Down the Nile
Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff

Rosemary Mahoney

7/15/2007

Rose Mahoney is an independent American author who is used to traveling on her own. When she visited Egypt a few years ago and took a cruise on the Nile, she became entranced with the great river that flows "backward" in her mind. At home in Rhode Island she rows around the Naragasset Bay and has rowed her own small craft for years. She decides she wants to row down the Nile (south to north) from Aswan to Cairo.

Since she has visited Egypt a few times, Mahoney has a working knowledge about the Egyptian culture. She knows that a lone foreign woman would not officially be allowed to undertake the trip she wants to take. Even if she can avoid official notice, the male-dominated culture there will be a major obstacle. Down the Nile is a narrative of her trip. She discusses the culture standards, especially the sexual attitudes of the Egyptians. As a lone foreign woman, she is constantly faced with and questioned about sexual topics from the men she meets. She relates her difficulties of purchasing a rowboat. She wants to row alone, but everywhere she goes men insist that she can't make the journey alone; she needs to have a man protect her. Her trials, tribulations, and actual trip are chronicled here.

But Down the Nile is more than that. It's the "more" that kept my interest in the book. Mahoney did in depth historical research of other travelers on the Nile. She researched the geology, the customs, the flora, the fauna, the history of the river, Egypt's vast majestic history, and its peoples. Her historical perspectives included numerous travelers throughout the centuries, with specific emphasis on Flaubert and Florence Nightingale in the first half of the 19th century. It is all these extras that had me enjoy this book .

Mahoney is harsh on the Egyptian male in this book, although she met some exceptions. She describes the double standard she meets everywhere in this predominently Muslim country. She met and interacted with a few women but that was rare. More than once she invented a husband waiting for her "just a few miles" down the river to get rid of unwanted attention. Modern Egypt doesn't come over well in Down the Nile.

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