Giraffa

The Dongola

In 1815, Giovanni Belzoni was one of the first who had a journey on the nile river.

He used a pretty big ship for his journey, with two sails and a cabin. It’s possible to say that his ship was the precursor of the Dahabiya.

He needed this huge boat to transport a statue from Ramses II, which is now known as the ‘Young Memnom’ and which is located at the London Museum.

Back in 1815, Belzoni was able to sail all the way to Aswan, which is not possible anymore since there are 2 dams located at Aswan.

The first Dahabiya’s were made in the 1830’s and 1840’s. The first ships were built in England and they were brought to Egypt, where they were reconstructed in Cairo.  Back then, there were about 300 historical Dahabiya, while nowadays there are only a few left.

The ships were coloured gold, which refers to the name: Dahab is the Arabic word for gold.

When the tourism started, it was very important to have your own Dahabiya, which was a difficult job. The Dahabiya’s were used as transport ships in the summer and were mostly very dirty. Most of the men who were travelling through Dahabiya’s didn’t leave their homes for weeks, but for months. So they packed a lot of stuff, some even took their piano! 

In 1873 a woman called Amelia Edward was also looking for a Dahabiya, and she succeeded. In her book called ‘A 1000 miles up the Nile’ she writes about the Dongola and the Giraffa.

Both of the ships were built in England, the Dongola was made in 1835 and the Giraffa was made in 1840.

Even before the steamers appeared, Thomas Cook decided to organize cruises with the Dahabiya.

These were only for the rich tourists, who liked being pampered. During their journey, they visited all kinds of monuments.

After the steamers started to appear, people started to forget about the Dahabiya’s. And slowly, the Dahabiya’s started to disappear.

In the beginning of 2000 the current owner, called Mohammed Ahmed El Saidy, found the Dongola and the Giraffa in one of the little lakes in Cairo.

Mohammed Ahmed El Saidy fell in love with these ships and decided to buy them, but the problem was that the owners were unknown. After a while, he found out who the owners were, handed over the money and owned the ships. But after that, Mohammed found out that there was a lot of history behind the Dongola, and he found out that England gave the Dongola to Egypt, when the Suezkanal was being opened.

- Sultan Hassan Kamal-

The Dongola also belonged once to Sultan Hassan, who was a nephew from Mohammed Ali, and who reigned Egypt from 1914 till 1917.

The Dongola has also been used for the royal families, and by kings themselves.

The Giraffa has less history, but he belonged to another cousin from Mohammed Ali, called Prince Abbas Helmi Taufik.

After Mohammed Ahmed El Saidy owned the ships, he started to renew them, and so they were shining and glowing like they used to do.

There are some adjustments, like the Giraffa who has an air conditioner now and the Dongola has a movable air conditioner.

But despite this, you’ll be travelling in historical atmosphere.

In march 2004, the Dongola transported 2 kings, 2 royal mummies;
pharaoh Ahmose I, founder of new kingdom around the 18th dynasty, about 1500 before Christ, and pharaoh Ramses I, founder of the 19th dynasty and grandfather from pharaoh Ramses II.

The Dongola transported both of the kings to Luxor, where they are represented at the Luxor Museum.  Now, the ships are ready to present you a terrific holiday.

In a wonderful private atmosphere, you’ll be able to enjoy the sun from the sundeck, and enjoy the breathtaking landscape across the Nile. The Nile is the prettiest in Luxor. On our journey we’ll visit monuments like the temple from Edfu and Kom Ombo of course.

And, unlike the huge cruiseships, the Dahabiya’s are able to lay wherever they want, which will make you see places no one ever goes.