Banana Island Sara — Attraction in Al Aqaltah Village

The name says it all, it's the land of bananas! After a great lunch at the Nile Queen Restaurant, we went along the beautiful Nile River to this island. Banana Island is located north of Luxor and is open for tours daily. It is one of the best places to watch the sunset on a felucca during warm evenings. A trip to Banana Island is simply beautiful and unusual. The journey starts from a quay in the very center of the city, where we were picked up by a motorboat. We enjoyed the peaceful Nile River as we made our way towards Banana Island, and its dynamic banks that are always full of life. It only took us a few minutes to get there. In addition to large banana plantations, many fruit trees grow on the island. However, the main attraction is the banana. Fresh, just picked, extremely tasty with vanilla flavor. A rare opportunity to enjoy such delicious fruit. It is a unique experience to walk along the multitude of banana trees and see the fruits up close. We also visited a small zoo with crocodiles, monkeys and other animals, where unfortunately the animals were in small cages. I didn't like that. There is an excellent cafe on the shore where we drank excellent mint tea and coffee with cardamom, and cold refreshing drinks. Real refreshment during a hot day under the sun. The setting is a peaceful, beautiful place with many palm trees and reeds along the Nile. The beautiful nature relaxed us after the exciting sightseeing of the...

Banana island was an added extra as part of a trip to Luxor, it cost 15-20 euros and was sold to us as you walk under the banana trees to the end of the island to see crocodiles & monkeys. I did not anticipate what it really was, you walk along the side of some banana trees to a crocodiles enclosure, the enclosure is too small, the water is filthy and not big enough for the poor crocodile to swim in, it is stuck on a ceramic ledge with a tree stuck in the middle, it looks like it’s too big to turn around, the enclosure does not replicate a natural environment for this magnificent animal. They have an ostrich in an enclosure about 10foot long and again for a large bird who likes to run, this is not a substantial enclosure. There are about 7 monkeys in a cage with no greenery or anywhere to climb, the cage floor is ceramic. Considering this is a supposed banana plantation with plenty of trees…again this is not a suitable enclosure for theses animals. It is sad to see these amazing animals kept in these conditions, if your into taking pictures with monkeys on chains then this is the place for you…the best part is they give you a plate of fruit within your entrance fee, definitely not worth the money & does not go towards the poor...

The island alone is kind of a sad view.

The banana plantation is nice and makes for cute pictures, however if you have seen similar ones in Egypt/Turkey before it is not really worth it.

The animals at the "zoo" are held in terrible conditions and some animal rights societies should deffinitely get involved here as these poor monkeys and crocodilles are living in way too small enclosures and are just used as fun for tourists. The idea of entering a cage with a crocodile for a photo (maybe it is sedated, but still) also seems incredibly stupid to me.

What I took away from this trip was the terrible life conditions of some people in Egypt. Imediatelly after arriving on the island by boat, many kids rushed to greet us, begging for money. The "houses" and "buildings" on this island also look deplorable and it is sad to imangine people actually live there. Everything here is just for comercial purpose. They will sell you drinks, fruits, pictures...anything just to get some money. Truely a heartbreaking experience.

I feel like the money you spend on this trip is worth it, but not for the island itself but rather the "cruise" down the Nile wich is actually...