Day 10 - Aswan: Gardens and Market

In the morning, Amro took Sweetie, me, and one of the other boat guests to the nearby Kichner Island to visit the botanical gardens there. It wasn't as fancy and well-kept as I was hoping, but relaxing and still worthwhile.

Then, we returned and were off on the motorboat again to a special lunch that the staff set up for us on an island opposite us. "Granny" (the oldest guest at about age 80) joined us - getting off the boat for her first time that week and unfortunately injured herself getting into the motorboat. Sweetie alerted the staff and they ran back to the Nesma to get the first aid kit. "Mom" (Granny's daughter) wrapped Granny's hand so many times you would have thought Granny broke her wrist instead of cut her thumb). Anyway, "Mom" said she always wanted to wrap someone's hand up like that:-)

The staff had set up a glorious table under umbrellas, decorated with flowers and palms. It was so much more than we expected. All the effort they had put into it was amazing. It was so scenic and relaxing. And as usual, the food was out-of-this-world delicious.

And the wine was great as well. Egyptian wine was included in the cost of our trip and I have to say that Obelisk makes a very drinkable red and even more drinkable white. Very worthwhile. I think Granny and Mom had their fair share of the white for sure:-) Sweetie and I probably could have had even more, but then I would have even MORE than 10 pounds to lose, so it's just as well.

After our amazing lunch, we had a special tea time at 5PM. We were taken our on the motorboat for some birdwatching among the beautiful islands at Aswan. The area is a protected nature reserve and the ride was absolutely fabulous and quite possibly my favorite event of the trip! We saw so many unusual birds. I only wished that I had a telephoto lens for my camera. Definitely will have to get one before we go to Africa!

After our birdwatching boat ride, we headed straight to Aswan for the market. It was relatively civilized -- well-lit and not too crowded. Sweetie and I made a few purchases (spending a grant total of about $7 for two scarves and some tea).

Dinner wasn't far off by the time we returned from our excursion (does it sound like we were eating all the time? But actually there were usually 6 or 7 hours between meals). Scrumptious cauliflower soup, risotto with mushrooms flavored with saffron and tumeric, canneloni with spinach and potatoes. Then, the chef brought out a huge and extremely decadent chocolate cake as it was our last dinner. They chef and Haras looked at me questioningly, and I said "Yeah I'll have a piece!" All week they had given me fruit for dessert instead of the rich cakes that the others had (which I decided was just as well, because it helped keep the weight gain down!).