Sailing into the Delta

This sojourn took us by car with our guide Debbie and driver Tarek, north of Cairo into the Delta region. We went to Qannater where Cairenes go for a day trip away from Cairo. This is near where the Nile splits into the Damietta and Rosetta branches. We drove through many villages (similar to what we had seen in other regions of Egypt) with narrow alleys, workshops,small farm allotments and lots of noise and traffic. Debbie (who is the owner of Casual Cairo and has been so helpful organizing some of our day trips) first took us to the best fish shop in the region to buy some fresh Sea Bass, Calamari and prawns to take for our lunch. From there, we drove to join Mr Ali, who owned the motor boat that would take us for a cruise around the delta islands. He was a friendly Egyptian grandfather who was all smiles & warmth to us. Once out on the water we tucked into our feast. The restaurant had cooked the fish in a special blend of spices, tomato and onion and everything was succulent,fresh and delectable. The ubiquitous salad, Egyptian bread, tahina and baba ghanoush accompanied the meal. Stomachs were full at the end. To walk this off, we were dropped off on an island for a guided walking tour around a traditional farm. We saw banana plantations, learnt about how they are managed and discovered what baby bananas look like. There were small sections of alfalfa, divided by cabbage borders, roses and bird of paradise flowers for florists. J2 & Debbie were presented with beautiful bouquets. We were shown a 50 year old Egyptian bee hive, explained how it worked, & later had a dessert called Fatir with their own honey drizzled over the top. The basic principle of farming appeared to involve using everything and waste nothing. J2 loved the fact that doors to the barns were painted and decorated elaborately. Overall the day was one lazy afternoon, cruising in the Nile, re-establishing our attachment with this great river.