Abu Sembel at night. Photo: Bryan Bland
Egypt is renowned for its abundance of archaeological and historical sites. Most people dream of visiting the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx, the Valley of the Kings and the temples at Karnak, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae, and Abu Simbel. In addition to these riches, Egypt provides exciting birdwatching, with a number of African species such as Senegal Thick-knee, Greater Painted-snipe, Kittlitz’s Plover, Senegal Coucal, and Nile Valley Sunbird reaching their northern limits here. In fact, there are some two dozen species concentrated in this region that are difficult to find anywhere else in the Western Palearctic. And the many migrant birds passing through en route from Africa to Eurasia at this time of year add an extra dimension to the birder’s experience.
We’ll visit the major archaeological sites and Egypt’s best areas for birds, including the amazing Sinai Peninsula. This will include a visit to St. Catherine’s Monastery in the dramatic central mountain range, where Palestine Sunbird, Blackstart, Yellow-vented bulbul, Tristram’s Grackle, and Sinai Rosefinch are the specialties.
An exciting development last year was the addition of two entire days exploring the southern Red Sea coast as far as the Sudan border at Shalatein, no longer off-limits to foreign visitors. The 2009 tour discovered Swift Tern and African Collared-Dove here, both from the “Vagrants” section of the Princeton field guide; we also saw Lappet-faced Vulture and Hume’s Owl. For 2010, to give us a chance of finding ever more vagrants and local rarities, we’ve added a third day in this fascinating area.
We’re convinced that this tour offers the most amazing combination of birds and history available in the Western Palearctic—an unbeatable sequence of marvelous experiences that has thrilled and delighted participants for twenty years.
Day 1: The tour begins with a flight from London to Cairo. Night in Cairo.
Day 2: Our first day will be a comprehensive introduction to birds and history, with visits to the fascinating stepped pyramid of Sakkara (a nesting site for Pharaoh Eagle-Owl) and the mastabas of Ti and Mereruka (for amazingly accurate carved representations of the birds of ancient Egypt), the Great Pyramids, the Solar Boat, and the Sphinx. We’ll also visit the Cairo Museum, home to the fabulous Tutankhamun collection and many other wonders of ancient Egypt, all of which will whet the appetite for the marvels awaiting us over the next two weeks. Night in Cairo.
Day 3: Today will be spent in the bird-rich areas of the East Delta and Gebel Asfar. In this mosaic of reedbeds, fish farms and agriculture, we could encounter a variety of species including White-breasted Kingfisher (the only location in Africa for this Asian species), Greater Painted-snipe, Senegal Coucal, Streaked Weaver, Kittlitz’s Plover, Spotted Redshank, and Marsh Sandpiper. We’ll then go to the old Islamic district of Khan el Kalili for some shopping in the narrow streets of the bazaar, followed by a meal at a famous old Egyptian restaurant. Night in Cairo.
Day 4: This morning we’ll drive east across the desert to Suez, keeping a lookout for Cream-colored Courser, Scrub Warbler, Bar-tailed Desert, Desert, and Hoopoe Larks, and Desert, Mourning, and Isabelline Wheatears. From the cool comfort of our restaurant table, we might see our first Great Black-headed, Caspian, or White-eyed Gulls, plus guaranteed House Crows. We’ll then cross from Africa to Asia by a tunnel under the Suez Canal and experience a new avifauna: Yellow-vented rather than Common Bulbuls, Palestine rather than Nile Valley Sunbirds, for example. We’ll drive down the Sinai Peninsula towards St. Catherine’s Monastery, 5,000 feet above sea level, and founded in AD 527 on the traditional site of Moses’ still-flourishing burning bush. At dusk we’ll venture into the cool canyons to look for Hume’s Tawny Owl. Night at St. Catherine’s.
Day 5: One possible (but very optional) start to the day is to climb Gebel Musa (Mount Moses), to experience dawn at the spot where legend holds that Moses received the Ten Commandments. Later, a morning visit to the Greek Orthodox monastery will combine birds and history admirably. The original sixth-century walls and church dedicated to the Virgin Mary still stand, as does the mosque built in the seventh century, when the Muslims spared this Christian refuge. The gardens of the monastery attract migrant and resident birds including Chukar, Tristram’s Grackle, Scrub Warbler, and Sinai Rosefinch. We’ll then explore Wadi Feran for Blackstart and any Sinai specialities missed so far (such as Palestine Sunbird and Yellow-vented Bulbul), and then return via the Suez tunnel and proceed south to our beach hotel near St. Paul’s Monastery.
Day 6: St. Paul’s is a fascinating fourth-century Coptic site that is also a migrant trap. On past tours we’ve seen Thrush Nightingale, Wryneck, Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler, Cream-colored Courser, and Sand Partridge here. Given an east wind, we could also see thousands of Steppe Buzzards plus Egyptian Vulture and Steppe, Imperial, Booted, and Short-toed Eagles. We then head south to El Gouna, just north of Hurghada, where we’ll explore the farms and hotel gardens for more migrants.
Day 7: Surrounded by barren desert and sea, the gardens of the hotels in El Gouna are the only patches of green for miles. Consequently, some of the many migrants passing over Egypt stop off here to rest and refuel, and searching the farms and gardens can be great fun. This is also a point where the mountains meet the sea and where migrating raptors linger and circle to gain height. For most of the day, though, we’ll take a private boat out onto the Red Sea and around the islands in search of Brown Booby, Western Reef Egret, Sooty and White-eyed Gulls, and Crested and White-cheeked Terns. Before and after lunch on board, there will be a chance for some great snorkeling: the Red Sea is host to more than 800 fish species. Night in El Gouna.
Day 8: After an early morning search for more migrants and a post-breakfast scan for raptors, we’ll drive south to El Qusir for lunch in the Mövenpick hotel that recently hosted a Gray Hypocolius. If the authorities allow it, we’ll take a three-mile detour to the spring of Bir Beida, where Crowned Sandgrouse come to drink. Other resident specialities include the elusive Sand Partridge, Hooded Wheatear, and Trumpeter Finch, and on one occasion we discovered Pale Rock Sparrow here. We’ll take our time exploring the desert to the south, and spend the night at the Shams Alam resort, south of Marsa Alam.
Day 9: Shams Alam resort has hosted some impressive rarities, including another Gray Hypocolius, Black Bush Robin, Pink-headed Dove (breeding at the hotel), and Menetries’s Warbler. In 2009 we saw Cretzschmar’s Bunting, Siberian Stonechat, and Isabelline Shrike here. This additional day will give us time to explore Wadi el-Gemal and Wadi Abu Ghusson for Bar-tailed Desert and Hoopoe Larks, Sand Partridge, Lanner and Barbary Falcons, Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse, and even possible wintering Desert, Menetries’s, and Cyprus Warblers. Night at the Shams Alam resort.
Day 10: The most extensive area of mangroves in Egypt, Hamata is also the best site in the Western Palearctic for Goliath Heron and the enigmatic Crab Plover. Other shorebirds could include Greater Sand Plover and Terek Sandpiper. Offshore there is just a chance of Brown Booby or Red-billed Tropicbird, but our main target today will be Lappet-faced Vulture at the frontier town of Shalatein. An after-dinner search for Hume’s Owl may be possible. Night at the Shams Alam resort.
Day 11: After some early morning birding around the hotel, we’ll cross the desert, either via Sheikh el-Shazeli or Bir Beida, to Luxor, in time for lunch at our delightful hotel. We’ll then spend a relaxing afternoon searching the water’s edge for Little Bittern, Rufous Bush Robin, Purple Swamphen, Red Avadavat, and Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, bthen leave for the atmospheric Son et Lumière show, which will give us our first taste of the magnificent temple at Karnak—usually with Barn Owl as a bonus. Night on Crocodile Island, Luxor.
Day 12: We’ll spend the morning across the river visiting the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, the mortuary temples of Queen Hatshepsut or Ramses III, and the Colossi of Memnon. Before it gets too hot, we’ll hope for views of Trumpeter Finch around the tombs, as well as Pallid Swift, Rock Martin, and Little Green Bee-eater. We’ll then pause for lunch before returning to Karnak to see its splendor by daylight, while an evening visit to Luxor Temple could add Little Owl. Night on Crocodile Island, Luxor.
Day 13: En route to Aswan, we’ll stop at the impressive temples of Edfu (the largest and best-preserved in Egypt) and Kom Ombo (in effect a double temple to the gods Sobek and Horus). Birds likely on the journey include Black-shouldered Kite, Senegal Thick-knee, Purple Swamphen, and, provided we can obtain permission to visit the Kom Ombo camel market, the tiny Namaqua Dove. After lunch we’ll relax in a uniquely Egyptian way: by cruising around Elephantine and Kitchener Islands, or to and through the First Cataract, in a white-sailed felucca (or in the absence of a breeze, a more maneuverable launch), hopefully tallying eight species of heron, including Striated, and maybe Ferruginous Duck. There will be an opportunity for more relaxing on our hotel balconies or on the grounds, or perhaps a visit to the new Nubian museum or a unique shopping opportunity. Night in Aswan.
Day 14: We’ll visit the Temple of Philae, saved from the waters of Lake Nasser and reconstructed on an island in the lake, a delightful place to study Nile Valley Sunbird and Graceful Prinia. We’ll then drive south across the Nubian Desert to Abu Simbel to visit the truly spectacular temples. A second visit after sunset will give us the opportunity for another sound and light show, this time incorporating the latest laser technology. With luck, Egyptian Nightjar might fly around the lights. Night in Abu Simbel.
Day 15: We begin the day (if we have permission) by heading out into the desert to a place where Spotted and Crowned Sandgrouse are regular. These quintessential desert birds are beautifully camouflaged and naturally secretive, but with care and patience we should be able to find both. Lunch will be at a hotel where the grounds may hold a variety of migrants. Abu Simbel is famous among birdwatchers as a place for sub-Saharan African species seldom seen elsewhere in the Western Palearctic. We’ll spend time searching the lake shore looking for such exotic species as Pink-backed Pelican, Yellow-billed Stork, African Skimmer, Kittlitz’s Sandplover, African Collared Dove, and African Pied Wagtail. Occasionally, permission is granted to take out a boat on Lake Nasser, making our task a little easier. Night in Abu Simbel.
Day 16: After this most climactic of grand climaxes, we’ll fly to Aswan and then Cairo in time for a connecting flight to London, where the tour concludes.
Updated: 17 April 2009
Prices
- 2011 Tour Price $6,570*
- Single Occupancy Supplement $460
Notes
* This tour is organized by our British company, Sunbird. Please review the explanation of our Sunbird pricing here.
This tour is limited to 12 participants.
Participants wishing to join the tour in Cairo should contact the WINGS office.