Serabit El Khadem

Dahab (0)
from/per person 400
  • Trekking

Description

Safari by jeep with day hikes

Serabit El Khadem – or Rumlah as the wider area is known – is a remote area of the Sinai desert where people are still living the quiet Bedouin life.Goats and sheep are grazed on the dunes, camels roam freely, water is collected from reservoirs or pumped from wells, and every member of the family is involved in looking after the house and guests.

Visit Rumlah any time, October to April, but if you have the chance to visit in Spring, you are in for the experience of a lifetime.

What’s included

  • 4 day/3 night desert safari by jeep
  • Full board camping
  • Starts/end in Dahab or Cairo (for Cairo pick up, extra taxi charge)
  • Add accommodation and airport transfers before/after the trek, as you book
  • If you dive, freedive or climb, you can also add these before/after the trek, just add a note to your booking

Minimum 3 people to guarantee safari. Single travelers are welcome. We will add you to a group, or suggest alternative date/safari. 

If you have any questions, just ask!

 


Schedule

Serabit El Khadem and Rumlah are half way between Dahab and Cairo, so safaris can start from either. Itineraries are flexible as there are many things to see and do, and seasonal highlghts. This example is 4 days from Dahab, in Spring:

Day 1: Dahab – Safra dune – Arada canyons – Wadi Abu Taheyma

  • Early morning start from Dahab
  • After 1 hour, off road through beautiful sandstone mountains.
  • Wadi Safra dunes and well
  • Arrive at Wadi Arada for a 2nd breakfast
  • Spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon scrambling 2 canyons, with lunch on the open dunes
  • Late afternoon, drive to Wadi Abu Taheyma – an excellent area for wild herbs and salad greens
  • Camp overnight under the stars

Day 2: Wadi el Achdar – Wadi Barrag – Rumlah

  • Drive through the high granite mountains by road for 1 hour, then off-road again.
  • Our route to Rumlah is via Wadi el Achdar and Wadi Barrag, with beautiful views of the St Catherine range from the summit. Early lunch at ‘Echo Rock’.
  • Wadi Barrag is a real experience! A stone road (little more than a path) through a wadi filled with granite boulders and Acacia trees. Great fun, but you will be very happy to arrive at the soft sands of Rumlah!
  • Dinner & overnight in the Bedouin tent, on the dunes.

Day 3: Serabit El Khadem – Sheikh Habus – Muzra

  • Breakfast around the fire. See bread being made in the fire, try fresh goats milk (sweet in Spring) and enjoy the morning routine.
  • Hike the temple at Serabit El Khadem – mountain top ruins of an ancient Pharonic and Hexus temple, and the namesake for the area. In Pharonic times, the temple was dedicated to Hathor, an ancient mother-goddess especially associated with the arts. She was the goddess of the turquoise miners who discovered the rich veins of Serabit around 3500 BC.
  • Lunch with a family in the village.
  • Afternoon walk/drive around the area including El Dura (sandstone formation), Sheikh Habus (burial site and gathering place) and the Muzra (Bedouin garden and guest house).
  • Dinner & overnight at the Muzra.

Day 4: Hamayir – Forest of Pillars – Wadi Siyh – Dahab

  • Morning drive through the wide wadi to Hamayir – a granite and sandstone rock formation with a high dune, Acacias in the wadi and reservoirs of rain water.
  • Continue to the Forest of Pillars – lava pillars left standing after wind and water eroded the surrounding sandstone. Lunch.
  • Finally through Wadi Siyh to the road at Wadi Fieran.
  • Around sunset, return to Dahab.

 

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