Yoga
| country: | Egypt |
| location: | Sinai Desert |
| departures: | 2007: 22 Sep, 3 Nov, 15 Dec |
| price: | From £575 (8 days) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Yoga
Our Open Sky Retreat is a holistic and soul recharging trip to the Sinai. It combines the desert and coastal environments, which provide a perfect and tranquil environment for Yoga and meditation. Two British, highly experienced Yoga teachers will lead all Yoga, meditation and Shiatsu workshops, focussing on body, mind and spirit. The dates for the Open Sky Retreat are specifically chosen to coincide with full moon in the desert - making your retreat experience even more special - and to avoid the hottest season.
You will be partly based in Dahab - a small resort in the Sinai region of Egypt - practising Yoga overlooking the Gulf of Aqaba. The resort has a local village-style atmosphere with some great Bedouin style restaurants on the sea front and a fascinating selection of local shops and bazaars.
For 4 days you will be based in the Sinai desert on camel safari, experiencing Yoga in a most inspiring setting. The desert houses some awesome natural plateaus, smoothed and eroded by the wind, as though perfectly designed for Yoga practice. On a daily basis you will trek short distances and along the way you will visit some incredible natural features such as the White and Narrow Canyons, and the Frozen Dinosaur.
The camel safari is organised by Embah Safaris, using local Bedouin - who will be your guide, cook all meals in traditional Bedouin style and provide Bedouin tents for overnight shelter - offering a real experience of the Bedouin desert culture.
You will be partly based in Dahab - a small resort in the Sinai region of Egypt - practising Yoga overlooking the Gulf of Aqaba. The resort has a local village-style atmosphere with some great Bedouin style restaurants on the sea front and a fascinating selection of local shops and bazaars.
For 4 days you will be based in the Sinai desert on camel safari, experiencing Yoga in a most inspiring setting. The desert houses some awesome natural plateaus, smoothed and eroded by the wind, as though perfectly designed for Yoga practice. On a daily basis you will trek short distances and along the way you will visit some incredible natural features such as the White and Narrow Canyons, and the Frozen Dinosaur.
The camel safari is organised by Embah Safaris, using local Bedouin - who will be your guide, cook all meals in traditional Bedouin style and provide Bedouin tents for overnight shelter - offering a real experience of the Bedouin desert culture.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrival at Sharm El-Sheikh (or Taba) airport, where you will be picked up and transferred to Dahab, situated approximately 100km north of Sharm. Here, you will check into Coral Coast Hotel, on the northern side of Dahab’s seafront. Coral Coast is a new hotel designed with a Bedouin ambience, offering clean rooms with en suite bathrooms, balcony and fantastic sea-views. |
| Day 2-3: | Retreat based in Dahab with daily workshops (please find further details in workshop section) in Coral Coast’s rooftop Yoga room with inspirational views across the Gulf of Aqaba. Overnight at Coral Coast hotel. |
| Day 4-7: | On day 4 you will leave all unnecessary personal belongings behind in the hotel and set off on your camel safari adventure. Local Bedouin and their camels will be your hosts for the next 4 days. All necessary kit/yoga mats, personal belongings, food and plenty of bottled water are loaded onto the camels and the trek on camel back or by foot can start. The days will be set out in a very similar way to those spent in Dahab in terms of the various workshops, however instead of indoor sessions, the activities will take place in the breathtakingly beautiful environment of the desert. Every day, you will trek a short distance and camp will be set up for you while you soak up the atmosphere. You will be introduced to traditional Bedouin herbs, indigenous to the region, that have been used for medicinal and cooking purposes for centuries. During your desert dwelling days, all the meals are prepared by the Bedouins and served in a traditional style of eating together and helping yourself. The evenings in the desert are probably the most amazing part of this adventure. Sunsets over the Sinai Mountains, sitting around the campfire and sleeping under the stars with its awesome displays of planets, constellations and shooting stars, will most certainly be a experience you won't forget.Afternoon of day 7, transfer back to Dahab's Coral Coast Hotel |
| Day 8: | This last day may involve another Yoga session, all depending on the group’s wishes, or can be spent in whatever fashion you like. Whether it is just relaxing in one of Dahab’s many Bedouin style restaurants, shopping in its bazaar or walking along the beach, one thing is for sure, Dahab and the Sinai leave an everlasting impression on most people. Transfer and return to Sharm El-Sheikh airport. |
how this holiday makes a difference
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Embah Safaris organises the camel safari component of this trip and has almost 20 yrs of safari experience within the Sinai area. They combine a complete understanding of Western needs with Eastern knowledge and culture. An integral part of their safaris are the traditions of the Bedouin lifestyle with regards to tented camps, camel handling, food preparation & bread making, herbal medicine, healing and star gazing.
Over the years, Embah Safaris has built up special relationships with many local Bedouin families and helped them with issues such as medical care, building of animal water troughs, construction of an eco-lodge run by local Bedouins and employment. Many Bedouin families choose to live a traditional desert dwelling life-style. However, in the present day they also need an income, which can be provided through tourism. All our Sinai trips help local Bedouins by giving them regular work, either as jeep driver or camel guide, and paying them a fair daily wage. While based in the desert, special care and attention will be given to issues such as fresh water usage and waste disposal. Water is a scarce resource in the desert but a necessity for cooking, drinking and washing. Sufficient fresh water will be available at all times, but we ask all people to take great care to avoid wastage. Any waste decays extremely slowly in desert environments and will therefore be burned on a daily basis rather than buried. Coral Coast Hotel in Dahab is small-scale and Bedouin owned, so local Bedouin benefit directly through hotel earnings and employment. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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