Cruising the Nile in Style

Keith Drinkwater - Skinner, Manager of Mann Link Travel Ramsey tells us of his recent Nile cruise.

There are many special and magical countries in the world, and I have been fortunate enough to visit many of them, but there is none more special to me than Egypt, a country which draws me back time and time again.

There is such a wide diversity of things for the visitor to see, that no two visits have ever been the same.

During my 30 years in the travel business I have toured Egypt many times, in the time honoured way of staying in 5 star hotels and cruising the Nile on the large cruise boats, so I was very excited when Bales Worldwide invited me to sample the "Nostalgic Nile Tour" which promised to be something very different from my previous experience.

I travelled in comfort on a 5 hour scheduled flight with British Airways to Cairo, enjoying an excellent lunch during the flight. On arrival I was met and whisked through the arrival formalities and then transferred by chauffer driven car to Cairo’s first Boutique Hotel, a fully restored 1920’s mansion, located in the leafy suburbs of Maadi for the first three nights. This stunning 13 bedroom hotel is set in tranquil, lush gardens, with an inviting swimming pool with plenty of cosy seating areas in which to relax or to enjoy alfresco dining.

Each guest room is individually designed using a mixture of contemporary and period styles, many have antique chandeliers and period furniture combined with modern bathrooms with a full size bath and all the amenities would expect from this quality accommodation. My spacious room opened on to a wide balcony with wicker furnishings and a view overlooking the lovely gardens.

The stylish dining room offered a choice of Egyptian, Oriental, Italian and French cuisine and during my stay I sampled the delights of each, but particularly enjoyed the Egyptian specialities.

Naturally Bales Worldwide arranged trips to all the fantastic sights that Cairo has to offer, such as the Pyramids and the Saqqara necropolis which I never tire of seeing and the world famous Cairo Museum which contains, amongst its other treasures, the magnificent Tutankamun exhibition. Being a small group of up to a maximum of 12 people has the advantage of being flexible and able to visit sights larger groups would find impossible.

On the fourth day I flew from Cairo to Luxor to join the Zahra which is a sail boat known as a Dahabiyya, in which I was to sail to Aswan, sight seeing at Karnak, Valley of Queens, Medinet Habu, the Valley of Kings, Edfu, Kom Ombo, the High Dam and Philae Temple en route.

This classic boat is a replica of the nineteenth century, wooden crafted sailing vessel, which was fitted out in colonial style. The six large luxury air conditioned, ensuite cabins are intended to revive the elegance of a bygone era of traditional Nile cruises. In addition to the 2 sun decks there is an elegantly furnished lounge, but I confess that most of my time was spent on deck enjoying the ever changing scenery and rural life along the banks of the river which has scarcely changed in the last 2000 years; this was enhanced by the sound of the gently billowing sails. Being a very enthusiastic "twitcher" I had a wonderful variety of sightings such as Purple Heron, Hoopoo, Egrets, Pied Kingfisher, and purple Gallinule amongst many others.

The dining arrangements meant that we either dined on deck or ashore on beautiful remote islands; the crew of 10 and the onboard chef worked tirelessly to ensure we all had a fantastic experience, setting up tables and chairs together with the barbeque to ensure we had wonderful atmospheric candlelit dinners ashore. Bales have thoughtfully included unlimited local wine, beer, water, soft drinks and beverages as well as all the tipping throughout the whole cruise. On reaching Luxor, we said goodbye to the 'Zahra' and its friendly crew who had looked after us so well.

So successful is this new venture for Bales that they have increased the number of Dahabiyya style boats to four, all identical and proving to be very popular with the discerning traveller, personally I would say that this is the ultimate Egyptian experience, which I will remember forever. The joy of travelling with Bales Worldwide is that it is a family owned company established since 1947 and they are immensely proud of their exceptional personal service and attention to detail.

Keith Skinner is the manager of Mann Link Travel Ramsey and can be contacted by phone on 01624 815588 or by email at .