UPDATE - Issue 37 - Summer 2009
Sinai Hike for Hope Trek – report by Roger Kirby
The third, highly successful Hike For Hope, organised specifically to raise funds jointly for Prostate UK and Wellbeing of Women (WoW), turned out to be one of the most spectacular and varied of desert treks. Unique in its wild beauty, the Sinai desert has wide open spaces, mountains, narrow wadis and a labyrinth of colourful canyons. The challenge began on Mount Sinai itself. All 75 trekkers were awoken around 2am to climb to the summit (2265m) for sunrise. Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa) is the spot where Moses received the Ten Commandments and when we reached the top we held a tearful minute’s silence to remember dear, departed loved ones – the reason that many of the team were on the trek. After a long and arduous descent, we enjoyed a private visit to St Catherine’s Monastery, supposedly built on the exact location of the burning bush, and home to an incredible collection of ancient texts and manuscripts. In fact our route virtually passed over part of the 40-year biblical trek taken by Moses some 3000 years ago. Thereafter, we set off through the area of the Nawamis, one of the burial sites of the Children of Israel, and the Rock of Inscriptions as we headed towards the stunning White Canyon. The high lime content in the rock has resulted in an incredibly beautiful white landscape. As we exited the Canyon we were greeted by the sight of the Ein Khudra, meaning Green Oasis. After another 4 hours of arduous trekking we reached our overnight stop at Wadi Chudra, where we camped in the wilderness under the stars either in Bedouin tents, or simply in sleeping bags out in the desert.
The following day, after an early rise and breakfast all 75 of us, from literally all walks of life, started trekking across partly sandy, partly mountainous terrain. That evening we camped near to Ein Om Achmad, the largest oasis in southern Sinai and home to hundreds of date trees and had supper around a camp fire.
The next day, setting off through Ein Om Achmad, we climbed to an observation point some 350 metres above the oasis. From there our route took us over sandstone, sand and pretty tough mountainous terrain. We took in the beauty and special atmosphere of a land formed and shaped by nature over hundreds of millions of years, when the pain from our blisters and joints was not distracting us. We descended to the oasis of Agola for a late lunch. That afternoon was spent trekking along the riverbed of a wide wadi to Bir Zayid for our overnight camp.
By then it was Thursday, and some of us had aches and pains that the team doctor needed to take care of, in spite of these we trekked along the hard surface of the Wadi El Ein. Around lunch time we reached Bir El Birya, where Moses reputedly found water for the Children of Israel only to discover that it was too bitter to drink. Fortunately for us, our camel train had plenty of water and provisions! We spent our last night under the stars at Ras El Abrag.
On the final morning we set off through the Coloured Canyon. We walked in single file along this most beautiful narrow sandstone canyon with its multi-coloured stones of every shape and size. We continued through the impressive Wadi Malacha towards Ras El Sitan. From there we took the short but tiring walk to the finishing line at on the shores of the Red Sea. Champagne, hugs and not a few tears were shared. This year’s Hike for Hope has so far raised over £350,000 for the two charities. Plans are already advanced for Hike for Hope 4 in Kerala, India in November 2010. Anyone care to join us?
More information about this and the next Hike for Hope is available on www.actionforcharity.co.uk.