Journey 1 – Mountain and Desert Journey and Dam Build
Dates: 5 to 15 October 2024
Journey No: MDHC2024
Cost: £900 (flights not included)
Project Materials: Costs for the dam materials and labour to be raised by the group
Status: OPEN
Description:
The journey will be led by Helen Cranston, Project Manger of the Makhad Trust and sister organisation to Sinai Journeys Ltd. Helen has been involved with the Journeys since 2008, leading groups on a regular basis. In addition, her work with the Makhad Trust, has given her a deep knowledge of the landscape, the history, the people, and their customs of Sinai and the Bedouin people.
The Group will meet in Sharm el Sheikh and stay overnight in a Bedouin Resort on the coast. After breakfast and swimming over the coral reef, we will travel to St Katherine by minibus and spend the first night at Fox Camp. The next day we will walk up into the high mountains to Wadi Gibal. Here we will camp in a bedouin garden where our Bedouin guides and hosts will prepare our meals for us. For the next three days we will work with a team of Bedouins building a small dam. This dam will stop the flash floods and preserve the water for the Bedouin gardens and wells lower down the valley. Once the work is completed we will trek down the mountain and up Mt Sinai before returning to St Katherine for the night. In the morning we will have the opportunity to visit the famous fortified monastery of St Catherine, and in the afternoon, we will travel out to the desert to Mattamir for two days desert exploration and an opportunity for spending a little quiet and silent time in the footsteps of the Desert Fathers.
For the walking and dam building a moderate level of fitness is required but no particular skills are necessary.
The Dam The journey cost does not include the costs of building the dam. These costs include hiring builders, buying cement, buckets and tools, transport of all the materials by camel (no road access). Participants are expected to raise the dam costs by sponsorship or donation. A typical dam costs around £1800, with this cost being split between the participants.
