Sharmers set out to discover parts of amazing the St. Katherine protectorate.

Most people think only  Mount Sinai and the monastery of Saint Katharine are of interest in central South Sinai, but that is a grave mistake. There is so much more to discover in this enchanted area: The high mountain range only offer the most amazing view from its majestic peaks, but also the most beautiful wadis in between. Central South Sinai has much more water than the desert around Sharm el Sheikh, and in every wadi Bedouins are cultivating gardens since hundreds of years. All of these wadis and gardens are accessible only by foot or by camel, which is why they are still unspoiled and unchanged since the time of the early Pilgrims.

On Friday 15th of March a group of 15 Sharmers aged between 8 and 70 (!) years got on the road in the early morning to St. Katherine, for a walk through the lovely Wadi Itlah and Wadi Talah with their green gardens and trees, followed on Saturday by a visit to the Monastery and the small and picturesque garden of Abu Mussi just above.

And while this big group enjoyed lunch in Sheikh Moussa’s arisha before the return to Sharm, the next, smaller and intrepid group arrived to explore the bolders, garden and gullies of the High Mountain range. This group mounted  Gebel Abbas Bacha on Saturday, slept in Saad’s garden in Wadi Zawatein, and on Sunday scrambled in Wadi Shagg and Sid Dawooed  along streams, above (and inside) rock pools. Truly a unique experience…!
 
Both trips were  organized by Wilderness Ventures Egypt (http://www.wilderness-ventures-egypt.com/) via the new Facebook group ‘Sharmers Discover Sinai’, which should give a platform to those of us, who want to see more of Sinai than beach and sea.