Place to Visit: Lake Nasser

Stark Beauty in the Nubian Desert

Nile Valley, Egypt

Lake Nasser is a vast manmade lake - the largest in the world - that sits like a blue green jewel in the heart of the Nubian wilderness. Its creation flooded the traditional lands of the culturally rich Nubian people and displaced them never to return, yet has regulated the flow of the Nile bringing safety and economic stability to those living further north. Today it provides the opportunity to visit the Pharaonic wonders south of Aswan in comfort or to fish for the great Nile perch and others.

Background

Each year the Nile’s inundation brought rich black silt to the fields on the low lying riverbanks of Egypt, and each year the destruction of the floodwaters was catastrophic, washing away whole communities. The Aswan dam helped to control the flow somewhat but it was the completion of the High Dam in 1970 which created Lake Nasser, a massive body of water covering 5300 sq km, which brought order and relief to those north of Aswan.