Photo : Rolfcosar — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Aswan · Nile, Aswan
El Nabatat Island
A whole island turned into a botanical garden, a few minutes by boat from the corniche.
The island is entirely taken up by a garden: avenues of royal palms, huge figs, bamboo, beds laid out by plant family, and a stone quay where the boats come alongside. It was given to Kitchener while he commanded the Egyptian army, at the end of the nineteenth century; he had species brought in from Africa and Asia, and it is from that gift that its other name comes, Kitchener's Island. The state later made it a garden for study. You cross it on foot in half an hour, the river in sight nearly the whole way, Elephantine Island opposite and the rocks of the first cataract upstream. It is one of the few places in Aswan where you can walk in shade for any length of time.
The extra bit
Most people only stop here for ten minutes in the course of a felucca trip, which is far too little. Get the boatman to put you ashore, agree the pick-up time with him, and keep an hour for the island — late afternoon for preference, when the heat drops and the birds come back into the big figs.
Know before you go
The boat and the garden ticket are two separate costs. Fix the price of the return trip while you are still on the corniche, waiting time on the island included, or the crossing gets paid for twice — and come with cash, nobody has a card machine. The landing stage is up a few steps and the paths are beaten earth: awkward with a pushchair, hard in a wheelchair. Once there, expect no more than a drinks kiosk; the shade is real, the water you carry.
