Day 5          11 Oct         The Nile River

Today we left Cairo and flew south to Luxor where we will board our ship, the Nefertiti, for a seven-day cruise down the Nile River to Aswan.  The flight was an OAT charter flight, so we had the plane to ourselves.  It was a small Fokker turboprop that was beginning to show its age.  But it was a short 45-minute flight.  It was very hot when we landed in Luxor.  As our ship would not be ready for us until later in the afternoon, our Trip Leader took us to visit Karnack Temple which I will talk about in the next blog.  Today’s blog, as the title implies, is about the Nile River.

 At 4,160 miles, the Nile River is either the longest river in the world or the second longest behind the Amazon, depending on what source you use and how that source measured the length.  (Our guide told us it was the longest river.)  In any event, the Nile is Egypt’s most precious resource and has been since the ancient Egyptians  lived along its banks.  The Nile flows from south to north, beginning in the rivers that flow into Lake Victoria (modern-day Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya) and emptying into the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria.  In total it touches 11 countries in Africa -- Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Republic of the Sudan, and Egypt.  To the ancient Egyptians, this was their life source as the annual flooding of the river deposited nutrient rich soil and silt along its banks.  One of the earliest Egyptian calendars was based on the three phases of the river –Akhet (flooding season from June -September); Peret (planting season October – February); and Shemu (harvest season from March-May).  By developing irrigation methods, these Egyptians increased the amount of land that they could use for farming to support the growing population.  Crops grown included beans, cotton, wheat and flax, crops that could be easily stored and traded. 

Another important plant to the ancient Egyptians that grew well along the riverbanks was the papyrus plant.  Known mainly for its use in making paper, it was also used in making clothes, boxes, and rope. 

As in the ancient times, about 95% of Egyptians still live within a few miles of the Nile.  Canals were built to bring water to the cities, and in addition to agriculture, fishing and tourism are now big industries on the river.  The ancient annual flooding has been controlled with the construction of the Aswan High Dam which also provides a source of hydroelectric power to the country.  However, this same dam has some unwanted side effects.  The silt deposits that once enriched the soil along the banks and in the Nile Delta are now building up behind the dam in Sudan, and the delta region is shrinking due to erosion.  And the flooding that once cleaned the river of its human, animal, and agricultural waste no longer occurs, and as a result the Nile is becoming much more polluted.

And a more controversial concern within both Egypt and Sudan, is the new dam that Ethiopia is constructing on the Blue Nile which connects with the White Nile in Sudan.  While shorter than the White Nile, it provides almost all of Ethiopia’s water supply.  Ethiopia started construction of this dam in 2011 to provide hydroelectricity to the country, but both Egypt and Sudan are adamantly opposed to it as they feel it will diminish the water supply in both their countries.  The dam has been finished and Ethiopia has begun to fill the reservoir behind the dam, but the political controversy and conflict still continues.  It remains to be seen how it will be resolved.

Our ship, the Nefertiti, carries 75 passengers, with outside facing cabins all with small balconies.  It has four decks with a small sun deck on top where we will be able to sip our wine and enjoy the scenic sights along the Nile as we cruise from one town to the next.  The deck we are on, the Akhenaten (4^th deck) also has a small dipping pool and a covered open deck for sitting.  While being on the upper deck sounded great at the time of booking, having to walk up and down 6 flights of stairs several times a day soon became tiring.  However, we did enjoy sitting on our little balcony watching the scenery and young children playing along the river’s edge as we sailed up river (it is hard to remember that the Nile flows from south to north).  For many of these children seeing the riverboats gliding by is one of their day’s highlights.  Some even row out to greet the ships.

Floor Plan of the Nefertiti

The Nefertiti

One of the cabins on the Nefertiti