a multi-day voyage sleeping aboard under the stars, this is travel on the Nile at its most timeless.
