16/08-07   -   Press releases

Bedouin Paths Launches Ethical Hiking Tours in Egypt

And helps the local Bedouin with funding for English classes and improving their mountain huts

Bedouin Paths, an ethical tourism company based in London, is launching quality hiking tours in Sinai, Egypt. With a sustainable future and the local community in mind, Bedouin Paths will be dedicating a large percentage of the profit from its trips to fund English classes for Bedouin children and develop the Wadi huts in the mountains. The company is releasing its website (www.bedouinpaths.com) at the start of August 07, with the hikes beginning in early October.

Intrepid tourists have the choice of a seven, 10 or 14 day hike either in the mountains or the desert around Mount Sinai (where Moses came down with the Ten Commandments), and will be venturing out from the small town of Katreen. Those embarking on the desert hike will walk around 150km to the coast, passing through the stunning Sinai desert and landscape. If the challenge proves too much, the guests can take the unusual opportunity to hop on a camel instead and rest their legs. Hikers will follow in the path of Moses, stay overnight at desert Oasis, and gaze upon ancient ruins.

Slightly more strenuous, the mountain hike takes in the ancient monastery of St Catherine as well as the mountains of both Sinai and St Catherine. Walkers will swim in rock pools, see old Byzantine ruins, spend the evening around Bedouin camp fires and marvel at the mountainous panorama.

Bedouin Paths has struck a deal with Sheikh Mousa, who controls the local Bedouin area, to create a special hiking experience - from the skill of the guides to the route taken to the quality of the food. No other hiking company in the area has secured this level of local input.

Mark Knutton, founder and owner of Bedouin Paths, comments: “The hikers will sleep on mountain floors, ride sweaty camels, feel the strain in their legs and have their clothes full of campfire smoke – and then wonder why they sit in an office the rest of the time!

“Our hikes are specially designed by those with extensive local knowledge, and our customers not only have a once-in-a-lifetime experience but also get to help the people they meet along the way."

The tours are specifically being used to fund English classes, run from a dedicated school building in Katreen, and the money from the eco tourists will also go a long way towards improving the Wadi dwellings by introducing water, sanitation (toilets and showers) and electricity.

A person and their four friends booking a 14 day hike pays for a teacher for over 3.5 months, while an individual booking a 10 day hike pays for a new well. The equation is that, for every day an individual hikes, a teacher can be employed for one day.

The hikes are suitable for persons aged over 12 of various abilities and fitness levels. Tours start from £350, excluding flight - but fully including the cost of food, drink, guides, accommodation, camels, etc. - and can be booked at www.bedouinpaths.com from early August 2007. Bookings can be taken for single persons and groups.

Notes for editors
Bedouin Paths, a London-based ethical tourism company, was set up by Mark Knutton in 2007 to provide high quality hiking tours in Egypt. Its business model was designed from the ‘ground up’ to support local education and housing for the Bedouin of Sinai, and is unusual - in that, rather than maximising price to maximise profit, the price is designed to maximise the benefit to the local community, and make that benefit concrete. The company´s strapline is “educating the world... one child at a time".

Mark has spent many years working and hiking around the globe and decided to set up a worthwhile venture after having ‘yet another mid-life crisis’. Bedouin Paths was the result. The company employs ten people.