Joanna Lumley's Jewel in the Nile - 1 ª Season

Actress Joanna Lumley lives her childhood dream of traveling the length of the Nile river, from the Mediterranean to its source, a 4000 mile journey. In this first episode, she travels from Alexandria, now a modern city to Cairo. There she visits Cairo's famous bazaar and takes a camel ride through the streets to visit the pyramids at Giza. The Nile once ran right by this famous landmark but urban sprawl now puts it at quite a distance from the waterfront. From Cairo she takes the overnight train to Luxor in a first class coach with a very nice sleeper bed. Once there, she embarks on a Nile cruise ship to Aswan. The ship is also quite luxurious and gives her beautiful views of the river and life along its banks.

Now two weeks into her journey down the Nile, Joanna Lumley leaves Egypt behind her, crossing Lake Nasser by ferry and entering Sudan. During the 18 hour journey she has to deal with crowded conditions and less than sanitary conditions but agreeable travel companions. She gets to view the great statues at Abu Simbel as they pass by. They then travel by car to Wawa where they boat down a stretch of Nile in search of giant crocodiles that can grow up to 20 feet long. A further trip by car takes them to a holy mountain and then go deep underground to visit the tomb of a Queen who lived circa 650 B.C.

Now a full month into her journey, Joanna Lumley has reached the half-way mark in her journey. At Khartoum, the White Nile is joined by the Blue Nile which flows from the southeast and Lake Tana in Ethiopia. Once a great trading center, Khartoum still has many remnants of the 19th century battles with the British. Lumley also undergoes a special skin treatment using scented acacia wood. On leaving Khartoum, she flies to Lake Tana where she eats some of the local delicacies and enjoys a local alcoholic beverage. A visit to St. George's monastery reveals extraordinary murals. From Lake Tana they drive to the Simien Mountains where young women train as long distance runners.

Now on the final leg of her journey, Joanna Lumley leaves Lake Tana traveling west to rejoin the White Nile. They were required to fly over large parts of the river as it was deemed too dangerous to travel down it. In Juba, southern Sudan, she meets the local beauty queens who are preparing for the upcoming pageant. It's the on to Lake Albert where she takes a ferry to Murchison Falls in Uganda where there is now a large game reserve. Traveling overland They stop on the way at a rhinoceros sanctuary. It's then on to Lake Victoria, originally thought to be the source of the Nile. In 2006, a new source of the Nile was discovered in the hills of Rwanda. Traveling up the Rukarara River, they come to the source, a natural spring 4,199 miles from the Mediterranean.