Sheikh Mousa

The beduins of the Gebeliya Tribe - 'the people of the mountains' - are the descendants of people from the Balkans and the Mediterranean who were sent by Emperor Justinian to Sant Katherine to protect the Monastery. Since the sixth century AD, the Gebeliya (Jebeliya) live in the high mountains of Sinai, protecting the monastery and guiding people in need.

When the hiking tourism has begun, some problems appeared because the bedouins speaking good English were taking all the jobs. To solve these problems, Sheikh Mousa had a purpose to create a unique office for dealing with all the trekkings. With the agreement of all the tribe, it was decided that only the office can organise trekkings in the mountains, giving job to everybody by a system of turn.

Everybody, the guides, the camels and the cooks, have a number and can wait at their homes for the job, because Sheikh Mousa will call all of them for the tours. The tribe now feels very confortable with this system because everybody has the same job and they can preserve their traditionnal lives the other times.

With your bedouin guide you will discover the natural and cultural features, the traditionnal lifestyle which make this area unique.