Active In The Sinai - Family Holiday

Day 1
Those on the group flights will be met at the airport and transferred to the hotel in Dahab. Those not on the group flights will join the group at the hotel. You will receive full details of exactly where to meet your leader on the Joining Instructions which will be sent to you 2-3 weeks before your trip starts.

Day 2
After breakfast you will head into the desert, driving 50 km north east of Dahab. Here you meet your cameleers and Bedouin hosts before taking a 40 minute camel ride to reach the top of the White Canyon. Descend the canyon on foot and walk through the canyon for approximately 90 minutes before emerging into Ein Hudra, a lush palm oasis and natural spring. After lunch, which is taken within the oasis garden, you will enjoy an afternoon trek to Mushroom Rock and the Narrow Canyon.
After an approximately one hour trek (by camel or on foot) you set up camp and help to prepare dinner which is cooked on an open fire and served buffet style. The evening is spent under the stars in a Bedouin camp with your guide regaling tales of local folklore. The camp consists of woven Bedouin tents (sleeping up to 10 people) with carpets and mattresses. The camp is sectioned into several areas; a sleeping/relaxation area and a kitchen area which is set away from the main tent. In Winter it can get very cold in the desert, so you are advised to bring a sleeping bag. Additional blankets are provided.

Day 3
After breakfast the 4x4 Jeeps arrive to take you south into 'Lawrence of Arabia Desert' where you discover the frozen dinosaur rock formation and the sand dune of Hadoudah which is the highest dune in the Sinai and a great place to give sand boarding a go! Lunch is provided at the sand dunes and you will then return to Dahab by early evening, with plenty of time to explore and enjoy dinner in one of its many restaurants.

Day 4
Today is a free day with a variety of optional activities (at additional charge) that you can try, or simply relax if you prefer. Why not delve into the fascinating underwater world of the Red Sea with an introductory SCUBA dive? Lasting approximately 3 hours the session includes theory and briefing with an equipment overview and underwater session to depths of up to 12m. Alternatively, a windsurfing 'get wet' session is a fun way to spend half a day in the laguna area of Dahab.

Day 5
After an early breakfast, enjoy a snorkel safari in the Southern Oasis, a remote and pristine area with a huge variety of colourful marine life and coral. It gets its name from a patch of palm trees that stand nearby. You have a stop for lunch before getting back in the water to further explore the coral islands and pinnacles. That evening, for those who still have energy left, you can choose to go on an optional trip to St. Catherine's Monastery combined with a climb up Gebel Mousa, better known as Mt Sinai (2285m) where Moses received the Ten Commandments.
Departing late evening you take a 2 hour drive to St. Catherine's Monastery and start the climb up Mt Sinai. This will take approximately 2.5 hrs to reach the summit for sunrise at around 5.30am, assuring us of wonderful dawn views (and making the early rise very worthwhile). The views at dawn are magnificent as we look across the barren mountain range. It is a relatively easy hike although there are a lot of steps up to the top and it can be windy. There are plenty of resting places along the route, with an area at Elias Garden for teas and coffees, just before the 720 'Steps of Repentance' to the summit. Camels can be hired to take you most of the way up the mountain, although you will need to dismount when you reach the steps. This is a beautiful climb, which offers a taste of the serenity and magnificence of southern Sinai's high mountain region.
Saint Catherine's Monastery, built around the putative Burning Bush, is where God manifested himself to Moses (Exodus 3:5-6). It was once only accessible by being winched over the high walls, but we can now enter by more conventional means. The inside of the monastery is a fascinating collection of chapels, monks' cells and even a mosque.

Day 6
For those who chose to remain in Dahab and not venture to Mt. Sinai, there is a choice of optional activities for you to enjoy (additional charge). You can choose to kayak - a 1 hr session on the local reef. Kayaks are double seated with a see through base for watching the floral & fauna. If you chose the optional visit to St Catherine's and Mt. Sinai, you will return to Dahab around 2pm for a well-earned rest!

Day 7
Today is your final full day and you can go on another snorkelling trip if you wish. This time you drive to the Blue Hole, where camels await. From there, enjoy a camel ride along the coastline into the National Park of Ras Abu Gaullum for approximately 1 hour. The trip includes lunch and plenty of fantastic snorkelling opportunities in the Red Sea. If you prefer, you could instead set sail heading south into the National Park of Nabq to Gabr el Bint. This is a remote and pristine area with a huge variety of marine life and hard and soft corals. You will enjoy lunch onboard and plenty of snorkelling in and around Gabr el Bint (both excursions are at additional charge). Alternatively, you can spend the day at Dahab, perhaps relaxing by the hotel pool or wandering around the shops.
On your final evening, we will share our last group meal together. Departing the hotel late afternoon, you will go in a 4WD for roughly one and a half hours into the local wadi where you will have dinner with a Bedouin family, before returning to Dahab by jeep.

Day 8
For those not on the group flights the tour ends here after breakfast. Those on the group flights will be transferred to the airport for your flight back to London.