Self catering house on the Nile near Aswan, Egypt

Environment

So as to respect the landscape and the cultural heritage ,the house has been built in a style respecting the local architecture. All the furniture have been bought and manufactured locally and is mainly constituted of split-cane and wood, excluding plastic .
The Elephantine house do not use fossil energy.The electricity supply comes from the nearby hydraulic power station and we have equiped the house with low consumption lamps.
The water is pumped directly from the Nile, the pumping station is just a few meters from the house. Yet we recommend our guests not to waste it when they arrive.
We undertake the cleaning of the land surrounding the house and of the small beach and harbour as well, giving a particular attention not to throw the rubish outside like many people do.

In the same spirit we encourage our guests to respect the animal wildlife. They can enjoy watching the birds from the balcony an roof terrace and even the foxes that come and prowl around the house at night

Community

The Elephantine House is owned and managed by a nubian family. Most of the money generated by the rental of this house goes to this family. All the activities proposed there (motor boat day trips to the surrounding islands , camel ride to the tombs of the nobles or Monastry Saint Simon,...) are locally owned businesses . We deeply encourage the tourists to visit and purchase in the small local food shops and craft makers and artisans or to eat in local restaurants .We propose and organise diners or lunches in nubian families homes. We propose our guests to guide them if they want to assist local events such as wedding parties or dance exhibitions and inform them about social issues so as to give them a deeper insight of the nubian community life.
We work to create a good relationship between our guests and the nubian community because we beleive it is the best way to create mutual respect and understanding.