Elephantine Island and St. Simeon

One of our most memorable days in Aswan was spent visiting Elephantine Island and the Monastery of St. Simeon.

From the town of Aswan we took a local water Taxi across the Nile to Elephant Island. The island has historically been important in the area and is home to two Nubian villages. We were dropped off in front of one of the Nubian villages and walked through its narrow winding streets with is colorful painted buildings. Chickens and baby goats ran around our feet and children played in the fields. The Nubian's are a tall, dark-skinned people who have a separate culture, language and dress to the other Egyptians. They originated from Nubia, the region between Aswan and Khartoum in Sudan and they were displaced from their native lands when the Egyptian government flooded their area to create Lake Nasser.

After walking through the Nubian villages and the lush green fields we visited the Aswan Museum and the ruins of Abu on the south end of the island. The museum had some interesting exhibits (especially the mummies) but the ruins of Abu didn't really do too much for me. The ruins were in pretty bad shape and the security guard who insisted on following us everywhere didn't help. Afterward we walked back to the middle of the island and caught a row boat across the river to the west bank of the Nile.

Mustafa, who looked about 70 years old took us across the river in his beat up row boat. The old guy looked so frail that I offered to row us to the other side. My rowing wasn't pretty but eventually I got us across the river and we ended up on the west bank. There were camels for rent so after some serious bargaining we arranged a price and jumped on camels to the Monastery of San Simeon. Riding a camel is a unique experience as they are so tall that when they stand up you go way up in the air. Gaby ended up with a nasty camel which smelled bad and gurgled at her all the time.

After a leisurely stroll through the desert our camels arrived at the Monastery St. Simeon. The old monastery was nice but but its location in the desert, surrounded by sand dunes and overlooking the Nile was impressive. After we were done seeing the monastery we hopped back up on our camels and rode back to the bank of the Nile.

Our new friend Mustafa was waiting for us still and as he was the only option back he was kind enough to overcharge us even more for the return trip. Gaby tried her hand at rowing on the way back as Mustafa and I kicked back. Once back on Elephantine Island we caught the water taxi back to Aswan.

Our day on Elephantine Island visiting the Nubian villages and the ruins of Abu was fantastic and finishing it off with our camel ride to the Monastery made it quite a memorable day.

Steve