The beduins of the Gebeliya Tribe - 'the people of the mountains'
- are the descendants of Macedonian people from Europe who were sent
by Emperor Justinian to Sant Katherine to protect the Monastery. Since
the sixth century AD, the Gebeliya (Jebeliya) live in the high mountains
of Sinai, protecting the monastery and guiding people in need.
When the hiking tourism has begun, some problems appeared because
the bedouins speaking good English were taking all the jobs. To solve
these problems, Sheikh Mousa had purpose to create a unique office
for dealing with all the trekkings. With the agreement of all the
tribe, it was decided that only the office can organise trekkings
in the mountains, giving the job to everybody by a system of turn.
Everybody, the guides, the camels and the cooks, have a number and
can wait at their homes for the job, because Sheikh Mousa will call
all of them for the tours. The tribe now feels very confortable with
this system because everybody has the same job and they can preserve
their traditionnal lives the other times.
With your bedouin guide you will discover the natural and cultural
features, the traditionnal lifestyle which make this area unique.
Base camp at Jebel Ansila
This mountain can either be visited on a day-trip or we can set up a base camp at the foot in one of the gardens... See details
The beduins of the Gebeliya Tribe - 'the people of the mountains'
- are the descendants of Macedonian people from Europe who were sent
by Emperor Justinian to Sant Katherine to protect the Monastery. Since
the sixth century AD, the Gebeliya (Jebeliya) live in the high mountains
of Sinai, protecting the monastery and guiding people in need.
