Topdeck Travel Blog

27. Spend a night in the Sahara

Picture this - endless amber vistas, Berber villages that ooze charm from every aged corner and roaring camp fires beneath glittering Saharan stars. Welcome to number 27 on our hotlist; spending a night in the Sahara.

The Sahara Desert is the world’s hottest dessert and is rather phenomenal, fact. Covering a whopping 9,400,000 square kilometres and covering most of North Africa, this African gem rivals the U-S of A and China in size! Its sandy savannahs are home to a heck of a lot of camels (every nomad’s vehicle of choice), addaxes (large white antelopes which alarmingly can survive a whole year in the desert without drinking!), African Wild Dog (not to be messed with) as well a whole host of spikey scrubs and Acacia trees.

This natural wonder is also home to the oh-so-friendly Berber folk who are the ethnic group indigenous to North Africa (west of the Nile Valley). These guys will undoubtedly welcome you proudly to their beloved Morocco and might even invite you round for a tagine and a round of mint tea if you’re lucky! Traditionally, the Berber men take care of livestock and focus their efforts on grazing cattle, creating shelter and producing an abundance of wool, cotton and plants which are used for dyeing and producing goods. The women on the other hand look after their family and handicrafts - first for their personal use, and secondly for sale in the local souks. The Berber life is a refreshingly simple one and will definitely open your eyes to their fascinating culture.

Famously in 1978, a year after a certain French motorcycle racer (Thierry Sabine) got lost in the depths of the desert and decided a year later that the Sahara would be a perfect spot to host a rally raid type of off-road race. Thierry’s crazy idea then morphed into the ‘Paris-Dakar’ rally that originally ran from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal. However nowadays, due to politics the mammoth rally (now known as ‘The Dakar’) has varied over the years and the 2013 rally went from Lima, Peru to Santiago, Chile.

Get yourself face to face with the Saharan way of life and make some Berber buddies along the road too on our 8 day Sahara Adventure. On this whirlwind Moroccan trip you’ll ski the sandy slopes of the immense Chegaga sand dunes,  dine under a sparkling symphony of stars at a desert camp where you’ll rest up in traditional Berber tents, visit Ouarzazate (also known as ‘Hollywood in the desert’) and follow in the tracks of the original Paris-Dakar Rally.

Well that’s the Sahara in a nutshell, so all that’s left to say, in the words of The Clash…is…rock the Kasbah!

Topdeck Top Tip: Don’t even think about venturing the Saharan alone, there is an extremely high chance you could vanish permanently.

Want to get up close with the legendary Sahara?

Tick this natural beauty off of your bucket-list and book onto Topdeck’s 8 day Sahara Adventure https://www.topdeck.travel/tours/sahara-adventure

From riding camels and drinking tea with the locals in a Nubian village, Kara now uncovers the secrets of ancient Egypt with Topdeck Travel.

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Our day began well before sunrise.

I won’t tell you how early for fear of scaring you off, but with strict visiting hours in place at Abu Simbel we had no choice but to stumble with heavy eyes onto the bus.

Great Temple of Ramesse II, Abu Simbel. Photo/K.Segedin

As soon as my bum hit my seat I was fast asleep. When I awoke we had arrived at our meeting point where dozens of coaches met to pick up their armed guards before joining the convoy to Abu Simbel near the Nubian boarder with Sudan.

After tucking into our packed breakfast boxes there was time for a little more beauty sleep before we arrived at our destination.

Abu Simbel is home to two of the most well-known ancient temples in Egypt. Built by Ramesses II to show the strength of his kingdom to the Nubian people, they are a must-see for any visitor to the country.

Walking down a curved path around the side of a steep hill, the Great Temple of Ramesse II gradually came into view.

Breathtaking is an expression used a lot in describing travel hotspots, but there really is no better word for it.

Four 20m high statues of the pharaoh decorate the outside of the temple towering over the flocks of people below.

Temple to Nefertari, Abu Simbel. Photo/K.Segedin

A short walk from the main temple is the smaller temple dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Ramesses II’s chief consort, Nefertari. Surrounding the entrance are six 10m high statues of the king and his queen.

You’re free to wander through the inside of the two temples (no photos though!) where you could easily spend hours taking in all the ornate wall paintings and carvings.

It was early morning and already the temperature was climbing well into the 20s. Thankfully a refreshing cool breeze blew in off the Aswan Dam.

The still blue waters of the dam are a reminder that today the temples are actually 65m above their original location.

In the 1960s, 50 countries worked tirelessly to dismantle then rebuild Abu Simbel piece by piece to make way for the new dam.

I don’t know how long we spent taking photos, but by the end of the visit we each had hundreds of pictures on our cameras.

After heading back to the boat we took a tour of the nearby Kom Ombo temple.

Detailed carvings at Kom Ombo temple. Photo/K.Segedin

Right on the banks of the Nile, Kom Ombo is unique in terms of Egyptian temples because it’s essential two separate ones stuck together. The southern half is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world while the northern part to the falcon god Haroeris.

One wall that grabbed my attention was covered pictures and hieroglyphs describing ancient Egyptian medical practices including some rather detailed ones depicting childbirth in the ancient world – ouch!

By mid-afternoon we were back relaxing onboard and sailing up the Nile towards Edfu and Luxor – this is the life!

Brightly colour original paint still covers the temple at Kom Ombo. Photo/K.Segedin

After watching the sunset from the comforts of the ship deck, we settled in for a dip in the hot pool – perfect with the cool night breeze blowing from the Nile – and a couple of drinks with our group and Trip Leader.

This really is the best way to see Egypt!

Visit Egypt on one of Topdeck’s many trips including Budget and Nile Cruising options. Kara travelled on the 8 day Nile Discovery.

After two crazy days in Cairo, Kara’s Egyptian adventure with Topdeck Travel heads south to the city of Aswan.

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I’m not going to lie. Our overnight journey by coach from Cairo to Aswan was a little rough.

Thanks to the reclining chairs and my neck pillow I managed to get a few hours of shut eye, but I would compare it trying to sleep on an aeroplane – you either can or you can’t.

We were woken up around 7am and rubbing our tired eyes we were greeted by a lush green landscape so far removed from the dusty city of Cairo.

The whole group looked a little jaded, but salvation came in the form of delicious, fresh, homemade falafels and pitas our Trip Leader Rafik arranged for our breakfast – I have never eaten a better, or more appreciated, falafel in my life!

Feeling much more refreshed, we were back on the coach making our way to our home for the next three nights – our 5 star cruise boat.

I really didn’t know what to expect.

Five star is one thing, but in Egypt it could mean something different all together – how wrong was I!

Relaxing poolside on our Nile Cruise

Our boat was modern, clean and comfortable complete with a deck-top pool and bar. Flopping down on the bed I knew I would sleep like a log that night.

After a few hours of relaxing and exploring the boat, those of us who signed up for the optional trip to Philae Temple headed out for our excursion.

It was hard to leave the oh-so comfy cabin after such an early morning, but it was definitely worth it.

We were greeted by our guide for the day, a jolly, enthusiastic chap by the name of Nubi. On the boat ride over to the island, Nubi gave us a concise and lively history of the site.

The island temple of Philae was built to the goddess Isis by the ruling Greeks as a way of winning over the Egyptian people.

Detailed carvings cover Philae Temple

In the 1960s, the temple was moved piece by piece from its original location to Agilkia Island to avoid rising waters after the construction of Aswan Dam.

Beautifully intact, its island location only makes the temple more appealing.

After our first taste of an ancient temple we meet up with the rest of our group for a felucca ride past the Elephantine and Kitchener Islands.

Now came one of the activities I was most wary of and excited about at the same time – the camel ride.

I’d heard varied reports of how scary, smelly and fast the camels were and I can say none of them were true. Okay, they may have been right about the smelly part.

Camel convoy ready to go

After learning the correct position for camel take-off (they stand up in the most seemingly unnatural way) it was an easy-going trot over sand and through villages.

We finished our ride in a Nubian Village where we visited the local school and learned about the Nubian language and culture before enjoying tea at the home of a Nubian family.

Inside a Nubian home

Nubians are the original inhabitants of a country called Nubia that is now divided between southern Egypt and northern Sudan

After the construction of the Aswan Dams the Nubian people were resettled on the western bank of the Nile and on Elephantine Island.

It was early evening when we finally made our way back to the cruise boat for a rather large dinner followed by drinks on deck.

There was no late night for us as day four would bring the earliest morning I’ve ever seen as we joined the convoy for Abu Simbel, but more on that next time!

Sunset on the River Nile

Visit Egypt on one of Topdeck’s many trips including Budget and Nile Cruising options. Kara travelled on the 8 day Nile Discovery.

by Kara Segedin

It’s hard to say just when the culture shock set in.

It could have been coming into land at Cairo Airport watching the desert below turn into the biggest, most sprawling city I’ve ever seen.

View from the roof of our hotel - wow!

Or maybe it was the chaotic roads where you’re as likely to see horse drawn carts and people walking on motorways as cars and you really can say a lot with flashing lights and beeping horns.

Whether it was the farm animals, the hawkers, the security checks, or simply the incredible sights and welcoming people Egypt is a destination like no other!

Before we’d even made it to passport control we were greeted by our Topdeck Representative.

An energetic young local, he helped us buy our landing visas (approximately $10 US dollars each) and walked us through to luggage claim where we met a few of our fellow travellers – two bubbly Brits, a Canadian, a Columbian and a group of Antipodean travellers.

From there we were whisked to the waiting Topdeck van and driven to our hotels.

My first journey to a non-English speaking or European country, there was no doubt in my mind that this trip to Egypt was going to be a real eye opener.

We approached our hotel to find inner city streets lined with goats, cows and the occasional horse.

The animals seemed oblivious to the vehicles whizzing past and swerving to miss them.

We soon learned we were in town on the eve of the Muslim feast Eid al-Adha and the animals roaming outside our hotel would shortly find themselves on family dinner tables!

Once settled into our hotel it was time for the meet and greet with our Trip Leader Rafik.

A native of Cairo, from here on in Rafik was going to take care of everything including buying tickets, meal times, accommodation and transport leaving us to sit back, relax and enjoy our holiday.

Me & my amazing Topdeck trip mates!

We were up bright and early for the first day of our trip – Egyptian Museum here we come!

It soon became obvious we were a novelty to the locals with many surprised stares and cries of “Welcome to Egypt!” whenever we were out and about.

One thing that’s certain – Egyptians are very proud of their homeland.

Since the revolution in January 2011 there has been a lot of upheaval in the country, but the Egyptian people are enthusiastic and optimistic about their country’s future.

The museum holds an impressive collection of over 120,000 ancient artefacts and our guide for the day, Medo, gave us a quick run through of the key exhibits before leaving us to explore on our own.

Thanks to my love of all things morbid and creepy I had only one destination in mind - the Royal Mummy Room! The room contains nine royal mummies including Ramses II and III and Queen Hatshepsut and for 100 Egyptian Pounds (approximately £10) it’s well worth the extra charge.

After our little history lesson it was time to get out into the field as we made our way to one of the World’s Seven Wonders - the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Conquering the Pyramid

Words can’t describe the first time you lay eyes on these magnificent ancient tombs. You’ve seen them all your life in books, on TV, in films and suddenly here they are right in front of you!

Putting our explorer hats on several of us headed deep into the heart of the second pyramid, Khafre (25 Egyptian Pounds). The passage to the burial chamber gets pretty tight at points and there was plenty of ducking involved, but despite being hot and sweaty after our journey nothing beats being able to say you’ve actually been inside one of the Great Pyramids!

We weren’t finished at Giza just yet as we joined the crowds at the Great Sphinx. Again, I really struggle to describe how it feels to see these majestic sights up close.

Me & the Great Sphinx

I thought I had an idea of what Cairo would be like, but my expectations didn’t even come close to reality!

It’s louder, busier, more colourful, vibrant and full of history than I ever imagined.

And this was only the start of my Egyptian adventure.

Visit Egypt on one of Topdeck’s many trips including Budget and Nile Cruising options. Kara travelled on the 8 day Nile Discovery. Follow the adventure to Aswan and Nubia.