The picking up from the Agilkia (the trip boats wait in front of the island Bigge) works out very well, like the return to the harbour, where – like promised – a police officer calls a cab for us via voice radio. What we have planned next? Hm – actually we wanted to drive to Kitchener Island with one of our party. But because it was not sure, if there are enough participants, we accept the proposal of the captain to start the next tour near Elephantine.

The negotiation about the price at the parlour he would take on. If we asked ourselves, so he said, we would have to pay twice the price. in fact it is getting loud when he bargains with the big boss of the boats and you could almost think that both of them aren't pleased with the development of the discussion. But then they finish, the big boss looks annoyed away and our driver says that we can go. Everything is OK.

Big boss accompanies us to one of the boats and takes half of the money. The rest belongs to the driver. Although he speaks only a few words in English he seems to be nice and arranges the seats in the shadowed part of the boat without us asking for it (by turning the boat around he rearranges everything by the way).
After we circumscribed the northern point of Elephantine we arrive in more peaceful waters and are amazed about the cheeriness in a bar when we turn in he direction of Kitchener Island. Some Canadians. Later they told us that they had to wait for two hours before their motorboat got towed.

Kitchener Island is labelled after general Horatio Kitchener. He got the island as a reward for his successful campaigns against the madhists ( in the end of the 19th century) and he transformed the island into a tropical garden full with exotic plants. Since then the island developed into the botanical garden of Aswan and is reckoned as one of the most famous gardens of Egypt. The Egyptians don't like to be reminded of the colonial time, so today the island is named Geziret el. Nabatat ( Island of plants).

Reams of banks foreshadow that there are (day-)times, when the island is the goal of a lot of excursionists. On our visit we are, expect from the Canadians, the employees and several cats, the only ones on the island. After the cash point we have the choice: Many avenues go parallel to the south end of the longish island. On the one side we have free sight to west bank of Elephantine, on the other side we can see the graves of the sovereigns of Quebbet el- Hana, the convent of Simian and the mausoleum of Aga-Khan above the mansion of Nur ews-Salam.

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