Elephantine & kitchener's Islands
Kitchener's Island open daily 8 am - dusk
Aswan Museum open Sun-Thu 8 am - 6 pm / Fr 9 am - 1 pm

Elephantine is the largest of the Aswan Islands and is one of the most ancient sites in Egypt, with artifacts dating to pre-dynastic periods. This is probably due to its location at the first Cataract of the Nile, which provided a natural boundary between Egypt and Nubia. The ancient town, located in the southern part of the island, was also a fortress through much of it's history.
 

The Aswan Museum on Elephantine Island displays a collection of finds discovered in Aswan and Nubia, dating from pre-dynastic to the Byzantine periods. Most noteworthy are a golden bust of Khnum, and the mummy of the Sacred Ram.
 

Kitchener's Island is situated behind Elephantine Island, covering an area of 18 acres. It was named after Lord Kitchener, the old Aswan Dam engineer, as a reward for his campaigns in Sudan. A passionate botanist, he retired here and turned the island into a garden wonderland, importing shrubs and trees from tropical Africa. The garden contains more than eight hundred specimen palms, tamarisk and other rare botanical specimens.
 

The Egyptian government, which now owns and maintains the island, has continued to preserve it as a botanical garden.

The best way to view these sites is by "felluca", traditional open-topped sailing boats, and don't forget to bring your camera to capture one of the most magnificent scenes of the Nile.