We belong to the Raschaida Family in Saudi Arabia. About 250 years ago our great grandfather left his country and came to Egypt. After different stays all over Egypt the family finally settled in Dakhla in El Dohous. They had a lot of camels, goats and sheep and the inhabitants of the oasis were quite afraid of them in the beginning.
They started to help farmers by bringing their dates and other goods from Dakhla to Assiut with their camel caravan. So they shared together in business and succeeded alltogether. Through this way the first routes were formed in the desert to come to Kharga, Assiut and Farafra.
Over time, the life changed a lot and technical development also arrived in the oasis. So we started to be farmers and worked in the fields because cars were replacing the camels, and by 1980 the first foreigners were brought from the tourist office in Mut to our village to show them camels and real Bedouins.
Tourist also asked the tourist office where they could find a place to camp with their cars and if they could see real Bedouin life in the oasis. We welcomed the tourists in our homes like our guests, gave them food, tea, water and all what we had. We tried to do our best and according to our Bedouin hospitality we could not charge them. So the guests asked us to build a special place for tourists.
And the idea grew in our mind until we got ready to make a new project. We chose a nice place close to our village on a little hill to build something very simple and nice with palm trees, leaves and natural material. We started our tourism business with six little huts. Our guests became happy and satisfied with the place and our hospitality.
We have a big and clean camping area for individuals on tour with a car. There is an own camping hamam, a bathroom with hot shower, and electricity for your car.
It was learning by doing that made us better and by the years the place grew bigger and bigger until we decided to build a new and more comfortable camp for our guests. In 2004 we started to build the new camp close to our tradition and life, but with modern facilities. We tried to make our place a little oasis in the oasis to give them the chance to relax completely. But with all the work in tourism we didn't loose our roots and so we still live very close to our tradition and culture and we try to give this feeling to our guests.
We opened this new place in 2005. Compared to our old camp it offers more comfort and more facilities but the same Bedouin hospitality
We have three big houses with eight rooms in each a roof garden and terrace. They are built in our own style related to our Bedouin roots. We used mostly natural materials to fit in the landscape. Each room has an own bathroom, hot water, mosquito net and fan.
We have also 12 chalets with high round roofs in Islamic style. They give more air in the summer and are built like a cave in the hill.
We have a big and clean camping area for individuals on tour with a car. There is an own camping hamam, a bathroom with hot shower, and electricity for your car.
The latest project will offer 36 new modern rooms, a new relaxing ground, and a swimming pool.
We built a first restaurant on the top of the hill with a roof garden where our guests can enjoy their meal wherever they want, out- or inside, while watching the sunset and workers in the fields. We are prepared to serve for vegetarians, whenever needed. We buy our fruits and vegetables every day fresh from the market in nearby Mut. Since 2010 we had a second restaurant built to offer more space and comfort.
We are always thinking about our guests to make them feel home. So we built the Dayf Allah (means guest from god) meeting room to sit together like a big family in Bedouin style.It can be used for many different purposes like meditations, to teach belly dance, or studying together. It offers space for 30 people.
Because we want our guests to relax and enjoy the view of the panorama, we built many different places.
There is the roof terrace to enjoy the sundown in the sand dunes, and different places in the garden to relax and listen to the birds.
In the evening we use to sit around our open fireplace and make music, or we sit in the coffee shop that looks like a Bedouin tent with an open fireplace. It offers more warmth in winter and protection against the wind. We serve the famous Bedouin tea cooked in the open fire and the shishawater pipe. We love to teach our dances and have fun with the guests.
We started a bazaar where we sell some Bedouin handicraft.
We also care for the health of our guests and offer A hot sand bath:
We put ourselves in the sand when we feel pain in our bones or the whole body, to let the sand lick the pain and bad fluids out of the body. We saw how the camel made a hole in the sand and so we do the same.
We offer this also to our guests to heal them from rheumatism and other pains.
Hot spring. God gave us so many things from the nature; he gave us also the hot water coming deep from the earth. As we have the hot sand in the summer, we have the hot springs in winter to heal our bodies. The natural minerals such like iron and sulfur take the bad fluid out and make the skin soft and healthy. In our oasis we have lots of hot springs with different temperatures. Our hotel is so close to one of these hot springs with 42 degree.
Camel milk. The Bedouins take this animal like a friend and we learned from him how to cure ourselves. All the herbs he eats come also to the milk of the mother camel. So we started to drink the milk of the camel as well. We felt healthy and strong and found out that it helps for a lot of other diseases like Hepatitis C, stomach pain, sexual disability, digestion and immune resistance.
Natural Medicine. All our breads are made without yeast and this bread cures stomach pain. Deshisha is a special wheat you cook and eat with soup that helps the stomach. Take and cook Guava tree leaves if you have a cold. Half al bar are herbs from the desert cleaning the kidneys. Drink as a tea. Handal is a kind of fruit from the desert we put for some time under your feet. It helps against rheumatism.
I can suggest you to go on our website:
http://www.dakhlabedouins.com
where you will find pictures and other details from the Zeydan family
In the hope that this will give you the details you were looking for, I send you my best greetings and regards.
And once again, thank you for your interest.
