Egypt

Most people who think of Egypt think of antiquities, but Egypt offers much more. Certainly it is a prime location to see our great heritage from the ancient world, including Pyramids and wonderful temples, but it is also part of the Holy Land, and tours to Christian and other religious monuments are popular. Yet Egypt also offers nature and desert treks, great scuba diving and even golf, fishing and birding expeditions. One may choose to relax on the wondrous Egypt Red Sea or Sinai coasts, take in the high culture of Cairo, or even leisurely float down the Egyptian Nile on a luxurious river boat.

Egypt presents the visitor with many striking contrasts, particularly in its landscape and in the ancient, Christian and Islamic elements of its heritage. Signs of Westernization and tradition are sometimes found in startlingly incongruous juxtaposition, bur more usually the new is adapted to blend harmoniously with the old. The country itself is united by the great river which flows down its entire length, and which indeed the creator of the country.

Without the Nile Egypt would not exist. Along its banks the majority of the people live and cultivate the land as their ancestors have done for thousands of year. This narrow, fertile valley is flanked by the desert- a desert which is always threatening to take over the cultivation. Today controlled by dams and barrages, the Nile no longer floods the country every year. The building of the High Dam at Aswan flooded the whole of the Nile valley between Aswan and the frontier with Sudan, creating Lake Nasser. Preserved from the threat of devastating floods, Egypt is now protected from the dangers of famine by the regulation of the water.

The two branches of the Nile, one rising in the highlands of Ethiopia, the other in Lake Vectoria, unite at Khartoum. Flowing north through the deserts of Nubia and punctuated by the rocky Cataracts, the river enters Egypt at the Second Cataract. Aswan itself stands on the First Cataract, the final great bands of granite to break the river's northward course. The Cataract created many rapids and islands which, until the end of the last century, made travel dangerous.

Egypt has a landscape which is surprisingly varide, but all of the terrain derives from a combination of water and sky, cultivation and desert. North of Aswan the river flows on without further interruption to navigation through the orange sandstone hills of Nubia, were the cultivation in many places is confined to a narrow strip by the water's edge. The forked trunk of the dom-palm and the misty foliage of the tamarisk relieve the barrenness. After the fertile open plain at Kom Ombo the sandstone hills close in, forcing the river through the gorge of Silsila before giving way to the limestone cliffs which will form the valley as for as the Delta. Broad but shallow, the river meanders between these cliffs, sometimes in the centre of the valley, sometimes hugging the cliff close to one side. Throughout Upper and Middle Egypt the floodplain is broad, and the cultivation rich: there are fields of wheat and sugar cane, and groves of palm trees everywhere. In the Faiyum the lushness increases. Roads run between orchards which are enclosed by high mud-brick walls crowned with dried palm fronds. Within the orchards, a dappled light filters through the palm trees, shady walkways are canopied with vines and roses, and flanked by orange and lemon trees, mango and banana. The quiet is disturbed only by the cooing of turtle doves and pigeons, perhaps the iridescent green flash of a bee-eater, or the call of the hoopoe.
Egypt is probably the world's oldest civilization having emerged from the Nile Valley around 3,100 BC, historically. Egypt is probably one of the oldest vacation spots. Early Greeks, Romans and others went there just for fun, and to see the wonders of some of mankind's earliest triumphs. But Egypt is much more than Pyramids and monuments. It is also Red Sea scuba diving, hot night spots, luxury hotels and five star restaurants. It is romantic cruises down the Nile on festive river boats, a night at the grand opera and it is a cultural experience like none you have ever experienced. Egypt is a land bustling with life, sound, visual beauty and excitement. More than anything else, we want you to think of Egypt as fun. For thousands of years, it has been the playground of emperors and kings, and we hope you will take the time to find out why.

Throughout Egypt, days are commonly warm or hot, and nights are cool. Egypt has only two seasons: a mild winter from November to April and a hot summer from May to October. The only differences between the seasons are variations in daytime temperatures and changes in prevailing winds. In the coastal regions, temperatures range between an average minimum of 14° C in winter and an average maximum of 30° C in summer.

Temperatures vary widely in the inland desert areas, especially in summer, when they may range from 7° C at night to 43° C during the day. During winter, temperatures in the desert fluctuate less dramatically, but they can be as low as 0° C at night and as high as 18° C during the day.

The average annual temperature increases moving southward from the Delta to the Sudanese border, where temperatures are similar to those of the open deserts to the east and west. In the north, the cooler temperatures of Alexandria during the summer have made the city a popular resort. Throughout the Delta and the northern Nile Valley, there are occasional winter cold spells accompanied by light frost and even snow. At Aswan, in the south, June temperatures can be as low as 10° C at night and as high as 41° C during the day when the sky is clear.

Egypt receives fewer than eighty millimeters of precipitation annually in most areas. Most rain falls along the coast, but even the wettest area, around Alexandria, receives only about 200 millimeters of precipitation per year. Alexandria has relatively high humidity, but sea breezes help keep the moisture down to a comfortable level. Moving southward, the amount of precipitation decreases suddenly. Cairo receives a little more than one centimeter of precipitation each year. The city, however, reports humidity as high as 77 percent during the summer. But during the rest of the year, humidity is low. The areas south of Cairo receive only traces of rainfall. Some areas will go years without rain and then experience sudden downpours that result in flash floods. Sinai receives somewhat more rainfall (about twelve centimeters annually in the north) than the other desert areas, and the region is dotted by numerous wells and oases, which support small population centers that formerly were focal points on trade routes. Water drainage toward the Mediterranean Sea from the main plateau supplies sufficient moisture to permit some agriculture in the coastal area, particularly near Al Arish.

A phenomenon of Egypt's climate is the hot spring wind that blows across the country. The winds, known to Europeans as the sirocco and to Egyptians as the khamsin, usually arrive in April but occasionally occur in March and May. The winds form in small but vigorous low-pressure areas in the Isthmus of Suez and sweep across the northern coast of Africa. Unobstructed by geographical features, the winds reach high velocities and carry great quantities of sand and dust from the deserts. These sandstorms, often accompanied by winds of up to 140 kilometers per hour, can cause temperatures to rise as much as 20° C in two hours. The winds blow intermittently and may continue for days, cause illness in people and animals, harm crops, and occasionally damage houses and infrastructure.



Egypt Climate and Weather