Ode to Agatha

I suppose I am under the poetic and romantic spell of Agatha Christie as I near the end of her mystery novel Death on the Nile. Today is the final leg of our Nile journey and I am taking the afternoon to reflect on what we have experienced on this iconic river. The breezes are warm and the sun is shining as I sit on the top deck embracing all she has to offer. We are heading north to our final port of Luxor before a flight tomorrow to Cairo. This has been one of the nicest rivers I have sailed. True, the Nile does not have the castles and cathedrals of the Rhine but it does have the Pyramids of the Sahara and the Temples of the Egyptian Pharaohs and Greek high priests. It does not have the steamers of Interlaken or Brown Swiss cattle grazing the Alps but it does have the Feluccas in Aswan and camels near the river's edge. No vineyards lining the hills like that of the Douro but but it does have irrigation systems trying to claim back the threat of the desert. It does not have the Hoover Dam on Lake Mead but is does have Lake Nasser which was created with the completion of the Aswan High Dam. The fall colours of the autumn maples of the St Lawrence are missing but the majestic date palms and banana groves lining her banks are in abundance. It does not have the towering cliffs of the Colorado River and Lake Mead's Hoover Dam but it does have the substantial limestone hills stretching high from a distance and Lake Nassar created with the creation of the Aswan High Dam. Rather than the chiming of the church bells along the Seine calling the faithful to mass, we are serenaded by the Islamic call to prayer five times a day from the minarets; every morning at five and evening prayers at sundown for the muslim faithful. It does not have the locks and jungle of the Panama Canal but it does have it’s own dams and locks to facilitate shipping along the route. The towns are not majestic fairytale settlements of the Danube but they are forgotten places where the poor try to eke out a living. Perhaps not as impoverished as the poor of the Mekong River but nevertheless just as determined to survive by what ever means possible. The fishermen in row boats go about their day in a non threatening way and the farmers tend to their crops in a very primitive existence. The Egyptian trains follow the Nile and blow their haunting whistles as the trains do around Lake Como or Lake Geneva but unlike in Europe they are relied upon as a lifeblood to the communities. I see the locals walk the riverbank in their traditional robes going about their business with no particular concern for the river boats passing by. The sunsets are spectacular and the birds flying low across the water have a calming quality unto themselves.The water is clean and the river is fast unlike the Ganges which is polluted and slow moving. When you take the time to embrace the moment and the serenity of the Nile, a peace comes effortlessly over you. Farewell to this mighty river as we will continue onto Jordan. Shalom!!