Football game at Dahshur Lake

Dry season gives the village a soccer field.

Farm to Dahshur Lake, riding time approximately 5 hours for experienced riders.

This is one of our most requested rides, even for novices who often opt for a pickup from the lake rather than making the entire trek. Combining spectacular desert and the villages among the palm groves, it is a unique experience.

Riders passing the pyramids of Abu Sir.

The route down to the lake is through the desert past pyramid areas.

After riding past the pyramids of Abu Sir, Sakkara, Sakkara South, and Dahshur, we circle the lake on the western bank, finding ourselves at the tombs of the villagers of Dahshur. Most of the tombs in this quiet spot are painted white, but there are two tombs of note here painted in more colourful fashion. Near the tombs are Bedouin camps where they pasture their sheep and horses near the water and grass of the lake.

Tomb near the lake in Dahshur

A coloured tomb such as this marks the burial of a special individual, often a saint

With such a long ride, we schedule a lunch stop at the lake, so that both horses and riders can relax a bit and recharge. You can never predict who your dining companions will be. Sometimes friendly goats come by to beg for bits of sandwhich or bites of the horses feed.

A goat volunteers to clean up after lunch.

The midway point is easily reached by car, so that half the ride can be taken if desired.

The return trip takes us through shady palm groves and the villages that line the edge of the desert. Long empty country roads offer great canters, and while you slow down through the villages, there is so much to see that the walk is a pleasure.

Traditional mudbrick home in the palm groves

These adobe homes are gradually being replaced by brick construction unfortunately

Fagr checks out his big brother on arrival.

Once back at the farm, riders relax and the horses tell the stories of the day.

Capitals of columns from 26th dynasty palace

Only the stone columns remain from this ancient palace

Countryside ride to 26th Dynasty palace near Memphis, riding time approximately 3 hours for experienced riders.

Most people don't even know that this site exists until it rises from the green fields near the ancient site of Memphis. The site itself is mostly mud brick rubble, but the ride there offers beautiful vistas of the green fields, the pyramid areas of Abu Sir and Sakkara along the desert edge, and migratory birds along the canal.

A sleepy canal is a perfect home for birds

The trail winds along this canal offering glimpses of the wildlife of the area.

The ride to the palace is a naturalist's delight, passing through 20 kilometres of fields and trees. Kingfishers drop abruptly from the sky into the canals, while egrets and herons skim the water and roost in the trees. Tiny warblers flit from bush to bush and the various varieties of wagtails salute you as you pass. Every turn brings a new discovery.

The old Sakkara Bridge

We cross the canal on an old stone bridge decorated with pyramids.

After crossing the Mariouteya Canal east of the desert, we move through fields towards the ancient capital of Memphis. This city was built mainly of mud brick and much of the ruins were lost in the Nile floods over the centuries. The palace, having been built on a high point overlooking the fields, remains but only the stone capitals for the columns bring to mind the former glory. Still, it is extraordinary to find such a place in the midst of the farmland.

The palace appears above the fields as a hill

Most of the palace was built of mud brick which melted into the hill seen in the distance.

Travel through the countryside is always full of surprises. Year around the farmers must tend to the pruning, pollinating, and harvesting of the date palms. Workers climb the trunks with girdles of woven palm fiber rope to cut down excess fronds or to pollinate the female palm trees.

A trimmer hangs suspended between two palm trees.

Even the ropes used to support the worker are made from the palm tree.

Pat Gott's book on Egypt

Pat (on Nayzak) rode here with her endurance riding friends from the US.

Read more about Pat's experiences in Egypt and other places