Deluxe Rihana Dahabiya

Your Deluxe Rihana Dahabiya and Yacht on the Nile
Listed rate include domestic air fare within Egypt
Available for private cruise on the Nile

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Rihana Dahabiya is available for private charter and private Nile Cruises. There are ten cabins – all outside cabins that are equipped with their own private facilities. Enjoy the luxury lounge and dining room, and watch the Nile slip by as you relax on the comfortable sun deck.

Your Rihana Dahabiya features:

• Dimensions: 50 meters (length) x 7.5 meters (width) x 0.8 meters (draft).
• Two masts sailboat.
• Fully furnished eight deluxe cabins (Two cabins with matrimonial bed and Six cabins Twin Bedded).
• Dining facilities,and lounge.
• Open-air Jacuzzi.
• Room Service.
• Same day laundry service with express pressing service.
• Sprinkling System, Anti-Fire treatment and Fire Safety measures.
• Doctor on call 24 hours (additional $$).
• First aid kit.
• Medical attention: nurse / doctor available upon request (additional $$).
• Internet access.
• Boutique and gift shop.

Your Cabin on board the Rihana Dahabiya features:

• Each cabin is 17.75 Sq meters (including a private bathroom/shower 3.75 Sq. meter).
• In-cabin electronic personal safe.
• Panoramic large windows with sound proof.
• Individual controlled A/C.
• Telephone with voice mail message.
• In-cabin coffee and tea tray service.
• Individual interactive TV.
• Hairdryer/Bathrobe.
• Private bathroom with walk-in shower.
• Music system with daily program.

Day 1: Saturday – CAIRO / Luxor (or Aswan)
Private transfer is included from your hotel in Cairo to the airport, if you prefer that we assist with your hotel in Cairo, please let’s know. Air fare is included Cairo / Luxor – Aswan / Cairo. Economy class. Tax included. Transfer is included in Luxor from: Your hotel or Luxor Airport (Please advise your arrival details). Private Chauffeur. Private air-conditioned vehicle for your transfer.

Embarkation in Luxor for a relaxing week sailing the Nile on a luxuriously appointed dahabiya.
Today we visit the magnificent temple complex of Amon-Ra at Karnak, with its vast hypostyle hall of 137 columns, followed by the imposing 28th Dynasty Luxor Temple, and Luxor Museum, then on to: Deir El Medinah is on Luxor’s west bank where you get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life at the ancient workers’ settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we’ll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers’ paradise, we’ll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs.

Overnight moored on the Nile banks of Luxor. Cabin amenity for tonight: A fruit basket awaits you in your cabin with our compliments.

Day 2: Sunday
Today we head to the West Bank for visits to the burial places of the Pharaohs – the Valley of the Kings – where Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922. Continue to the adjacent Valley of the Queens, the temple of Medinet Habu, the Ramesseum and the Colossi of Memnon. In the evening your guide will call on you for a horse-drawn carriage ride throughout Luxor souks and water front. Overnight moored in Luxor.

Day 3: Monday – We Include the Tour to Esna Temple.
Today will be a leisurely day. After breakfast, we sail to Esna, go through Esna Locks. Private guide to visit Esna Temple. Cabin amenity for tonight: Egyptian sweets platter. With our compliments.

Day 4: Tuesday – On Board Your Nile Cruise
This morning you will sail to Edfu to visit the wonderfully preserved Temple of Edfu. Overnight moored beside a Nile island. Cabin amenity for tonight: Galabya (the local flowing traditional garb),with our compliments.

Day 5: Wednesday- On Board Your Nile Cruise
Today you will sail to Kom Ombo visit see the Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon-headed Horus, god of the morning sun.

Day 6: Thursday – Aswan – Soheil Island
A leisurely day sailing to Aswan where the dahabiya moors overnight. Upon arrival we invite our interested guests to a short camel ride to a nearby Nubian Village, time permitting we may be able to go to Soheil Island. In the evening your guide will call on you for a horse-drawn carriage ride through the Aswan souks and waterfront.

Day 7: Friday – Aswan
Today you will visit the Aswan High Dam (completed in 1971); the Old Dam (completed in 1902). You will also visit the Philae Temple, dedicated to the goddess Isis, a structure rescued from the rising waters of Lake Nasser at the time of the High Dam’s construction. We tour the Nubian Museum before heading back to the Sonesta dahabiya. Evening Sound and Light show at Philae Temple.

Day 8: Saturday – Aswan
Breakfast aboard the dahabiya and check-out. We’ll disembark at Aswan after breakfast. Transfer is included back to Aswan Airport, air fare is included as well in economy class with tax, Aswan / Cairo. Upon arrival at Cairo Airport, our local rep. will assist with your transfer to the International Terminal for your onward flight to your home country, or to any hotel you have booked in Cairo. You may your travel homeward, or perhaps you’ll choose to linger for a few days where royalty have traditionally spent a winter in the fine, dry climate amid splendid dining and entertainment. Add Cairo stay and Abu Simbel. Click here for Sonesta Dahabiya – ASWAN to LUXOR Itinerary.

Rates for the Deluxe Rihana Dahabiya The Eight Day Program:
Rates Per person sharing in Double cabin:	USD $ 2095.
Rates Per person in single cabin:	USD $ 4088.

Peak Season period Supplement: Please add % 10 to the listed rates for Easter, Christmas and New Year (Dec 20 – Jan 1)

Rate Includes:

• Two transfers in Cairo: from your hotel to the airport and from the airport back to your hotel after coming back from Upper Egypt.
• All transfers in Luxor and Aswan, always on a private basis.
• Air fare in economy class, between Cairo and the cruise / dahabiya.
• Guided sightseeing including all entrance fees, all as per itinerary, on board the Dahabiya you are part of a small English speaking group, if you prefer a private guide, please add: $ $350 USD per person.
• Private air-conditioned vehicle with a private chauffeur.
• Pre set meals as listed including B = Breakfast, (or cB, Continental Breakfast), L = Lunch, D = Dinner
• Tea/ coffee and afternoon tea while on board the Deluxe Nile Cruise
• One large bottle of water (for each guest) delivered to your cabin daily while on board the cruise.
• One small bottle of water for each guest, with each meal, every day while on board the cruise
• An Egyptian Galabiya (100% Egyptian Cotton) with our compliments, delivered to your cabin
• A welcome fruit basket, awaits you in your cabin upon arrival with our compliments.

Rate Does Not Includes:

• Travel Insurance.
• tips.
• International air fare from / to your home country.
• Domestic air fare within Egypt.
• Visa fee is $ 15 payable in cash upon arrival at Cairo or Luxor Airport, the visa will be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for: American, EU, Canadian, Singaporean and Japanese citizens. You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 months beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. will meet you with a sign in your name after you exit the terminal.

Royal feluccas and Dahabbiyas bore a larger-than-life image of the pharaoh, seated on a throne, to be seen and venerated by inhabitants even along the most remote canal. In turn, imbued with the same “ka,” or spirit, as the living pharaoh himself, it would keep watch over his subjects and their activities.

So integral was the Nile Dahabbiya and felucca to the ancient Egyptian way of life that it assumed legendary attributes. Even today, you can see the oldest known Nile felucca, the regal pharaonic Dahabia of Cheops, the ruler immortalized by the Great Pyramid at Giza. Known as the Solar Boat, it was believed to sail through the skies carrying its royal passenger along sunbeams in his single cabin, the royal suite of its day.

In later times, pashas, emirs, and sultans found that feluccas were indispensable. When Napoleon invaded Egypt, the Mamluks rulers observed the Battle of the Pyramids from their dahabeahs, and in the wake of defeat, set them afire, still laden with treasures, in the middle of the river. Always one to adapt to local practice, Napoleon even had his own dahabeah, the Italy, which was used by his officers to explore Upper Egypt.

In the nineteenth century, the well-equipped Nile Dahabbiya and felucca was essential to the upper-crust adventurer. Lord Kitcheners used several feluccas for his famous trip from Cairo to Khartoum.

It took from two to three months to ascend the Nile under wind power, and another month-and-a-half to float back downstream, stopping at the great temples along the way. King Farouk, Churchill, Montgomery, Mark Twain and others settled in for the journey, and a certain Lady Edwards even had a piano installed on her sailing vessel.

Eventually, steamers displaced dahabeahs, opening up an Egyptian adventure to greater numbers on Thomas Cook’s tours, and trains nearly finished them off. But never completely. Even today, despite the inroads of rail, steam power, and highways, the graceful Nile felucca retains its place.

A skilled river captain is on board at all times. A guide is at your disposal to plan your itinerary and escort you through the sites you choose to visit. The crew has completely separate quarters, to ensure your privacy.