Thursday 18 October 2007

The Nubian Nile experience (Day 6)


The first part of our day on the Nile (described in my previous post) continued with some more relaxing and soaking up the positive atmosphere.


Crew members constantly kept doing something I didn't dare. When they were thirsty, they simply reached over the edge of our boat for a fresh glass of Nile.
If I did that, I guess I would still have diarrhea today. Thanks, but no thanks!


After we finished with our lunch (for more details you can check out the previous post) it was time for a swim in the Nile. The water was surprisingly clear and we enjoyed every part of it!
I did it despite reading in a couple of years old guidebook that if someone happens to fall into the river Nile, he should seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Even one of my readers here shared a story about an aching finger after dipping it in the Nile (you can read about that in comments to this post).


Before the night crept upon us we tied our feluka to the river bank and watched some local boys playing soccer. They were quite good and were obviously having fun.


I went on a short walk through the nearby fields and took a few nice photos. One of them was with this local, doing some field work. Of course afterwards he wouldn't go away without some baksheesh.




After a beautiful sunset the Nubians built a fire and grabbed their drums. People say they are born with a musical ear. I had to agree.
We danced around the fire and tried to sing along. Music lasted long into the night and died out hours later together with the fire.



After some time sitting in the dark by the river, watching millions of stars, we went to our feluka to catch some sleep. I went to sleep thinking of the excitement a new morning might bring us.

6 comments:

ka-ma 18 October 2007 at 18:55  

Hi there...I have been following your Egyptian experience for a while and being very familiar with Egypt myself, I have to warn you - I think you made a mistake by swimming in the Nile. Even walking barefoot on the sand near the water can give you Bilharsia (Schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease)!!! My husband got it just walking on the bank of the Nile barefoot! Most of the people living near the Nile get it at some point and are living with it. Many never get treated, but it is easily treatable. So if I were you, I would get tested immediately after coming back home. I am sorry if I seem to be overly concerned, but I am talking from personal experience! Your tour guides should have told you about this in advance!
Good luck with everything!

Travel-PB 18 October 2007 at 21:47  

Thanks for the warning. I really haven't heard about that before. And you are right - it would be the right thing to be warned in advance.

I have just Googled it and it seems this thing is quite common in some parts of Egypt. Although it is very unlikely one would get this thing during the one and only swim in the Nile, it is definitely not impossible.

I think I will consult my doctor on the issue and then decide what to do. It's better to be safe then sorry.

Thanks again.

Jose 19 October 2007 at 00:04  

I think that if it was that bad then people would catch the disease even by touching the boats since after all make contact with the water.

Hope all is well and goes well.

Looking forward to the next istallment of this wonderful saga.

Anonymous,  19 October 2007 at 12:21  

Truly awesome. Thank you for letting me know you posted the pictures - it brought back many memories of my trip years and years ago.

I agree with the commentor about getting checked by a doctor - we don't have the defenses in our body for the what is in the water there. The locals do - so they are safer.

Sonia Sherrod 19 October 2007 at 16:14  

Just voted for you on Battle of the Blogs. Visited Ljubljana back in 1989, as well as Split, Dubrovnic, Plitvice...really loved it. Will check back often.

Anonymous,  16 December 2007 at 06:54  

Hi Marko,
I've been in Egypt in year 2000 and I felt like I was still there seing the pic with the nubians by the fire...
Thanks for sharing, it brings back nice memories to me. My flashlight is still in the Nile!!! Haha

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