I paddle back to the boat, anchored on the western bank of the river, getting ready for the first night. The crew is digging a hole in the sand not. The boys set a portable toilet seat on it and a basic tent for privacy. That will do for a restroom. We are glad to start the diner with a hot lentil and garlic soup and finish it with a boiling tea – the temperature is already below 10 degres. We drop the tarp sides of the Felucca so the sleeping area gets some protection from the cold air. Our boat has no railing so Shadé, who moves a lot during the night, sleeps with a leash attached to her anckle. There are no night clubs around so I don’t need to do the same with Manu! At 5:10am, the “Fajr” prayer coming from the nearest Mosque announces the sunrise crescendo for a good 30 minutes. “What is the Imam saying?” I ask our guide Nageh while we all hide in our sleeping bags. “Wake up, wake up! Get ready to work, don’t be lazy” he answers. Manu is already up, preparing the boards.
It’s so hard to crawl out of the sleeping bag into the freezing air, but each morning it’s worth it; the light is beautiful and has our photographer Pierre and cameramen Martin scrambling to their equipment. I’ve never paddled with a jacket and a warm hat on but it works just perfect! After a few strokes while the sun is making its way up, we warm up as we pass along the many crops irrigated by the fresh water from the river.
We quickly understand why “Egypt is the gift of the Nile”. It provided a crucial role in the development of Egyptian civilization, and is everything to the people. They drink it, wash in it, cook with it, fish in it and use it for irrigation and transportation. Life along the river has changed very little since Biblical times and apart from the electrical pumps sucking its water, time stood still on the River Nile for centuries.
