Egypt
Pyramids and 7 Night Freestyle Nile Cruise

8 days/7 nights - Multiple 2012 Departure Dates

PRICE: $1425 per person/double occupancy

Egypt is the cradle of civilization, the land of religions and the gateway to Africa, but above all, Egypt is the gift of the Nile. Visit the ancient splendors of the Pharaohs, the early glories of Christianity and the masterpieces of Islam, and explore its seas which have some of the most beautiful seafloors in the world, as well as its deserts which have been isolated from the fertility of the Nile.

For more than a thousand years, Luxor, was the religious capital of Egypt. The Greeks called it Thebes, until the Arabs baptized it Medinet el Kussur, "City of Palaces", from which the name Luxor derived. It was the capital of the Pharaohs of the New Empire which coincided with the greatest period of splendor in the Egyptian history. Evidence of the city's glorious past can be seen in the temple of Karnak erected to the glory of Amon- Ra, king of gods... On the West Bank, the kings of ancient Egypt, including Seti I Rameses VI and Tubankhamon, thought they would rest undisturbed during their journeys into eternity. Beyond the temple of Queen Hatsheput you can find the Colossi of Memnon, so called by the Greeks in memory of Homeric hero Memnon.

Edfu (antiquity name is Behdet) is an Egyptian city, located on the west bank of the Nile River between Esna and Aswan, with a population of approximately sixty thousand people. Edfu is the site of the Ptolemaic Temple of Horus and an ancient settlement, Tell Edfu. About 3 miles north of Edfu are remains of ancient pyramids.

Aswan is where the valley of the Nile ends and where Nubia begins, a land which provided Pharaohs, gold building materials, valuable woods and the very best soldiers. Historically, the city was a stopping place for caravans coming from southern Africa: the great souk, a market brimming with local foodstuffs and all kinds of spices, is the inheritance and symbol of this trading past. Today, you can find the famous caves from which the Pharaohs of Thebes extracted the granite of their temples, obelisks and statures. You can as well admire the enormous dimensions of the High Dam, a supreme piece of modern engineering work was built between 1964 and 1970 to stem the floods of the Nile. Its construction led to the formation of the immense lake Nasser.

Kom Ombo is home to many Nubians who were displaced from their ancestral homes by the rise of Lake Nasser when the Aswan Dam was built. Sugar cane is harvested on the river banks and there are felucca-building yards here.
In ancient times, Kom Ombo, sat at an important crossroads between the caravan route from Nubia and trails from the gold mines. It later became the training grounds for war elephants.
It is home to The temple at Kom Ombo, which is dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, and quite unusually, it also honors Haroeris, a form of the falcon-headed god Horus.

The Ships

Ship amenities and full descriptions are available here:
Magic I
Magic II
Lady Mary
Lady Carol

2012 Dates:

This tour runs Sunday to Sunday and is available any week beginning on May 6, 2012 through August 26, 2012. See the full list of dates below.

Daily Itinerary:

Day 1: Sunday - Luxor

Arrival and Embarkation on the cruise

Meals: D
Overnight: On Board

Day 2: Monday - Luxor, Edfu

Explore on your own or take an optional excursion

Optional excursion: Morning visit to West Bank including Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon.