December 2022
Midnight, all is quiet in the town of Aswan. There are six of us on the Felucca (the spectacular six we call ourselves). After a beautiful day of sailing on the Nile River, we tied the sailboat onto the larger support vessel and had dinner, reminiscing about the day.
It is December in Egypt, the weather is perfect, warm days and cool desert nights, this particular evening we were blessed by a full moon. I had visions of a bonfire on the shore, maybe some singing and storytelling from the locals who were our guides, cooks, and tourist wranglers. But no, instead of evening entertainment, we were informed that it is now time for bed. We were given big soft warm blankets (thank God for those) and our guides started “tucking us in” for the night. When I say they tucked us in, I mean they wrapped the opening of the Felucca in plastic and covered it with canvas. We were literally in for the night.
I am travelling with my mother, who is 73 years old, and while she is doing fabulously well on this trip, we stare at each other in horror knowing that we are definitely not ok with being trapped in a sailboat with no bathroom on a river that is known for its crocodiles. Somehow, the other four of our fellow travelers fall right to sleep. Mom and I made a plan. I agree to put my blanket next to hers so she can wake me up if she needs to make a trip to the bathroom. I knew that I would need to make the trip as well, so plan in place, we try to sleep.
We found out quickly why the blankets were so thick, and why we were wrapped up in the Felucca. It gets cold. While the sailboat had a thick mattress, the boat was made of steel, and we felt the cold in our bones, and in our bladders. It was time to make the trek. Our first obstacle was getting out of the plastic wrap that engulfed us. The giggling started as we peeled back several layers of the plastic. My mother is a classy but sometimes crass southern woman, so the jokes and curse words started to tumble out of her mouth while we rolled and slithered our way of our Saran wrapped tin can. At this point I am amazed that none of our fellow travelers, or crew has awakened.
Our next obstacle is making our way to the support boat. The boats are tied together, but there is no gang plank to get back and forth, you must step from one boat to another. Now, to avoid embarrassment, I will be a bit discreet here, and just say that as we stepped from the Felucca to the support boat, one of us let out the fart that rocked the Nile. The giggling turned into full on belly laughs, and more southern humor from my mother. You know the point when you pass the point of no return and can’t stop laughing and crying? We were there. Still, if anyone was awake at this point, they were either shocked and appalled and decided to stay quiet or were quietly giggling to themselves muffled by the oversized blankets. It is still a mystery, and I would like to keep it that way.
After climbing a ladder to the top deck then climbing down another ladder at the back of the boat, we finally made our way to the toilet, all of this in darkness (thank goodness for the full moon). When we were able to gain our composure, we decided that another trip in the darkness may not be the safest, we decided to bed down on the support boat. There were two long sofas on this boat, one which contained our very devout Muslim Egyptologist who was our guide for the entire trip. The giggling and crassness came out again as we tried to decide who was going to sleep on the sofa with him. Mom decided she would do the honors as he may not be as terrified waking up to an “elder” woman on the sofa with him. After I made the trek back to the felucca to fetch our much-needed blankets, we “quietly” slid into our spots on the sofa. Our guide did wake up at this point, and did look horrified, but mom in her straightforward way informed him to just go with it. I think he knew there was no other choice, so he went with it.
The night was sleepless for me, but one that is very precious as well. Most of the night I pondered my existence as I watched the light of the moon reflect on the ancient waters. I learned so much about my mother on this trip. We bonded like never before, laughed together like never before, and took great care of each other that wonderous night on the Nile.
