Egypt: Day 7 (29 Oct 2007)

Philae is one of 17 temples moved to higher ground. The original Aswan Dam built by the British in 1902, placed Philae underwater much of the year. Other temples, like Abu Simbel were threatened by the much larger high dam.

Original location of Philae

Philae

Philae

Philae

All the crocodiles in the Nile are now stuck in Lake Nasser above the high dam.

Lake Nasser

They can't get through the turbines to the water below the dam.

Below the Aswan Dam Panorama

After the dams, we stopped at the unfinished obelisk. Unfinished because it developed a huge crack before it was completed.

Unfinished Obelisk

Can you imagine the cursing?

We spent the rest of the day exploring the first cataract below the British dam. This included a field trip to the botanical garden on Kitcher island as well as a short bird-watching trip by boat.

Heron in flight

Kingfisher

Looking west, beyond the banks of the Nile, the sand begins.

The Nile and the Sahara

That sand is the Sahara desert and it stretches for 7,000 miles to the Atlantic ocean. South of the delta, greenery extends for a few hundred meters, perhaps a few thousand in places, on either side of the Nile. That's it. A few oasis notwithstanding, it's just sand everywhere else.

(Don't believe me? Click on that little map icon in the lower left hand corner, zoom out, and pan west. The great Sahara.)

Our wildlife tour ended at a Nubian village.

Nubian house

Nubian houses

And that night, Hatem took us out to buy spices if we were interested.

Spice Market

I can't begin to describe the aroma.