5-day camel safari “Sinai Desert, Mount Moses and St. Catherine’s Monastery”

1st day: Dahab – start of camel safari – Wadi Gibi – El Hadouda sand dune – Gebel Barka/Gebel Mahrum

Early in the morning, our representative will meet you at the reception of your hotel in Dahab and you will set off on your journey to the Bedouin village. If you are staying in a hotel in another city in Egypt (Cairo, Sharm el-Sheikh…), we can arrange a transfer for you to Dahab.

In the village, you will meet your guides and new companions – well-trained camels. And now your Sinai desert safari has begun! First, you will walk through the dry valley of Wadi Gibi, formerly a riverbed. Later, you will come to the great sand dune of El Hadouda – this is really something special, because the Sinai desert is mainly made up of mountains and does not have enough territory for large dunes. Here you will make a short stop and you can relax,  Have lunch, wander around the dune or drive off it a couple of times. In the afternoon you will arrive at the mountainous region of Gebel Mahrum, where you will set up your first campsite. Dinner and the first night under the starry desert sky at the campsite.

Lunch and dinner are included. Overnight at the campsite.

2nd day: Gebel Mahrum – Bir Safra – Gebel Mutamir

After breakfast, you will continue your drive through the area with beautiful scenery and stunning sandstone formations to the idyllic Bir Safra spring, located in an open area at the intersection of two valleys. You will have the opportunity to refresh yourself with water from the spring before lunch. In the afternoon camp at the foot  of Gebel Mutamir Mountain.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included. Overnight at the campsite.

3rd day: Gebel Mutamir – Nawamis – White Canyon – Ain Khudra Oasis

After breakfast, your journey on the back of a camel through the vast expanses of the desert will continue. You will visit Navamis,  which is a series of circular pyramidal structures made of sandstone blocks, with small openings facing west. Most likely, these are ancient burial chambers, but this is still shrouded in mystery. After lunch, hike through the beautiful White Canyon. The gorge got its name because of the white walls. Take your time, enjoy the unique scenery while hiking through the gorge and be sure to keep your camera ready! After this difficult hike, you will go to the oasis of Ain Khudra, surrounded by numerous palm trees with springs. Here you can swim, have dinner and spend the night.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included. Overnight at the campsite.

4th day: Ain Khudra Oasis – Wadi Ghazala – Mushroom Mountain – Mount Sinai

After breakfast, your tour will continue through the famous Wadi Ghazala (Valley of the Gazelles), one of the longest valleys in Sinai, which is named after the gazelles grazing here.  This is a huge and interesting part of the desert with sand rocks, caves, dunes, brooms and acacias. Nearby is the famous Mushroom Mountain, an amazing rock formation in the shape of a mushroom. It’s time for lunch, after which you will say goodbye to the camels and go in jeeps to the foot  of Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa), also known as  the Mount of Moses, because it was here, according to legend, that Moses received the Ten Commandments at the very top. Here you will have dinner and sleep for a couple of hours, because at night your hike to the top of the mountain will begin.

Remember that you will climb to an altitude of almost 2300 meters!

This means that you will face low temperatures, so you need warm clothes and comfortable shoes!

Remember, for the hike to the top of the mountain, your physical and mental fitness is essential!

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included. Overnight at the campsite.

5th day: Mount Sinai – St. Catherine’s Monastery

To light your way, our guide will give you flashlights. If you get tired from the relatively long and partly exhausting walk, you can travel the entire way or partly on a camel for a small additional fee. But before you reach the top, you have to go through the last steps on your own (the “Ladder of Repentance“). Our guide will accompany you all the way to provide you with the necessary assistance or information if necessary.  To take a break, you will be able to make several stops.

Early in the morning you will reach the top of the mountain, where you will see the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, where you can rest while waiting for the sunrise. During the sunrise, the view is incredibly beautiful! You will be delighted with this beauty and the surrounding spiritual atmosphere, and you will surely come to the conclusion that it was not in vain that you made such a long and difficult journey, which was worth the maximum effort.

After a while, you will make a descent to the monastery of St. Catherine, where you will make a stop for breakfast before the visit. The Monastery of St. Catherine is located at the foot of Mount Sinai, where, according to legend, Moses received the Ten Commandments and saw an unburned thorn bush. The monastery is considered one of the oldest in the world, as the first mention of monasticism dates back to the 4th century AD. Saint Helena,  the mother of Constantine I, the first Roman emperor to adopt Christianity, ordered the construction of a chapel on the site of the Burning Bush in the early 4th century A.D. The monastery, as it still stands, was built by Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century A.D. to protect the monks. For centuries, the monastery was not attacked from the Muslim side, as it enlisted the patronage of the Prophet Muhammad. It is for this reason that you will be able to see not only  the buildings, walls and decorations almost in their original form, but also countless valuables that have been preserved to this day and are a true historical heritage. The library, with its unique and huge collection of ancient manuscripts and manuscripts, is second only to the library in the Vatican!

In the monastery you will have a unique opportunity to see the world’s largest collection of antique icons, which survived the times of Byzantine iconoclasm, but, however, some of the icons of the early period were destroyed. Also in the courtyard you will see a bush that is considered the Burning Bush.

The monastery is still inhabited by monks and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002.

Remember, it is forbidden for women to be on the territory of the monastery with their heads uncovered, their shoulders bare, their arms and legs bare.

After visiting the monastery, we will take you back to your hotel. This concludes our excursion program.

Breakfast and lunch are included.