Take a Hike

Cairo dwellers don’t have to travel far for a good hike: Just head to the Wadi Degla Natural Protectorate at the edge of Zahraa Maadi. A 30-kilometer-long canyon with escarpments reaching heights of over 50 meters, the valley offers a scenic stroll and has some serious rock climbing for the more daring.Be sure to wear comfortable and durable shoes, pack sufficient supplies — especially water — and don’t arrive too late as the park closes at sunset.

Hiking the Colored Canyon is an endeavor that requires a full weekend at least. Located in the South Sinai mountains between Nuweiba and St. Catherine’s Village, it is a 400-kilometer drive from Cairo.The easiest way to get there is to take a bus to Nuweiba and from there find a tour operator or a Bedouin who can arrange transportation to the canyon’s rest point and café. The canyon itself is only 800 meters long, but that distance is doubled when adding the descent from the café to the canyon floor and the climb back up.At the bottom, you follow a path carved out of sandstone and limestone with walls painted with veins of richly colored minerals stretching almost 16 stories high. Barring a few places where you have to crawl over fallen rocks, the trek is not very strenuous.

Also located in Sinai’s southern desert is the biblical Mount Sinai, believed to be the peak where the Prophet Moses (PBUH) received the 10 Commandments from God.This is a wildly popular trek not only for its religious significance but also for the spectacular sunrise. During peak seasons, a few hundred people climb the mountain via the winding camel trail starting behind the Monastery of St. Catherine.You could choose to hire a guide, but the trek is easy enough to follow on your own. For a beginner, the camel trail, up to the 2,285-meter-high peak, can be a challenging and exhausting trek that can take three to four hours. Desert nights in the mountains are both dark and cold, especially during the winter, so bring a flashlight and some warm layers. Once you reach the peak, a hot cup of tea and a couple of hours rest will rejuvenate you. And the sight of the morning light flowing into the valleys below will make up for all your exhausting efforts.