Banana Island

Geziret el-Mozz is a low island in the Nile a short sail south of Luxor, planted with bananas, mangoes and citrus, and it has become the standard excuse for an afternoon on the water. The sail itself is most of the point: an hour or so upstream in a felucca, with the west bank cliffs on one side and the corniche on the other, and the river traffic of ferries, cruise boats and fishing skiffs passing. On the island a family runs a small plantation with a shaded seating area, and visitors are shown around the trees, given banana and sugarcane to taste and tea to drink, and left to sit for a while. It is modest and unpolished, and the appeal is the river and the pause rather than the destination.

What you actually see

• The felucca sail - an hour upstream under sail with the cliffs opposite.
• A working plantation - banana, mango and citrus under irrigation.
• Shaded seating and tea - the pause the trip is really for.
• River traffic - ferries, cruise boats and fishing skiffs passing.

When to go

October to April. Late afternoon, so the sail back is into the sunset, which is the reason most people go. Half a day. Wind matters for a felucca; without it you will be motored or towed.

Honest expectations

The island is small and there is genuinely little to do there. Prices are negotiated on the corniche and the first quote is high. Some boatmen add charges at the island. Without wind the sail becomes an engine trip, which changes the experience entirely.

Nearby

Luxor corniche is the departure point; the west bank sites are opposite.