Riding the Nile

He who rides the sea of the Nile must have sails woven of patience.

William Golding

At Dad's request, Captain Mohamed of the motorboat Hatshepsut took us on a slow tour upstream to 'the bridge' and back. We had beautiful weather and the life along the Nile's banks was fascinating. Such a combination results in a lot of photographs. So as not to overwhelm my kind readers, I have selected five out of more than 200 photos.

Amelia Peabody and Amelia Edwards would both feel quite at home on Nefer Ra (Beautiful Ra), one of the few true old dahabeyyas that still provide visitors with a refined experience of Nile life. Unfortunately, these days many only hoist their sails for photo ops as tug boats tow these lovely cruisers to Aswan and back. Nevertheless, she is a beauty.


Even though multistory apartment buildings are replacing traditional mud-brick homes, women still come to the river's edge to wash their families' clothes in large aluminum tubs.

There was a lot of washing going on today. Clothes and kids. Here, Nile mud was also been bagged for small-scale pottery production.

Many fishermen were at work. Most used nets. On one boat, a young girl threw the net into the river from the stern while one young fellow rowed and another beat the water from the bow to frighten the fish into the net. Familial teamwork, I suspect. Such does life on the Nile depend.