Springtime Goodness

It’s springtime in Sinai! And thanks to winter rains the desert wadis and mountains are bursting with fresh green plants.

So we stop several times on our way to camp to collect these fragrant desert herbs. Here, Freyj collects “sheeh” (Artemisia herba-alba), a wormwood used by the Bedouin both for medicinal and culinary purposes.

For two to three months in the spring, many Bedouin return to a more traditional life in the desert. One of the main reasons being so that their herds of sheep and goats can graze on the nutritious desert plants. Each evening the women collect milk from the goats. Most of this milk is consumed fresh, without any “processing”. Bedouin call this milk “haleeb”. In the morning, the haleeb is mixed with sugar and sheeh, heated by the fire, and enjoyed – on its own or with tea – by both adults and children. Even the youngest of children drink warm goat’s milk from their bottle. Chunks of fresh hot bread are also dunked into the warm milk and eaten as a small morning meal.

If the women collect the milk for several days, they have enough to work into “samen sheehi” and cheese. To do this, the women pour the milk into a specially-prepared sac, add a pinch of salt, and shake the sac until the milk thickens. The thick curds are scooped out with a spoon and mixed with sheeh and other herbs to make samen sheehi, an herb ghee or butter. The liquid that is left is called “leban”, or simply milk, but it has fermented some and is now a bit sour, like buttermilk, and is consumed by the glass or used in savory dishes.

“Liba” or “ti-baana” is the name of the thick bread, baked beneath hot coals, which is an essential element of Bedouin meals. Prepared by either the men or women of a family, this afternoon Freyj and his daughter care for the baking of the bread together.

But it is Freyj’s daughter who has prepared the main meal, a simple dish of rice and vegetables over which we poured some of the sour leban – a feast full of springtime goodness!

Happy Sinai Liberation Day!

April 25 marks the anniversary of the final withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Sinai peninsula in 1982.

Zuara at the tomb of Sheikh Haboos

The tomb of Sheikh Haboos.

Small, domed tombs, like the one of Sheikh Haboss pictured above, can be found throughout the Sinai peninsula. When Bedouin need guidance, a blessing, or help with a problem - for example if a relative is ill, a wife is pregnant, or good crops desired - many will visit and pray at a holy sheikh’s (like a saint’s) tomb to ask for an intervention of their behalf from Allah. When this takes place on a sheikh’s birthday, it is called a “mulid”. Otherwise, this practice is known as a “zuara” and, depending on tribal traditions and the tomb visited, happens only on certain days.  Mondays and Fridays are reportedly the busiest days for a zuara at the tomb of Sheikh Haboos, although it is  not uncommon for one to happen on other days as well. Typically a zuara involves the sacrifice of a lamb, a shared meal, and – during a mulid celebration – much music and dancing. Nearby to most tombs you will find small stone buildings, “maq’ad”, used as shelters for praying, meeting, eating, and – of course – tea drinking!

Men from the El-heywaat tribe slaughter a sheep at the tomb of Sheikh Haboos.

On a recent safari to the area near Sheikh Haboos’s tomb, we were invited to join a zuara by a group of Bedouin from the El-Heywaat tribe who were visiting from the Taba region. That’s an invitation that is hard to refuse! So we turned the truck around and backtracked to the tomb. Our guide, Freyj, happily helped set up carpets inside the maq’ad. As the man who would slaughter the sheep cleaned and readied for the sacrifice, the others prayed, started the fires, and began the preparations for the meal. Dried palm fronds that had been collected along the way and a large palm trunk found next to the maq’ad were used for the fire that would cook the meat. Smaller dried plants were lit for the fire built inside for tea.

The cooking pot on the fire.

Chunks of meat were thrown in the pot of boiling water with several handfuls of mountain salt. Livers and other innards were chopped and placed in a separate pan with oil and water. It would take several hours for the meal to cook so the men sat inside, sheltered from the chilly wind, as they drank tea, smoked, and chatted about a variety of topics. Eventually, the liver was served on a large round metal tray that we all sat around using pieces of thin fresh bread to scoop up bites of liver. After about another hour and a half, the meat was ready. Although we did not stay to share in this meal, the men would not let us leave empty-handed, being sure we had plenty of meat, both raw and cooked, to take back to camp with us.

Mulids are celebrated throughout Egypt, by both Muslims and Christians, and the Bedouin of Sinai have their own unique traditions for these rituals, traditions that have changed over the years to these more simple, quiet affairs. You can read more about mulids in Egypt here.

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Reference:

The Bedouin Tribes of the Sinai: Lecture Book by Larry Roeder (2005)

A New Place to Stay in Ras Sudr!

Accommodations in Ras Sudr, a set on Flickr.

Looking for non-resort accommodations in Ras Sudr? Look no further! Eid is pleased to announce that there is now a new option of a simple and clean place to stay. Check out the photos above and contact Eid at +2 0122 268 1938 or by email at eidalatrash@hotmail.com for rates and reservations.

L is for Lounging Lizard

Reblogged from Escapade through Egypt:

This colorful lizard is an Ornate Dabb Lizard, Uromastyx ornata, and in Egypt, is found only in the rocky wadis of South Sinai. And while he may look like he is simply lounging in the hot sun, he is quite alert and on the look-out, surveying his territory. Learn more about this spiny-tailed lizard on Arkive.org.

Wandering through Wadis

 

Just in time for the upcoming spring season, which is bound to be one of the greenest springs Sinai has experienced in years due to the generous rainy season we’ve had….

Wandering through Wadis: A nature-lover’s guide to the flora of South Sinai is a field guide to the plants growing in the mountain wadis and coastal plains of South Sinai. Perfect for the nature-lover or hobbyist interested in identifying the various plants encountered while trekking, hiking, or camel riding in the Sinai desert. For each of the 104 plants in the directory, you will find the Common English and Arabic names, general description and information, photographs, and practical and traditional Bedouin uses.

The eBook (PDF) is currently available for sale and pre-orders are being taken for printed copies. You can also download a free sample from my website.

Happy Wandering!

~Bernadette

After the rain

The mountains in Dahab and the surrounding areas have been blessed with several rain showers already this season. There was much damage caused to the plants by the hail and floods, but the wadis are full of new sprouts! Pictured above are just a few examples of the plants growing happily in the coastal wadis near Dahab.

Top Left:  Aizoon canariense, Horse Purslane

Top Right: Forsskaolea tenacissima, Desert Nettle

Bottom Left: Citrullus colocynthis, Bitter Gourd or Desert Squash

Bottom Right: Fagonia mollis, Common Fagonia

Correction: Camel Race on January 10

Correction to our previous post: The camel race will be held on the morning of Thursday, January 10th (NOT the 9th as previously stated).

The dates of the safari have not changed.  Get the details here.