Tourism: Eco-Tourism Holds Promise, Peril For Egyptian Oasis (Dakhla)

npr (Peter Kenyon)

With audio (4m 21sec) and photographs.

At this time of year, Egypt's hotels and cruise ships are packed with thousands of visitors eager to see the Great Pyramids or Luxor's famed Valley of the Kings. But a quietly growing eco-tourism movement is beginning to bring smaller groups to more out-of-the-way parts of Egypt, the places package tour operators don't visit.

At the remote Dakhla Oasis, new eco-lodges have sparked both hope and apprehension among local villagers.

Many villagers agree that Dakhla needs visitors to supplement the uncertain agriculture-based economy. But they also worry that large numbers of tourists will stress the fragile environment that has sustained life for thousands of years.

Nasser al-Hamoud, a blacksmith, works from inside an old mud-brick building on a twisting, narrow street in Al Qasr, a village at the northern end of the Dakhla Oasis. At his shop, a giant heaving bellows is the centerpiece of what resembles a medieval blacksmith's forge.

Al Qasr village lies at the northern end of Egypt's Dakhla Oasis. A 15th century, mud-brick mosque minaret punctuates the skyline of Al Qasr's old walled city.
Old walled city of Al Qasr
Peter Kenyon/NPR

Al Qasr village lies at the northern end of Egypt's Dakhla Oasis. A 15th century, mud-brick mosque minaret punctuates the skyline of Al Qasr's old walled city.

Hamoud has been smithing here for a quarter-century. He learned the trade from his father, and his own son is now pulling the chain that works the bellows, flaring the red-hot coals where the business end of a small scythe is taking shape.

Hamoud explains that business is uncertain these days. He says farm tools are his bread and butter, but lately, cheap imports from China have flooded the market. He scornfully holds up a thin, Chinese-made shovel blade, and then hefts the weightier, more costly hand-forged version.

Recently, however, Hamoud has begun to develop a sideline in selling large ornamental nails and rustic jewelry to tourists, who have started to visit in larger numbers. He has no idea if this is a blip or a trend.