Notes From the Field: O.A.T. Associates in Egypt

At O.A.T., we encourage all our associates to experience our adventures firsthand—and share their most memorable highlights along the way. Below, hear from two associates who are currently traveling in Egypt on O.A.T.’s Egypt & the Eternal Nile by Private, Classic River-Yacht adventure.

A Day in the Life of Daraw

We spent the morning visiting Daraw, a non-touristic city on our itinerary. As part of our learning and discovery, we got an exclusive opportunity to interact with the locals and visit a few markets. Daraw is known for its camel markets, which only happen two times a week on Saturdays and Sundays. It was just our luck that we would be visiting Daraw on Sunday! Once we got off our dahabeya, we hopped on a motorboat and took a short ride to Daraw. Upon arrival, we hopped in the back of a pickup truck and zipped down a dirt road toward the camels. Tuk-tuks and motorbikes zoomed past us, honking their horns and waving at us Americans as we passed them by. 

Since it’s such a small group of us, we were all together in one truck. Our Trip Experience Leader, Amr, gave us a heads up that the locals scream and shout when it comes to negotiating the price of the camels. “Only 2000 USD,” Amr said as we piled out onto the big dirt field and were immediately greeted by a group of men. We walked around and got to listen to a few shouting matches, aka the locals negotiating a fair price.

After that, we got to visit a local produce market that also only happens once a week. We got to practice greeting the locals in Arabic, as-salamu alaykum (peace be upon you), as we walked by them. We even visited a nearby church. On this particular Sunday, they were celebrating Easter (a week after the U.S. holiday), so the church was filled with children singing hymns. It was a moment that captured all our hearts.

The day just kept getting better in Daraw. Once we were back in our pick-up truck, two local boys followed us on their motorbike, sugar cane hanging out of their mouths. One of the little boys jumped on the back of our truck and got a free ride, but we didn’t mind one bit! 

Today’s visit had the most impact on me. These off-the-beaten-track moments and interactions with locals bring me so much gratitude. Witnessing these people live simply and without reservation reminds me why I love to travel with O.A.T.

          — Madilyn Amico, Copywriter

Setting Sail

We're on our first full day on the dahabeya, and the word that keeps coming to mind is magical! Seeing the sights I've learned about and seen through books and movies is just mind-boggling. We go from these epic visuals of how amazingly preserved King Tut's tomb is, to the small but fantastic moments where I helped make some Egyptian folded pie with the locals (harder than it looks). Rehab, our Trip Experience Leader, has led us on to so many magical little moments with the locals and I’m falling in love with this country and tour more every day. I am in de-Nile that this tour has to come to an end. 

The dahabeyas have these gorgeous sails, however, since we're heading upstream and the wind isn't that strong, it’s faster to be pulled along by tugboat. But they did choose to let down their sails today to let us have the full experience for 30-45 minutes. Well, they docked along the edge of the Nile so they could attach the tugboat and open the sails, but something was wrong with the tugboat. It wouldn't turn back on! Once the crew realized they couldn't fix it, our wonderful boat manager, Wael, was already calling ahead to get a new tugboat, but it was two hours out. So, what could we do but continue sailing under our own power? Instead of 30-45 minutes of sailing, we got two-and-a-half hours of sailing! Plan B turned out to be such a better experience than Plan A, and this will be a story I'm going to remember for many years to come. 

High Hopes … Realized

The night before we were scheduled to do our hot air balloon ride, we were told we had an 80/20 chance in favor of going up. Well, we got up at 4am and were on our way across the Nile in a little boat with a gourmet breakfast of coffee and a twinkie.

When we got to the field it was 5:15am and dozens of balloons were laid out ready to inflate. By 5:30am we were ready to fly but we had to wait for clearance from the airport. Our window was to take off by 6:15am, if we didn't get clearance by then, they were going to have to cancel.

We stood around starting to lose hope as 6am passed and still nothing. At 6:07am, suddenly, there was lots of shouting and the fans were turned on! We were going to fly today! And it was such a magical experience seeing the ruins, fields, and homes from above!

          — Sammi Patriarca, Traveler Support Associate

Experience both daily life in modern-day Egypt and celebrated antiquities during Egypt & the Eternal Nile by Private, Classic River-Yacht.