Private Tour: Mangroves

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

The last thing you would expect to see in Egypt is mangrove trees, usually found in rainforest areas of the world, but be prepared for a surprise because that is exactly what you will see on this interesting private tour from Sharm el Shiekh.

Meet the majestic black mangrove tree, the Avicennia Marina. The mangrove (originally a West Indian word for salt tolerant coastal plants) is, as under statements go, a peculiarity in this part of the world.

Mangroves are considered to be "rain forests by the sea" and cover over 2.2 billion acres of the earth's surface. This is however almost the most northerly place you will see this plant, the most northerly being in the Nabq protected area which is just a bit further up the coast of Sinai. This is truly pushing the edge of its range.

Traveler Reviews

Review by: John W	September 2008
Not sure that I would want to do this trip again. Desert was interesting, and the guide worked hard to tell us all about the desert and the Bedouins. Like visiting a shanty town with hundreds of dead storks lying all around. Very bumpy journey in the desert. Then down to the mangroves. Good view of the ship wreck just off the beach there, but not much else to see apart from a couple of wading birds, and hundreds of small crabs scuttling into their holes, as we approached. The museum there was open, but 10 minutes was enough to see everything there, and there were no staff so we were unable to purchase photos. All in all a bit of a disappointment.