Felucca Up North

a Felluca on the Nile

Lush cruise boats sail up and down the Nile from US$150 - US$400 per person per day. Well, when there is tourists, but certainly not in today's troubled times. An alternative to this is to take a traditional Falucca.

deluxe cruise-ships

death on the Nile

It’s a somewhat eclectic band of passengers that includes Elizabeth, a 50 something Cultural Studies teacher from Dresden, now living in Michigan; Caspar – ex-Marine from Minnisota who fought frontline in Afganistan and Iraq, now a masseuse on a spiritual journey following a dream, and Yours Truly, an eccentric, middle aged unemployed person with no fixed abode.



Milan, my intriguing Czech farmer, philosopher and friend who has travelled with me since Abri (Sudan) has opted for the train up to Luxor, Eliabeth has checked out boats and prices and needs another traveller to split costs, and she manages to coherse both Caspar and myself.

Ironically, i get a call from Elizabeth on departure morning saying she is as sick as a vomiting parrot and is in no fit state to travel, but i offer her both medicine and nurturing and she agrees to meet at her guest house on Elaphantine Island.

Our Fulucca – the King Barbee is spick and span, with a flat deck covered bu mattresses and a tarpaulin overhead. It measures 10 metres 80cms and is now just used for tourism, with most goods now coming via sealed road or trainline.

Our crew include the amicable and smiley Captain Mustafa, 2nd Mate Karim and Cook Felix who apeakks some English but fairly shy.

Captain Mustafa and Karim

With no-one staying at Baba Dools’s on Elaphantine island, Elizabeth has no medication and is across the river for the shops. , so i can offer to pass her some of Gloves’ useful medical left-over’s including rehydration salts and pain-killers.

The felucca arrives late, and we can’t see Elizabeth on the opposite key. Eventually we just set sail to her guest house, by which time she is up on her feet and all packed ready to join. Rehydration salts might taste like a rat’s scrotum but they certainly do the trick.

By the time we eventually begin heading downstream, it’s already 2pm. We might be flowing with the current, but the wind always blows south and we are forced to tack the mighty Nile’s breadth.

The accompanying music from Captain Mustafa’s player is pretty eclectic, including Tori Amos, Bob Marley. Shakira, some Egyptian crooners, Spanish rap and “I’m a Barbie Doll”. It grates on the ear and soul, but our crew seem to enjoy it all.

I share a smoke with 2nd Mate, Karim, a young Nubian clearly disturbed by the ousting of Mobarak. Both amazed and devastated he reckons that history will view him as one of the greatest Egyptian presidents.

Elizabeth is on a four month sabbatical tour of Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and Israel, and although she claims to be a generalist, she is able to share plenty of interesting stuff on Ancient Egypt and points out Nile-o metres on the riverbank used by the Pharaohs to “predict” floods.

It’s all pretty laid-back, but at the end of the day we haven’t got very far before the sunset arrives and we dock for the night next to a sandy beach.

It’s pretty cold, and before long i’m in my thermals and after a shared dinner and dominoes (our Captain is an expert) i retire under three heavy blankets to the sound of lapping water and mosquitoes.

The wind drops entirely the next day so all we can do is leisurely drift northwards. By the time we arrive in Daraw it’s 2pm and we are too late to see any action at the camel market. Nonetheless we are invited by two small boys into their back yard where they boast several Ships of the Desert themselves. It’s all a bit eugghh and i’m pleased when we can head onto the Kom Ombo temple.



We camp down river and fortunately the night is a little warmer. Caspar picks up some camel meat at the market and Felix is happy to cook it up for us. It tastes like gamey beef.

our 2nd sunset

After breakfast we catch a micro-bus on to Edfu for E£4 each and arrive just over an hour later.

With either an overprised hotel or the miserable and grotty Frdows Balce we opt to head on to Luxor for just E£6.

The Felucca has been most enjoyable and although we didn’t travel far, it provides a peaceful getway and an interesting option for onward travel. We each pay E£100 per night and provide our own food, although i am sure you can haggle far more than we did.

passing the mosque departing Aswan

tourist villages sit empty on the bank of the Nile