Fifty-two metres of hand-worked wood and brass, new to the river.
Nile Spirit was built in a family boatyard at Esna, on a stretch of riverbank between the lock and the Khnum Temple.
Her keel, frame and hull were shaped by hand on the riverbank, the planks bent and steamed in the old way. Brass fittings were cast in a small foundry in Khan el-Khalili. The interior linens were woven by hand in Akhmim, where the looms have not changed in eighty years.
She is new to the river, sailing between Luxor and Aswan with no more than twenty-four guests.
Built to a length, beam and draught that lets her anchor where larger boats cannot — at El-Kab, at Gebel el-Silsila, at the small jetties between temples.
Topmost. Open from horizon to horizon. A plunge pool set into the deck at the stern, sun loungers under woven palm shades, a brass-railed observation prow, and a bar serving Egyptian coffee at six and gin at six. The morning balloon flights cross overhead; the muezzin reaches you across the river.
Tables for two and four along the windows. Hand-painted blue-and-gold ceramics from Tunis Village. Lunch is served with the wind in the sails; dinner with lanterns lit and the river quiet — and the captain at one of the tables most nights.
Floor-to-ceiling glass on three sides. A small library of travel writing, daybeds upholstered in undyed linen. The lounge faces the river at every hour and changes character with the light — silver at dawn, amber by four, indigo by eight.
A quiet treatment room with a window on the Nile. Massages with Egyptian almond oil by a therapist from Aswan, by appointment and charged separately — in the spa, in your cabin, or on the foredeck as the river goes by.
Twelve cabins in three kinds: eight Deluxe Cabins, two Presidential Suites and two Royal Suites across the stern. Nine are on the lower deck, three on the main deck, and every one has the river at the window. Linens hand-woven in Akhmim, brass lamps cast in Khan el-Khalili, carved wooden shutters you can open at three in the morning to see the moon on the water.
Discover the Suites →Keel, frame and hull, set by hand on the riverbank. The planks bent and steamed in the old way, each one fixed with brass.
Every cabin window has carved wooden shutters — open them at three in the morning to see the moon on the water.
Lamps, fittings, hinges, door pulls — all cast in a small foundry in old Cairo by a family of three brothers and one cousin.
Bed linens, table cloths, curtains — woven by hand in Upper Egypt on looms unchanged in eighty years. Undyed, washed in river water.
Reads this reach of the river by heart and keeps the boat under sail whenever the wind allows.
Cooks from the riverbank markets each morning — fish, herbs, vegetables, bread still warm.
Arranges what you ask for, from an early start at Edfu to hibiscus tea at midnight.
She sails between October and April. Two sailings a week. Twenty-four guests at most.
