Dahab Trip Overview
This trip offers a combination between Adventure, Archeology, Nature and Culture. The perfect choice for small groups or individuals that like to explore the very interesting stories of the South Sinai Desert and experience the life of the Bedouin Tribes.
During this round- trip we are going to explore The Secrets of Sinai. We will show you part of the route Moses took when he crossed the desert, the Temple of Hathor, the beginning of the alphabet, and inscriptions left behind by all those who travelled through the desert many many years ago.
During this unforgettable trip you will get a taste of the different cultures that have crossed and lived in this beautiful region throughout the centuries,and experience the lifestyle of the Bedouin Tribes.
The total trip is 12 days, but you can just sign up for a particular part of the trip!
Additional Info
Duration: 12 days
Starts: Dahab, Egypt
Trip Category: Multi-day & Extended Tours >> Multi-day Tours
Explore Dahab Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Dahab, Red Sea and Sinai, Egypt
This trip offers a combination between Adventure, Archeology, Nature and Culture. The perfect choice for small groups or individuals that like to explore the very interesting stories of the South Sinai Desert and experience the life of the Bedouin Tribes.
During this round- trip we are going to explore The Secrets of Sinai. We will show you part of the route Moses took when he crossed the desert, the Temple of Hathor, the beginning of the alphabet, and inscriptions left behind by all those who travelled through the desert many many years ago.
During this unforgettable trip you will get a taste of the different cultures that have crossed and lived in this beautiful region throughout the centuries,and experience the lifestyle of the Bedouin Tribes.
The total trip is 12 days, but you can just sign up for a particular part of the trip!
Itinerary
Day 1: South Sinai Desert Trip
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
We will pick you up at your hotel in Dahab at 8 am Our 4-wheel Jeep will bring us to Wadi Gazallah, where we will go off-road to Nawamis. Here we will find 5000-year old tombs, which are believed to be some of the oldest structures in the world.
Lunch will be served in one of the Bedouin houses. After lunch we will show you the Rock of Inscriptions. This rock holds inscriptions from different time periods, mainly made by pilgrims traveling between Jerusalem and St Catherine and making their way through Wadi Gazallah.
The jeep will pick us up and bring us to the White Canyon. We will descent to the bottom of this magnificent canyon and follow it until the canyon opens into the Ain Khudra Oasis. It is an oasis that has been in use for many centuries, with a large underground spring and many date palms. According to some, this is the site of the biblical Hazeroth.
From Ain Khudra Oasis we will move by jeep to wadi al Disco to have dinner and spend the night.
Duration: 9 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: NOT included. Please bring your own (ask your hotel for take- away) or bring some snacks to keep you going until lunch
• Lunch: Lunch will be served at one of the Bedouin houses in Wadi Gazallah
• Dinner: Wadi El Disco.
Accommodation included: Sleep in the communal room or take your mattress outside and sleep under the stars
Day 2: Visit to Wadi Melehis
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
After breakfast we continue to wadi Melehis for a 1-hr hike inside the Melehis Canyon. At the end, in Melehis Oasis, we’ll take a small break under the date palms that surround the natural spring water ponds.
A small hike will bring us back to our jeep who will bring us to wadi al Disco for lunch.
After lunch we will continue to Salama Canyon for another 1 -r hike in this beautiful canyon. Then we will take the jeep to wadi Arada where we will have dinner and spend the night.
Duration: 9 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Wadi el Disco
• Lunch: Wadi el Disco
• Dinner: Wadi Amara
Accommodation included: Sleep in communal room or under the stars
Day 3: Arada Valley & Rock of Inscriptions
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
After breakfast our jeep will take us for a 30-minute drive to a very special place! Some rocks have 2000-year inscriptions, telling us the stories of the tribes that were dwelling in this area a long time ago.
Our next stop will be the Double Canyon in the Arada Valley, where the canyons of two separate mountains flow into one. It requires some serious scrambling, but the reward is a spectacular view.
Next stop will be the evermoving, playful Sand Dunes. Then we drive back to the Bedouin house in Wadi Arada where the Bedouin family will have prepared lunch for us. The matriarch of the family will show us some traditional crafts, which they sell to support their family.
In the afternoon, we will continue our trek. We say goodbye to the lovely Bedouin family and move further into the Sinai Desert. We will make a short stop to look at the ruins of a deserted Nabatean Village.
The last stop for today is the Ecolodge El Karm, where we will enjoy dinner and spend the night.
Duration: 9 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Wadi Arada
• Lunch: Bedouin family Wadi Arada
• Dinner: Ecolodge El Karm
Accommodation included: Ecolodge El Karm
Day 4: Wadi Zaranig
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
After breakfast, we will continue to travel further into the magnificent Sinai Desert. Slowly but steadily, our jeep will take us through the desert, treating us to some striking views. It will take 4 hrs before we will reach our next stop, Wadi Zaranig. We will set out on foot to explore a cave in which a 12.000-year-old wall-painting has been discovered. Amazingly enough, the original colours are still visible.
Lunch will be served in Wadi Zaranig. As soon as we are ready again, the jeep will take us to a location on a 20-minute drive, to see another artefact from the past; the so-called “War scene-story”, engraved in rocks by ancient travellers
The jeep will bring us back to eco-lodge Al Karm where dinner will be served, and we will spend our second night in the eco-lodge.
Duration: 8 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Ecolodge El Karm
• Lunch: Wadi Zaranig
• Dinner: Ecolodge El Karm
Accommodation included: Ecolodge El Karm
Day 5: Wadi Ferein, Gebl Tahuna, Wadi Al Maghareh
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
After breakfast, we will drive to Wadi Ferain, Sinai’s largest and widest wadi. According to legend it is the site of Rephidim, where Moses struck a rock causing it to spring water, for the Hebrews to drink. On mountain Gebl Tahuna. we’ll see the ruins of a 4th-century church and historic tombs and ruins. The 4th-century pilgrim Egeria mentioned this church in her account. Back at the foot of the mountain lunch will be served.
We continue by car to Wadi Al Maghareh, where the ancient Egyptians were mining for turquoise. This is documented in Pharaonic tableaus carved into the mountain rock. A 30-minute climb will give us a perfect view of the mining area. One of the rock walls shows a surprisingly well-preserved tableau of a husband, wife and child holding hands. All 3 family members are pictured as being of the same height, which is unique in Faronic times.
Dinner will be served at Wadi Al Maghareh, where we will also spend the 4th night of our desert adventure trip!
Duration: 9 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Ecolodge El Karm
• Lunch: Gebl Tahuna
• Dinner: Wadi Al Maghareh
Accommodation included: Wadi al Maghareh
Day 6: Wadi Mukkatab, Valley of Inscriptions
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
After our breakfast in Wadi Al Maghareh we will head to Wadi Mukattab, (which is Arabic for “Valley of Writing”), also known as the Valley of Inscriptions. The wadi is named after its valley’s many petroglyphs. Nabataean, Arabic, Coptic and Greek inscriptions are abundant.
We will follow the same route that the pilgrims took when they travelled from Cairo and Suez to Jerusalem.
From here we will continue to Wadi Suggarat where we will see more inscriptions and have lunch. It is time to head to Serabit al-Khadim for dinner and a good night’s sleep!
Duration: 9 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Wadi al Maghareh
• Lunch: Wadi Suggarat
• Dinner: Serabit Al-Khadim
Accommodation included: Serabit Al Khadim
Day 7: Serabit Al Khadim
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
After breakfast we head towards Mount Serabit where we will explore one of the most spectacular sites in the Sinai; the ruins of the ancient Temple of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess who was favoured as a protector in desert regions and known locally as the mistress of the turquoise. The temple is built almost 2000 BC
We continue along the mountain plateau and stop at an ancient cave, ne of the most important places in history! Thirty incised graffiti in a “Proto-Sinaitic script” showing the history of the alphabet. The area was extensively mined for turquoise in antiquity, mainly by prisoners of war from southwest Asia who presumably spoke a Northwest Semitic language, such as the Canaanite, that was ancestral to Phoenician and Hebrew. The incisions date from the beginning of the 16th century BC.
We will have our lunch on the top of Mount Serabit. We then continue our trek through this breathtaking area and head back to the camp at Serabit al-Khadim.
Duration: 9 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Serabit al-Khadim
• Lunch: Mount Serabit
• Dinner: Serabit al-Khadim
Accommodation included: Serabit al-Khadim
Day 8: Wadi Lehiyan, Wadi Suha
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
Today, we will drive through the scenic Wadi Lehiyan. We will make a stop at Behr Nassab to see another tableau with inscriptions. We continue to Wadi Nassab and have a look at some more inscriptions that are carved in the rock by the Nabatean pilgrims.
Following the trail of inscriptions, we will pass Wadi Gehreek and Wadi Baah Baah. Then we will return to Wadi Lehiyan and check out two noamis (tombs). On a short hike of 2 minutes, there are more Nabatean inscriptions to see. Next stop will be at Wadi Sahu. Here we meet Umm Yasser and her family. Umm Yasser is the first female Bedouin guide in the Sinai. Her tribe, the Hamada tribe, is one of the smallest and oldest of the Bedouin tribes. They live in a remote wadi, where you can still experience traditional Bedouin life. She and her husband are fantastic hosts! We will have lunch and relax a little.
In the afternoon, Umm Yasser will take us for another small hike. Then come back to have dinner and spend the night in their house.
Duration: 9 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Serabit al-Khadim
• Lunch: Umm Yasser Wadi Suha
• Dinner: Umm Yasser Wadi Suha
Accommodation included: Umm Yasser House
Day 9: Umm Yasser, Wadi Abussur
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
In the early morning, after breakfast, Umm Yasser will take us on a hike through the mountains near her house. She knows these mountains very well, as this is the place where she’s been herding her goats from a young age and collecting medicinal herbs and firewood for the house.
We will have lunch at Umm Yasser’s house. Her husband Abu Yasser will take us to Wadi Abussur to look at the salty stalactites dripping from the mountains and he will show us the oldest vegetation growing in the desert.
Umm Yasser will prepare dinner for us, and we will spend our second night at Umm Yasser’s family house.
Duration: 9 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Umm Yasser
• Lunch: Umm Yasser
• Dinner: Umm Yasser
Accommodation included: Umm Yasser familyhouse
Day 10: Umm Boggma
Stop At: South Sinai Heritage Camp, Wadi Speta 30km from Sharm Alsheikh, Sharm El Sheikh 00150 Egypt
Today, after breakfast we drive through the scenic Wadi Sahu, to spend the day at Umm Boggma. This abandoned mining village on top of the mountain was built by the British in the early 20th century and is worth a visit. Manganese was used to make glass clear and to desulphurize and deoxidize steel.
Lunch will be served here.
At the end of the day we will head back to our camp at Serabit al-Khadim, passing through Wadi Lehiyan.
Duration: 9 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Umm Yasser
• Lunch: Umm Boggma
• Dinner: Serabit al-Khadim
Accommodation included: Serabit al-Khadim
Day 11: Temple of Hathor, Forest of Pillars
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
We will leave after breakfast to visit Wadi Abu Amira to have a look at the oldest ruin of the Temple of Hathor.
We will enjoy lunch with one of the Bedouin families that live there and then head to Gebl al-Fuga and the Forest of Pillars.
This will be our last night in the desert. We will have dinner and spend the night at the camp at Serabit al-Khadim.
Duration: 9 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Serabit al-Kahdim
• Lunch: Gebl.el Fuga
• Dinner: Serabit al-khadim
Accommodation included: Serabit al-Khadim
Day 12: Umm Boggma, Abu Zenima Hammam Moussa
Stop At: South Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai
It is time to leave the desert and all its wondrous history behind and return to Dahab. We will take the western coastal road, which is part of the pilgrims’ route in Sinai and a proposed Exodus route.
We will see the end of the manganese mining production line, starting in Umm Boggma, which we visited on day 10. Our next stop will bring us to Abu Zenima, where we can have a look at the ruins of the Ancient Egyptian Port that was used to move the turquoise that was mined at Serabit.
Near El Tur, we’ll visit Hammam Moussa, considered to be the place where Moses turned bitter water into sweet water. El Tur is also the site of the early-Christian Raithu monastery, the ruins of which can still be seen on the outskirts of the town.
We head back to Dahab and bring you back to your hotel, estimated arrival time around 5 pm.
Duration: 7 minutes
Meals included:
• Breakfast: Serabit al Khadim
• Lunch: Nearby El Tur
• Dinner: NOT included (back in Dahab by 5 pm)
No accommodation included on this day.
