Egypt February 2-17, 2025

Friday, February 14, 2025 - Aswan, Elephantine Island, Valentine's Dinner at Old Cataract Hotel's 1902 Restaurant

This morning, we watched our last sunrise from the dahabiya while sipping coffee. We got photos with our pal Emad (the boat manager) and Craig's buddy Yunus, an older member of the crew who, from the very beginning, has called Craig "Moustache." Yunus also has a moustache, and has always been really good about helping Craig get on and off the boat.

We enjoyed breakfast of crepes, white cheese, falafel, bread, smoked beef, cheese, and orange juice. Though we haven't normally been getting eggs to order with breakfast, today we decided to order omelets with cheese and the hot peppers that we had bought at the Daraw market yesterday. They were delicious, and quite pleasantly spicy!

It was hard to believe that it was already time to disembark from the dahabiya. We had gotten into such a comfortable routine on the Nile. After packing up, we put our luggage in the hallway, and the crew collected it. We did one final walk-through of our cabin. It's a good thing we did, because Craig had forgotten his suit and dress shoes in the closet! He had brought it specifically to wear tonight for Valentine's Day dinner, as our hotel's restaurant has a dress code. We chased down our luggage and packed the suit and shoes away before the luggage was transferred to the boat that would be taking us all to meet up with our respective hotel transfers.

At 8:45, we said a final farewell to the dahabiya crew, and we got onto the other boat. Mohamed the chef went with us; presumably he was going to stock up on supplies before the boat heads back to Esna later today.

Some "pirates" (little boys on boogie boards), paddled up to our boat and hung on, singing songs like Frere Jacques and Alouette (they seemed to have caught on that Jeanne and Karim and family are French, or maybe they just assume that all white tourists are French, who knows). This seemed cute at first, and we gave them a small tip for the entertainment, but by the end of our stay in Aswan, we would find them to be an annoyance, as they do this to every boat in the cataract.

We got to the dock and said a rushed goodbye to our fellow travelers as we were all whisked to our respective cars. We were met by our Aswan DAI representative, Michael. We were driven the short distance to the Old Cataract Hotel. There were several security guards and we entered through a gate which led to the hotel's beautifully manicured grounds. At the end of a red carpet was a golf cart, which whisked us past the gardens and a fountain to get to the Palace Wing of the hotel. The distance wasn't far (we could have easily walked), but the first impression was that of being catered to, and that would continue throughout our stay at this luxury property.

As soon as we entered the Palace Wing, we were overcome by Old World charm. This part of the hotel was built in 1899 by Thomas Cook. It was built at the same time as the Old Aswan Dam (Aswan Low Dam), and many dignitaries stayed at the hotel for the opening of the dam.

This is the hotel where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile, and it has entertained many famous guests over the years including Tsar Nicholas II, Winston Churchill, Howard Carter, Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Carter, François Mitterrand, and Princess Diana. I have been an Agatha Christie fangirl since my adolescence, and we had visited the hotel where she wrote Murder on the Orient Express when we visited Türkiye five years ago.

We were very excited to stay here, as it has such history and elegance as well as a stunning location overlooking the Nile and Elephantine Island. When we booked the trip, they didn't have any standard rooms available, just the Nile Opera Suite. DAI had asked if we wanted the suite or if we wanted to try to get onto a wait list for a room. We decided that we would just spring for the suite. It did happen to be Valentine's Day after all! And we asked DAI to make dinner reservations at the exclusive 1902 Restaurant, where scenes from the Death on the Nile movie were filmed. The restaurant has a dress code (one of our friends had tried to eat there recently, and was turned away because apparently his shoes weren't fancy enough), and that was the sole reason we had brought Craig's suit. Thank goodness we hadn't accidentally left it in our cabin on the dahabiya!

We were shown to seats in the back corner of the lobby near the bar. They gave us hibiscus tea to drink while they filled out our arrival paperwork. Our suite wasn't ready yet, as it was only 9:30 a.m., but we left our luggage and went for our morning excursion with our Aswan guide Ashraf. We would return to check into the suite later.

We exited the Palace Wing onto a terrace (where Agatha Christie supposedly did much of her writing), and then walked past the pool and down some steps to the hotel's jetty. We boarded a motor boat called the Love Boat (how perfect for Valentine's Day!!), and met the captain as well as a young boy who worked as first mate. They took us around the First Cataract area of the Nile in Aswan. A cataract is an area with granite rocks and shallow water where sailing is tricky. There are six cataracts in the Nile, but the First Cataract is the only one in Egypt. The other five are in Sudan.

Our first stop was Elephantine Island, an island in the Nile. This island was where The Sacred Drama of Horus' battle with his evil uncle Seth took place. Horus avenged his father Osiris' death by vanquishing Seth, who was in the form of a hippopotamus. A violent storm coincided with their battle, and that churned up the river. This is the creation myth of the formation of the First Cataract.

Eratosthenes, geographer and librarian in Alexandria in the 2nd century BC, determined the circumference of the earth from astronomical observations made in Elephantine and Alexandria (though some sources think that he made observations in Aswan proper as opposed to Elephantine).

We docked off a Nubian village located near the center of the island, and visited a house which contained the small, simple Animalia Museum. The Nubians are an ethnic group living in Egypt and Sudan. Their ancestral lands, between Aswan and Sudan, were largely flooded with the creation of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, so they were forcibly moved. Some were moved to Kom Ombo and Elephantine Island in Egypt, and others were moved to Sudan.

This village on Elephantine Island consists of 3000 people. A young woman named Marwa taught us about Nubian life as we enjoyed a cup of mint tea. She told us that the three most important aspect of Nubian life here are date palms, women, and the Nile. They use date palm trees for many things, including baskets, brooms, plates, benches, furniture, bridges, etc.

The Nubian women sweep the sand floor of the houses every night to make it smooth. That way they can tell if a scorpion or snake enters the room during the night, and they can find it based on its tracks. The houses are made of mud brick and have arched ceilings to regulate temperature. They paint talismans outside the bedroom to ward off infertility and infant mortality. Although the Nubians are now all Muslim, they used to be Christian before Islam came to Egypt. So, in addition to Islamic imagery they also paint crosses and the ancient Egyptian sun disk. So pagan, Christian, and Islamic iconography are all represented in modern Nubian culture.

One room in the museum was decorated like Lake Nasser and contained taxidermied birds, a crocodile, foxes, a mongoose (which is immune to snake venom and kills snakes), a monitor lizard, etc. They also have taxidermied Nile fish as well as insect specimens. Next, Marwa showed us various minerals from the area. The museum was a very interesting cultural and natural history experience. They also had a small gift shop featuring fixed-price handmade items. I bought a necklace of polished stones and a carved wooden ankh to use as a Christmas ornament. We like to collect ornaments from our travels, so that fond memories come flooding back each year as we decorate the Christmas tree.

As we walked back to the Love Boat, we passed a group of young Nubian boys. Ashraf said that they were having a very deep conversation about which season is best, winter or summer.

As we boarded the boat, we could see El Nabatat Island (aka Kitchener's Island), where the Aswan Botanical Garden is located. It looked very lush and beautiful.

The Love Boat then took us to enjoy some of the scenery around the cataract. It is a beautiful area, rich with plant and bird life. We saw ibis, a heron, and what looked like a cormorant. We were among the reeds, which had a cottony flower. With reeds surrounding us on every side, we felt far-removed from the city of Aswan. The captain turned off the motor for about 10 minutes so that we could enjoy the sounds of nature. It was very peaceful and the scenery was gorgeous!

Next, our boat took us back to Elephantine Island, this time to the southern tip, to visit an archaeological site. We pulled up to a dock next to some boulders which were carved with hieroglyphs. Next to them was a Nilometer for measuring the water level. We climbed up a set of stairs which led to the former house of William Willcocks, the architect of the Old Aswan Dam. His villa now houses the Aswan Museum, but, unfortunately it was closed for renovation.

Elephantine Island got its name because it was an important trade location on the Nile. The Aswan area was the border between Egyptian and Nubian lands. Egyptian expeditions set out from Elephantine Island to trade with Nubia for gold, incense, oils, and ivory. Because of this ivory trade, the island became known as Elephantine. The island was also used as a granite quarry. "Aswan granite" was floated down the Nile in ships to build temples in Lower Egypt.

The temples here at the southern tip of Elephantine Island are dedicated to the creator god Khnum and his wife Satet and daughter Anket. They were built and rebuilt by successive rulers. Khnum was the ram-headed god who created mankind on his pottery wheel. He was also thought to have guarded and controlled the waters of the Nile from caves beneath Elephantine Island. Ancient Egyptians believed that the yearly inundation originated at Elephantine Island.

The main temple present today was built by either Hatshepsut or Thutmose III in 1550 BC. The temples here are not in the standard Egyptian style. They are more like chapels. There is not a lot of original architecture left. Much of the temple structure has been recreated using cement to stand in for the missing stone blocks. Also, where there are missing carvings, they have been drawn in. Since the motifs are so common across Egyptian art, the archaeologists know what the scenes were supposed to depict, and "penciled them in" to give a sense for what they once looked like.

We ran into Mark and Jenn (and not for the last time), who are doing a similar tour today and tomorrow.

The noonday sun was strong. It was definitely warmer here than it was further north. Elephantine Island was exposed, and there wasn't really any shade. Everywhere we walked, there were pottery shards underfoot.

The more interesting part of this site is an ancient town called Yebu or Abu, (inhabited from 3000 BC to at least 1000 CE) made of mud brick. We walked up a set of stairs to a viewing platform that had a panoramic view of the ancient town. In one of the houses we could even see an ancient dining room table made out of rock.

There was a nice view of the Aga Khan mausoleum and a Coptic Christian monastery in the surrounding hills, and we could also see our hotel, the Old Cataract, from this vantage point.

There was a Jewish population on ancient Elephantine Island. It became a sanctuary as Jews fled from the Babylonians. The Egyptians, being polytheists, viewed the Jews simply as having a different God, and didn't persecute them.

After the archaeological site, Ashraf took us back to the Old Cataract Hotel. Our suite was now ready. It was actually in the "Nile Wing", which is a separate 9-story tower which was built in 1961. It was initially a more budget-conscious alternative to the main hotel's Palace Wing, but the entire hotel was overhauled in a massive renovation between 2008 and 2011, and now the Nile Wing is luxurious in its own right.

We walked past the pool and down a ramp covered with a topiary tunnel to get to the Nile Wing. We entered the lobby, where the spa was located. We got into the elevator and rode up to the fourth floor. Nile Opera Suite 2407 was stunning! As soon as we entered the suite, we were floored. We joked that it is like an Egyptian temple- it has a pylon, an open courtyard, hypostyle hall, and sanctuary. There are two dressing room/closets, a large sitting room overlooking the Nile, a large bedroom with a terrace overlooking the Nile, and a large bathroom overlooking the Nile. The suite comprises 904 square feet!! It is a corner suite; the sitting room looks upstream, and the bedroom terrace overlooks Elephantine Island and the First Cataract. From the terrace, if you look to the right, you can see the heated swimming pool and the original Palace Wing of the hotel. The bathroom is enormous, with a freestanding bathtub, two sinks, a separate shower room, and a separate toilet room.

The room was so over-the-top that we felt like we had to make a walk-through video so that we would be able to remember every nuance. Craig directed the video, and I filmed it, walking from room to room, showing all the amenities and the stunning views. After we filmed the video, we realized that there was a second bathroom hiding behind a closed door near the entrance to the suite. This place was amazing! It was way more fancy and expansive than we require, but we wanted to splurge for Valentine's Day. We had finally made it to Egypt after several failed attempts, and we wanted it to be memorable!

We didn't have lunch today, but our room was stocked with macarons, macaroons, chocolate, baklava, and fruit, so we didn't go hungry! We sat in the sitting room, made coffee, and enjoyed the snacks. We cut each of them in half so that we could both try everything.

We saw a menu in the room advertising the special Valentine's Day menu at the 1902 Restaurant. It seemed that they were offering a special prix fixe 5 course Valentine's menu. It looked delicious! We were looking forward to our romantic dinner.

Craig looked out the sitting room window and saw that a man was bathing his horse in the river. We then went onto the balcony to enjoy some fresh air.

After enjoying about two hours relaxing and in the gorgeous room, we headed back to the Palace Wing to meet Ashraf for our felucca sailboat ride. As we entered the building from the terrace, we found ourselves standing in front of a beautiful Valentine's Day chocolate display. It was continually restocked, so we felt like we were the first ones to partake of the lovely chocolate. It all looked so perfect, it almost seemed like we shouldn't disturb it. We each took a chocolate and it was absolutely delicious! Soon a whole bus load of people entered the lobby and swooped down on the chocolate display. The staff were right there to replenish every piece which was eaten.

It was now almost 4 o'clock, so a lot of people were checking in to the hotel. Craig noticed that women were being given roses upon check-in. Because our check-in had been spread between the morning and afternoon, they had overlooked giving me a rose. Craig didn't want me to feel left out, so he asked the manager about it. The manager was apologetic and promptly gave me a rose.

We met Ashraf and headed back outside, down a set of stairs back to the jetty. We boarded our felucca (Egyptian sailboat) for an hour-long sail. Our boat had a crew of one, and we were impressed that he managed the sailing all by himself. He was constantly running from the bow to the stern, adjusting the sail and steering. It was the golden hour in terms of the sun; the perfect time for photographs. There were a lot of sailboats and motorboats in the cataract at this time. We tacked back and forth downstream before returning upstream. A motorboat full of our captain's friends passed us several times. The friends were good-naturedly heckling him, and he was obviously a little embarrassed. Hanging on their boat was a large, upside down American flag. Whether they know it or not, this is a sign of distress, and momentarily brought our thoughts back to our politically fractured country back at home. Those thoughts quickly passed, though, as we lived in the moment and enjoyed our felucca ride.

We returned to the suite and watched sunset from our balcony. It was beautiful to see the setting sun reflected in the waters of the Nile, with the feluccas passing by. We got showered and dressed up for our Valentine's Day dinner. Craig wore his suit, and I wore the lilac dress that I had bought for Aracely's wedding. I wore the necklace that I had bought at the Animalia Museum this morning.

We walked through a topiary tunnel lit with fairy lights to get to the main building of the hotel, and then walked down a long corridor to arrive at the 1902 Restaurant. They gave me a rose as we entered. The dining room was dimly lit and decorated with red latex and heart-shaped mylar balloons. A man played quiet piano music. It was very romantic.

Craig had Stella beer and I had a glass of merlot. They brought us a bread basket for the table filled with all kinds of delicious breads. There was a pink heart-shaped piece of bread on top. The bread was served with delicious cheese spread.

The courses were plated with heart shaped garnishes. It was a very creative presentation. One course featured sea scallops, and Craig is allergic, so they let him substitute shrimp. The amuse bouche consisted of scallop and shrimp, but I traded my shrimp for Craig's scallop and we were both happy. It was an incredible meal and we enjoyed every bite.

bread basket with spreadable cheese
amuse bouche: shrimp on a scallop
cream of tomato soup with shrimp and basil capuccino style
sea scallop with asparagus and smoked salmon rosette, mango vinaigrette
strawberry sorbet
veal medallion perfumed with sweet red pepper served with mimi ratatouille basil flavored and potato cake
lovely strawberry bavarois with wild red berry sauce

When the piano player was taking a break, a woman went up to the piano and played "Love Story". Several people were taking photos and videos of her, and then we realized that she was a fellow diner, who had the bravery to go up and play a song. It was impressive, and the whole restaurant erupted into applause when she was done. Every so often one of the balloons on the floor would spontaneously pop, causing everyone to jump and laugh.We spent two hours and forty minutes over dinner, taking our time and savoring the delicious flavors and artful presentation. The staff was wonderful, and we made friends with our server Essam.

We walked back to the Nile Wing, past the beautifully illuminated pool. We could see the moon above palm trees whose trunks were decorated with fairy lights. Back in the suite, we enjoyed the nighttime views of the the illuminated buildings along the banks for the Nile. I posted about our romantic dinner on Facebook and Instagram.

We are so glad we splurged on this suite and dinner. It made for our most memorable Valentine's Day yet in the 31 years we have been together!

Elephantine Island

Old Cataract Hotel