We are delighted to present our new riding holiday in Egypt for 2010 after many years of searching. The horses used on this ride are owned and kept to the highest western standards and are well-loved friends of their ex-pat owner. The farm is based right in the middle of the Pyramids and we undertake daily exploratory rides of both the Nile banks and vast desert scattered with pyramids and sarcophagi. The riding is at all paces and there are plenty of horses to choose from, all forward going, smooth and sensible.
A choice of accommodation is available in 3 star or 5 star hotels with views of the Giza Pyramids from the bedroom windows. Some interesting additional tours are included in the holiday: Coptic Cairo, Kahn el Khalili markets, a felucca cruise on the Nile river at sunset, a visit to the Brooke Animal Hospital project in old Cairo or a visit to the state Egyptian Arab stud.
Day 1 Saturday. Arrive in Egypt
Arrive at the hotel and relax with a cocktail on the rooftop terrace watching the sun set behind the Giza pyramids.
Day 2
Early buffet breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the farm (30 min). Introduction to all the horses, goats, donkeys, rescued dogs and even a water buffalo. Allocation of horses (ride in the arena if wanted). Then we set off on the Sakkara Pyramids ride. We head straight into the desert - within metres of leaving the shade of the palm trees we are in the Sahara. We head out and circle to arrive at the main Step Pyramid – the funeral complex of King Zoser (aka Djoser). Here we stop for a break and visit the 2 tombs on foot. We remount and head back to the farm via another route - again through the desert. The terrain gives us plenty of scope to ride at all paces. Lunch at the farm before heading back to the hotel for a welcome shower.
In the afternoon you meet your Egyptologist guide & start an excursion to the Great Pyramids & the Sphinx followed by the Egyptian Museum which houses over 100,000 relics including the magnificent treasures of King Tutankhamun. Dinner & overnight at the hotel.
Day 3 Today we set off on the all day Wissa Waseb ride. We head north towards Giza through the rural countryside passing date palm groves and a patchwork puzzle of fields irrigated by a complex network of canals from the Nile River. After about 2 hrs riding we arrive at the village of Harrania. Here we stop for a visit to the Wissa Wassef Art Centre.
The Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre is the home of a unique experiment in tapestry weaving that has produced extraordinary works admired and collected by museums and galleries around the world. The life work of its founder Ramses Wissa Wassef (1911-1974) was dedicated to releasing the innate creativity of young Egyptian villagers freed from the constraints of a formal education. He wrote:
"I had this vague conviction that every human being was born an artist, but that his or her gifts could be brought out only if artistic activity was encouraged from early childhood by way of practising a craft... The creative energy of the average person is being sapped by a conformist system of education and the extension of industrial technology to every sphere of modern life."
Since 1952 two generations of weavers have developed in the Art Centre Ramses Wissa Wassef established with his wife Sophie at Harrania, near Giza. Nine of the original group of children who began working around the age of twelve, many of them now grandparents, are still weaving under the guidance of Sophie Wissa Wassef. A second generation of weavers guided by the Wissa Wassef's daughters Suzanne and Yoanna, continue to produce wool and cotton tapestries that are remarkable and unique works of art.
In the afternoon we ride home via a different route wtih a stop after about an hour at an outdoor restaurant for lunch. The canal side tracks often allow for long canters while the palm and mango groves provide shade. We arrive back at the farm late afternoon, transfer to hotel dinner & overnight
Day 4
Today we ride out into the desert with the usual combination of walk, trot, canter and some gallops to a little visited pyramid located in splendid isolation: the Abu Sir Pyramid. It is the necropolis of the Vth dynasty from about 2494BC – 2345BC. After admiring the pyramid and taking pictures we head back via the wadis to the greenery of the Nile banks and back through the cooler villages.
Lunch at the farm before a transfer back to the hotel. In the afternoon your Egyptologist guide guides an excursion starting witha visit of Islamic and Coptic Cairo. Not much has changed in these parts over the past 1000 years. We'll tour the Hanging Church, or Suspended Church; the Church of St Sergius in Coptic Cairo, built over a cave where the Holy Family is supposed to have stayed; and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, which dates from the 9th century, then we'll continue with a visit to the Citadel, built by Saladin in 1176; and the Mohamed Ali Pasha Mosque, ending with a visit to the open air Khan El Khalili old market where you can hone your bargaining skills! Return to the hotel, dinner & overnight .
Day 5 Today we head south to the village of Dashur on the longest ride of the week. En route we explore the entire row of southern pyramids. In the desert we encounter amongst others: the Bent Pyramid; the beautifully symmetrical and imposing Red Pyramid and the Black Pyramid. Riding along the desert we can view the occasional sarcophagus just lying abandoned in the desert. The views are incredible with pyramids wherever you look. In the middle of the day we find a complete surprise – Dashur Lake, a winter wetland retreat for migrating waterfowl. Riding around the lake to observe the varied wildlife it attracts, we enter the welcome shade and cool and enjoy a lunch stop in beautiful shady gardens. Here both horses and riders can cool down and relax. The return journey is undertaken in the relative cool of the farming areas parallel to the Nile River, again with opportunities for long canters and trots.
Return in time for dinner & overnight at the hotel.
Day 6 Village riding. Today we explore the complex series of canals and waterways that distribute the precious Nile water around the farmlands, we learn more about the agricultural and cultural aspects of the Egyptian countryside. Some villages are devoted to all aspects of Date Palm farming and the manufacture of products from every part of the trees while others grow clover, wheat, grass for the livestock, milk water buffalo or herd goats. Old fashioned water wheels powered by donkeys, modern irrigation pumps, dredging of canals and recycling of waste all go on here and the locals are friendly and curious, your guide can translate from Arabic. Once again there are many opportunities for trotting and cantering. As usual we enjoy lunch on our return to the farm followed by a transfer back to the hotel. At sunset we set off on a 2 hr Nile River cruise in a traditional sailing vessel - a felucca. We'll have the boat to ourselves and watch the sun set and night lights of Cairo come on while enjoying dinner on board. Return to the hotel & overnight.
Day 7 Today the day time is free to enjoy as the group wishes. Some suggestions include:
Return to Khan el KHalili market to bargain for that must have souvenir
Special Tour I to the Brooke Animal Hospital in old Cairo and a behind the scenens tour of the work they do for the horses and donkeys of Cairo.
Special Tour II of Egyptian Agricultural Organization – the government stud farm for breeding Arabian horses.
In the late afternoon we head to the farm to ride through the countryside as the sun sets and the farmers move their buffaloes and donkeys home at the end of the day. As the sun goes down over the desert, the canals change from blue to quicksilver and the birds that have been foraging in the fields come home to roost in the trees. The sounds of farmers working their fields fade as they reach their village homes where the family will sit around a low table to enjoy their evening meal. With nightfall come the bats, owls, Senegal Thick knee, and other night birds. On moonlit nights the shadows of the riders can be clearly seen on the desert sand. On return from this special ride we enjoy a BBQ & beer at the farm.
Day 8 Final Day - leave Egypt
After breakfast the day at leisure till your flight departure. On time transfer to Cairo International Airport for flight home.
All itineraries are for guidance only and are subject to change by the local team depending on local conditions.
NOTES - PALMS AND PYRAMIDS
The programme can be confirmed for only one person for a supplement of £129 on any date.
Please note that the 3* hotel does not sell any alcohol but your transfer can take you to buy alcohol from a shop which you can take to the hotel.
The weight limit for this ride is 15 st/209 lb/95 kg, please enquire if you are an experienced rider exceeding this weight.
FURTHER DETAILS
As we are specialists in our field we have extensive knowledge of all our products from details of accommodation and meals to number/size/type of horses to pace of riding ... and much more.
Should you wish to receive further details of this ride please click here.
WHAT IS INCLUDED
Transfer from airport and daily transfer from hotel, accommodation, meals except lunch on day 3 and day 7, bottled water on ride and with included lunches, riding and guide, use of driver and car on non-riding days.
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED
Flights, entry visa for Egypt, entrance to the "mummies room" at the Egyptian museum (about US$25 in 2009), lunch on day 3 and 7, drinks at hotels, gratuities (none compulsory), items of a personal nature.
What you see on our web site is exactly how much your invoice will come to and this will not change once booked. Unlike some other companies the prices on our web site are fully inclusive of often hidden extras such as: VAT, Sales Tax, state taxes, city taxes, service charges, non-optional tips, fuel surcharges which can add 20% or more to the advertised cost. Prices are available in £ sterling, Euros and US$. Once invoiced, prices are guaranteed against adverse currency fluctuations. Contact us for package prices which include flights from the UK and see each ride for exact details of all items in individual itineraries.
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