Trans Sinai Trek

Description

Join our annual Trans Sinai Trek

Join us 20-31 October for our annual trek across South Sinai. On your Sinai trek, you’ll use the old Bedouin trails to travel from Serabit El Khadem, near the Gulf of Suez, to Ras Abu Galum and Dahab on the Gulf of Aqaba.

You’ll traverse every kind of desert landscape: wide wadis, deep canyons, high mountain plateaus, dunes and palm tree oases. And you’ll finish your Sinai trek snorkeling a beautiful coral garden in Ras Abu Galum.

The Landscape

The Trans Sinai Trek takes you through 4 distinct areas:

• Serabit El Khadem and Rumlah: wide wadis in the shadow of Jebel El Tih, where you will find many people living the traditional, largely self-sustaining, Bedouin life.
• Arada Canyons and Jebel El Guna: a stunning sandstone landscape carved by the elements. You’ll travel through 2 of the great Arada canyons, and enjoy amazing views from the El Guna Plateau.
• Ein Khudra Oasis to the sea: descend from the plateau to Ein Khudra, a palm tree oasis in the heart of the desert. From Ein Khudra, you’ll travel one last mountain trail to make the final descent to the Gulf of Aqaba.
• Ras Abu Galum: this Bedouin fishing settlement is home to one of the most beautiful coral gardens in the area. You’ll have time to swim and snorkel the colourful reef. If you are divers, we can also arrange for you to scuba dive.

On a Trans Sinai trek, you will love how you settle in to the quiet rhythm of the mountains, sea and Sinai Bedouin life.

Fitness Level and Conditions

Meeting Point

• Starting point is Cairo or Dahab. We recommend flying in to Cairo, to make the most of your time.
• End point is Dahab. Fly out from Sharm El Sheikh.

It’s also possible to extend your holiday and spend time on the Red Sea in Dahab. As you book, you’ll see options to add accommodation, airport transfers, etc.

What’s included

• 12 day/11 night Sinai trek
• Full board rough camping
• Optional pick up from Cairo
• Option to add time in Dahab before/after safari

Minimum 3 people to guarantee the Trans Sinai Trek. Single travelers are welcome. We will add you to a group or suggest an alternative date/safari. 

If you have any questions, just ask!

Or if you need a shorter safari, check out our other Sinai treks.

Schedule

The trek is divided into 4 main areas:

1. Serabit El Khadem and Rumlah

This area is next to Jebel El Tih, the mountain range dividing north and south Sinai. It is characterized by wide wadis, large rolling dunes and families still living the traditional Bedouin life.

The safari starts with a 1 day drive to the base of Serabit El Khadem, the last half of which is off-road:

• Wadi Fieran: palm tree valley at the intersection of routes between St Catherine, Rumlah and the sea.
• Remains of an old Roman school
• Wadi Makatteb: the Valley of Inscriptions, where many travellers and pilgrims have left their mark over the centuries.

Other attractions on this part of the trek include:

• Serabit El Khadem: mountain top ruins of an ancient Hexus temple. Also the name of the nearby village and 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.
• Sheikh Habus: burial site, used as a gathering place for family get-togethers and meetings (zwaras)
• Bedouin crafts: the women here make beautiful carpets, weaving from a mix of cotton and wool spun from their own herds.
• Himayir: granite and sandstone rock formation with a high dune. Acacias in the wadi and reservoirs of rain water.
• Forest of Pillars (El Fouga): lava pillars left standing after wind and water eroded the surrounding sandstone.
• Wadi Garaba: ‘the valley from which all others descend’, so you can imagine that this is a nice walk with wide open views.
• Ras Zaranig: the head (‘Ras’) of the Zaranig canyons, and doorway to a completely different landscape.

2. Arada Canyons and El Guna Plateau

Deep canyons that join Jebel El Tih to Jebel El Guna. Trekking the canyons is amazing, and emerging from them to the El Guna Plateau is breathtaking. This area is empty and one of the most remote areas you will ever find yourself.

• Zaranig Canyons: 3 deep dry canyons made of sandstone. We spend 2 full days trekking the canyons.
• El Guna Plateau: high sandstone plateau that stretches for 50km to Ein Khudra oasis, separating the southeast and middle west areas of Sinai. Sea shell fossils and quartz, and beautiful views all the way to Dahab (southwest) and Nuweiba (southeast).

3. Ein Khudra Oasis to the sea

From the El Guna Plateau, water floods to Nuweiba in the East or Dahab in the West. We follow the western route to Ein Khudra Oasis then the final coastal mountain trail:

• Jebel Makhrum area: a flat region leading to a sandstone mountain range, including a small mountain with a hole through it.
• El Hadudeh: largest and most impressive sand dune in South Sinai.
• Bir El Ogda: wells and abandoned settlement above Ras Abu Galum.

4. Ras Abu Galum

There is something almost miraculous about emerging from the desert to the sea.

Ras Abu Galoum is a remote Bedouin fishing settlement. Swim in Laguna, snorkel a beautiful coral garden at Dheyla, then take a final 1 hr camel trail to the Blue Hole and jeep to Dahab.

For all our desert treks and safaris, start here Trekking Sinai