STEAM UP THE NILE:
A Victorian Paddle Wheeler Journey
We are delighted to invite you to travel down the Nile on the smallest, slowest, and oldest watercraft available! The SS Karim, built in Britain in 1917 as a gift for King Fuad, was inherited by King Farouk and subsequently by presidents Nasser and Sadat. The SS Karim is the only boat still entitled to fly the royal flag and her cabin layout and public rooms remain unchanged. This Victorian vessel is powered only by her original steam engine and stern quarter-wheel paddles. With 15 comfortably furnished, air-conditioned cabins, stained glass, oak panels, library, an abundance of wicker deck furniture, a discreet brass bell to announce mealtimes, and gracious crew, all that is missing are Agatha and Hercule to complete this idyll on the Nile. Wave and gloat as the crowded, modern cruise ships speed by and the onlookers sigh with envy as we offer the Queen’s wave -- our moment of celebrity.
To add depth and breadth to this leisurely meander on the Nile, revel in intimate talks by the renowned Egyptologist, Bob Brier, and the esteemed Art Historian, Pat Remler. During the course of the journey they will reveal their many layers of knowledge on such topics as the Murder of Tutankhamen, Unknown Man “E”, Egypt’s Greatest Love Story, as well as a new theory on the construction of the Great Pyramid. One of the many highlights of our voyage will be "Hieroglyphs on the Nile" as each morning Dr. Brier will hold an informal hieroglyph class on the open air deck. As we sail along the Nile, we will learn to write our names in hieroglyphs and read the names of the pharaohs written in their cartouches. Our lesson will continue when we stop at each temple and, like a treasure hunt, look for the names we have learned to read that are inscribed on the temple walls. As we relax before dinner, Pat Remler will reveal the secrets of Egyptian mythology and religion. Though you may have traveled the Nile before and even visited the same sites, as Jan Etherington of the Daily Telegraph said, “If, like me, you thought you’d 'been there, done that' in Egypt, you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen it from the SS Karim.”
While our pace is leisurely but never boring, special excursions await us whenever the boat docks.
While in Egypt, several private events have been specially-arranged - Ray Johnson, director of Chicago House, will take us to see the recently cleaned Roman frescoes at Luxor Temple which are closed to the public; Dr. Dietrich Raue will take us around the Elephantine Island Project excavations; we will travel by private convoy to explore the religious center of El Kab; and we will enjoy a private opening of Horemoheb’s Tomb in the Valley of the Kings. And finally, a camel ride through the desert will lead us to the Monastery of Saint Simeon in Aswan and a glimpse into the lives of the “desert fathers.”
Depending upon which date you choose, the trip either begins or ends in London’s Bloomsbury district to see the Egyptian section of the British Museum and have a private behind-the-scenes tour of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. The Petrie Museum houses an estimated 80,000 objects, making it one of the greatest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology in the world. In each museum Bob Brier and Pat Remler will show us not only the most important Egyptian artifacts on view but their favorites as well.
 Finally, for the inveterate or novice birder, Egypt and the Nile are home to or are on the migratory path for 300 species of birds including King Fishers, Malachite Kingfishers, Striated Herons, Purple Herons, Red-Billed Ibis, Purple Gallinules, Black-winged Stilts, Spur-winged Plover and many more avian species.
ITINERARY:
(B)
breakfast, (L) lunch, (D) dinner |
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Day 1: Depart the USA.
Day 2: Arrive into London and join the group at the Radisson Edwardian Marlborough Hotel. This hotel, set amidst Georgian squares and within walking distance of the British and Petrie Museums, is the perfect base for our sojourn. Gather this evening to enjoy a delightful Turkish dinner at Taz Restaurant as we celebrate the start of our trip. Overnight at the Radisson Marlborough Hotel for two nights. (D)
 Day 3: This morning, walk to the British Museum and spend the morning touring its Egyptian treasures with Bob Brier and Pat Remler. For lunch we are free to have a bite to eat in the British Museum café. In the afternoon walk to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Art where will have a private tour of the public exhibits as well as a behind-the-scenes glimpse at some hidden Egyptian treasures with the museum curator, Dr. Stephen Quirke. Tonight we will dine at one of the many lovely restaurants in the Bloomsbury district. (B/ /D)
Day 4: Transfer to London Gatwick for our charter flight to Luxor, with lunch onboard, and board the SS Karim, our home for seven nights. We will spend tonight and the next six nights being lulled to sleep aboard the SS Karim as we listen to the waters of the Nile lap at the hull and perhaps awaken to the song of the Nile Valley Sunbird with its shimmering blue coat or the richly-colored Little Green Bee Eater as they forage for breakfast. Sail in the evening for Esna, one of the main centers of the Coptic faith in Egypt and home to the Temple of Khnum. Overnight in Esna. (B/L/D)
 Day 5: Sail in the morning for Edfu to visit the temple of Horus. The Ptolemaic temple of Edfu is the best preserved major temple in Egypt as until its excavation in the 1800s it was buried beneath the sands of the desert. The temple was built over a 180-year period from 237 BC to 57 BC. The god Horus in all of his forms is regarded as the prince of the gods and the specific patron and protector of the living ruler his avatar on earth. In the afternoon, we join a private convoy to travel to El Kab, where the city's 'Vulture Rock' is covered with rock art - at least 600 cartouches and inscriptions from Pharaonic times. The city is perhaps most famous for its many splendid tombs, but there are also a number of temple ruins in the area. This evening we overnight at Edfu. (B/L/D)
Day 6: Today we sail to Kom Ombo. En route we stop to explore Gebel Silsila, a huge quarry that provided the stone for all the great monuments like Dendera, Thebes, Karnak, Edfu and Kom Ombo. The site is scattered with private chapels—there is even one dedicated to the great pharaoh Amenhotep III. We will wander the site looking for ancient graffiti and the unfinished sphinx. This afternoon visit the Temple of Sobek. It is actually two temples in one, dedicated to Sobek the crocodile god, and Horus the falcon-headed god. Here we begin our hieroglyph lessons as Dr. Brier walks us through the temple and explains the important texts still clearly carved on the walls of the sanctuary. Sail on to and overnight in Aswan. (B/L/D)
 Day 7: Today we go by small boat to Aswan’s west bank where we will be met by a troupe of camels which will take us on a fifteen-minute ride to Saint Simeon’s Monastery also known as Anba Hatre. Much of the monastery is in ruins but many of its main features are well-preserved and of architectural interest as an example of an oblong, domed Christian church and the earliest church of its kind in Egypt. The monastery’s kiln has revealed data regarding archaic Aswan pottery and the cemetery has been a source of over 200 early Christian tombstones exhibiting various prayer formulas. This afternoon we enjoy a felucca ride, the graceful sail boat of the Nile, and visit Kitchener’s Island. The Botanical Garden here, though small, boasts exotic species of plants from around the world and is a peaceful place to meander. Lord Kitchener was given the island as a gift in gratitude for the successful campaigns he waged in the Sudan. We will then continue to Elephantine Island where we will meet with Dr. Dietrich Raue of the German Archaeological Institute and the director of the Elephantine Archaeological Mission. Dr. Raue will give us an exclusive tour of the ongoing excavations of the ancient Egyptian settlement on the island which dates from the 4th millennium BC up to the early medieval period. Overnight in Aswan. (B/L/D)
 Day 8: This morning we will enjoy an early morning birding trip by boat amidst the islands that dot the Nile at Aswan intent on catching a glimpse of perhaps a Green Heron or Egyptian Goose, among many other possibilities. Today we continue our hieroglyph lessons as we persist in our quest to unravel the mysteries of this ancient writing system. Sail to and overnight in Esna. (B/L/D)
 Day 9: Spend the morning sailing to Luxor. In the afternoon, we will visit the temple of Karnak, the largest ancient religious site in the world whose construction spanned a period from the Middle Kingdom to Ptolemaic times and to which as many as thirty pharaohs are believed to have contributed enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity rarely seen. We will visit the Open Air Museum and walk among the reconstructed ancient temples. With one more evening together aboard the SS Karim, we will celebrate by having a special cocktail party with Dr. Ray Johnson, director of The Epigraphic Survey at Chicago House. Overnight in Luxor. (B/L/D)
 Day 10: After breakfast onboard, disembark to spend a full day immersing ourselves in all that Luxor has to offer including the fabled Valley of the Kings. Here we enter four tombs including the Tomb of Horemheb, closed to the public for almost a decade, which we have by special permission arranged to be opened for our group. King Horemheb was a general under the pharaoh Akhenaten who succeeded the king and became the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. Horemheb’s reign ended monotheism imposed by Akhenaten and reinstated worship of the great god Amun. Later we meet Dr. Ray Johnson who will take us into areas of Luxor Temple closed to the public and explain important work his team is doing. We will view the recently-cleaned Roman frescoes in the Roman Vestibule. According to Ray, they are absolutely sensational. The Italian conservators will finish their work this season, and begin work on the new open-air museum scheduled to open in 2010. Several hundred broken Nactanebo I sphinx fragments have been found, and with luck, we will see an alleyway of reassembled sphinxes. Overnight in Luxor. (B/L/D)
 Day 11: Today we will also have a wonderful opportunity to visit several of the intriguing but often overlooked Tombs of the Nobles in Luxor. These tombs, belonging to priests and officials of the 17th through 20th dynasty, offer an opportunity to see not only depictions of daily life but also characterizations of resurrection, the afterlife, and judgment. Here we will view the depictions of wine makers, farmers, a cat under a chair, two fighting girls in the field, musicians, dancers, etc. The Tombs of the Nobles become an exclusive window into the lives of the people who lived here more than three thousand years ago. Dr. Brier will review all that we have learned during our Nile sojourn about the hieroglyph. By now you will be writing your postcards home using this writing method or at the very least you will signing your name this way! Lunch onboard the SS Karim before travelling to the airport for our return flight from Luxor to London's Gatwick International Airport with dinner onboard. Overnight in the Hilton Hotel on the airport grounds. (B/L/D)
Day 12: Fly to the USA.
 STUDY LEADERS: Professor Bob Brier received his Ph.D from the University of North Carolina. He is not only one of the nation’s leading Egyptologists, but a brilliant lecturer and storyteller. He is professor of philosophy at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and the author of several books including The Murder of Tutankhamen: A True Story (Berkley Books, 1998) and The Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians (Greenwood Press, 1999). Professor Brier has served as director of the "Egyptology Today" program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and as host of the Learning Channel series, The Great Egyptians. He has twice been selected as a Fulbright Scholar, and has received Long Island University’s David Newton Award for Teaching Excellence in recognition of his achievements as a lecturer. He is a wonderful teacher with a special flair for evoking the distant past in ways that make it seem vividly present.
Patricia Remler is an author, photographer, and art historian. She was the Researcher for four important Learning Channel documentaries - the three-part Pyramids, Tombs, and Mummies, the six-part series The Great Egyptians, the one hour Napoleon's Obsession: The Quest for Egypt, and the three-part series Unwrapped, The Mysterious World of Mummies. She is the author of Egyptian Mythology A - Z.
 TRIP DATES:
October 31 – November 11, 2008 (TRIP FULL)
November 8 - 19, 2008
(NOTE: The itinerary for the second trip includes sightseeing in London on the return.)
TRIP COST: $8695.00 (per person, double occupancy) with a minimum of ten participants
$8495.00 (per person, double occupancy) with a minimum of fifteen participants
Includes roundtrip airfare from London Gatwick to Luxor, Egypt; all hotels; most meals (as listed in the itinerary); cabins and all meals onboard the SS Karim; services of guides in Egypt; ground transportation in Egypt; and entry fees.
COST DOES NOT INCLUDE: International airfare from the USA to London; the separate donation check for $150.00 to 'UCLFAA' with 'Petrie Museum donation' in the subject line; transportation from London's Gatwick Airport to the Radisson Marlborough Hotel in London for the October 31 – November 11, 2008 trip and transportation from the Radisson Marlborough Hotel to Gatwick for the November 8 – 19, 2008 trip; passport or visa fees; airport taxes; beverages or food not included on regular menus; laundry; excess baggage charges; personal tips; alcoholic drinks; telephone, email, and fax charges; or other items of a personal nature.
 SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: $2,295.00. Should a roommate be requested and one not be available, the single supplement must be charged.
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT EXPLAINED: Those of you who are single travelers may feel that the cost per person of the tour occasionally appears higher than you expect. The reason for this single supplement fee is that our contract with the SS Karim is based on a price per room while our tours are sold per person. We do not make additional profit on the single supplement. The price charged merely reflects the real cost to us.
 SUITE UPGRADES: $295.00 (per person, double occupancy) or $549.00 (single occupancy). The SS Karim has three suites with double beds and private balconies which are available at a supplement cost.
CABIN INFORMATION FOR THE SS KARIM: The SS Karim has only 15 cabins; the sizes of the cabins are variable. They are comfortably furnished and air-conditioned with en-suite bathroom and shower, mini-bar and satellite TV. Please note that there are only six cabins with a double bed so it is important to designate whether or not you would like a double bed as they will be reserved on a first come, first served basis.
UPGRADE TO BUSINESS LONDON/LUXOR/LONDON: $795.00. While seats are available, you may purchase an upgrade to premium class for the flight from London to Luxor and return. Please let us know as soon as possible if you are interested in this upgrade.
 PRIVATE TOURS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES: The private tours of archaeological sites and talks by specialists are scheduled in advance and include a donation to each. Specialists working at these sites are excited about showing their work to interested enthusiasts. However, please be aware that there may be times when the director or a member of the staff may not be onsite when our groups arrive due to other commitments. Also be aware that private entrée to Egyptian monuments is dependent upon the government giving permission, and permissions that have been granted may be revoked at any time without warning.
DONATIONS CHECKS: Cost of the trip does not include the separate donation check for $150.00 to 'UCLFAA' with 'Petrie Museum donation' in the subject line. As a tour company that benefits from the historical, cultural and natural riches of our destinations, we have a policy of donating to scholars, archaeological and cultural projects, and museums in each of our destinations. This has created a bond with the academic community that allows you to gain an 'insider's view' of the work being done in each country. Please see information on the Petrie Museum's website.
REGISTRATION: A deposit of $500.00 along with a separate check for $150.00 to 'UCLFAA' with 'Petrie Museum donation' in the subject line, is required along with your registration form. Final payment is due 90 days before departure. Upon receipt of your deposit and completed registration form, you will be sent a reading list and a clothing and equipment list. An information book designed for this trip, including maps of archaeological sites and articles of pertinent interest, will be sent upon receipt of final payment.
CANCELLATION AND REFUNDS: Cancellations received in writing at least 90 days before departure will result in an administrative fee of $250.00. Cancellations received less than 90 days before departure will not receive a refund. If for any reason you are unable to complete the trip, FAR HORIZONS will not reimburse any fees. It is strongly advised that you purchase travel protection insurance that includes trip cancellation upon registering for the trip.
NOTE ABOUT ITINERARY CHANGES: Changes in our itinerary, accommodations, and transportation schedules may occur. A good book to read as well as a flexible attitude and a sense of humor are essential.
LIMITED TO 18 PARTICIPANTS
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