Bedouin adventure holiday in the Sinai desert

The camps are owned by Bedouins from the area. Many hotels were built in Sinai during the last years and land was taken from the Bedouins and their tribes so we don’t find many Bedouin camps anymore, maybe 10-15 all over the Coast.

The camps in Mahash are still owned by the Sinai- Bedouins, so they can work independently and are not just employees for big travel companies. The Bedouins can give work to their families and people from the area. Taxi transfers and trips to the desert are organized and operated by the Bedouins as well. The camps invest in solar power and desalination and want to become Eco-Lodges in the future. Next to solar lights there is a solar cooker installed in Camp Eden now, but this is just the beginning! Volunteers with ideas are welcome anytime!

Desert trips organized with the Bedouins are not just a sightseeing tour, but a real excursion. They show you plants, herbs and trees and their medical effects, tell you the history about Bedouin tribes and show you what their life in the desert looked like before and today. Neither you nor they would have this chance if they were employed simply as mute drivers, rented by an international travel company. Our Desert trips are operated by trustworthy experienced Bedouins. See the difference concerning hospitality and showing authentic desert life!

There is not much waste, as the camps try to avoid it when possible. Tourists can avoid making garbage if they don’t buy bottled western lemonades and sweeties. There are Bedouin ways to keep water cool and fresh with you. If there is garbage it will be separated (glass, paper, plastic, metal) and it will be taken by the EU supported “Hemaya”, a waste and recycling project. Electricity is available a few hours in the evening. In general the camp runs nicely without electricity. We work with solar products and the Bedouins in Mahash are keen to work with solar power. Also they try to find a way to desalinate the water for watering plants and trees. The camps and hushas are mostly made from palmtrees and wood.

In Mahash we find most of the last 10-15 pure Bedouin Camps. To spend the holiday here means to support the independent, responsible work of the Bedouin people and to avoid harming the beautiful nature in Sinai. Bedouins don’t build hotels with a lot of western facilities, they build camps in a traditional way, mostly made of natural materials and this already more than 20 years! To support these camps means supporting the Bedouin community itself! All the family finds work through the camps and Desert trips, the boys help the fathers and will continue his work after, the women and girls make beautiful traditional handcraft. Here they can realize their ideas of tourism, hospitality and lifestyle, otherwise they will be used as a mute cheap worker.