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The yellow-and-white façade of Mango Guesthouse above its garden, strung with colourful bunting

Mango Guesthouse · Elephantine Island, Aswan

An island welcome, Nubian style.

Local hospitality, traditional food and the gentle rhythm of island life, in the middle of the Nile at Aswan.

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A Nubian home on Elephantine Island

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Mango Guesthouse sits among the gardens of Elephantine Island, in the middle of the Nile at Aswan. It is a place for local hospitality and traditional Nubian food, with a rooftop terrace that looks out over the Nile, and for experiencing the slower rhythm of island life.

Traditional Nubian food, shared.

Local, traditional Nubian food at Mango Guesthouse, on Elephantine Island.

Meals are served in a shaded courtyard where guests sit down together: one of the simplest and warmest ways to experience Nubian hospitality.

The Nubian food experience
Guests sharing a traditional Nubian lunch in the courtyard at Mango Guesthouse
Bowls of creamy rice pudding topped with nuts and cinnamon
Lunch in the courtyard, and something sweet to finishMango Guesthouse

The rooftop terrace

The Nile, from the roof.

The rooftop terrace looks out over the palms to the Nile and the golden dunes of the west bank: a place for breakfast in the morning sun, and for long evenings as the light fades over the river.

The rooftop terrace looking across palm trees and the Nile to the dunes of the west bank
The view from the roof, across the Nile to the west bankMango Guesthouse
The rooftop terrace laid with cane chairs and tables under a clear Aswan sky
Looking down on the rooftop terrace with its colourful Nubian seating

The house

Gardens, courtyards & Nubian colour.

A garden of palms and flowers, shaded courtyards hung with tentmaker fabric, and walls painted with portraits and scenes of Nubian life.

The garden in the warm evening light, with the guesthouse rising behind
A curving garden path lined with plants and hedges
A lounge with a large mural of a Nubian woman above a red sofa
A bright hall with red tentmaker curtains opening onto the garden
A shaded courtyard with patterned canopies and bunting

The rooms

Bright, simple & restful.

Clean, light-filled rooms with Nubian touches, from vaulted ceilings and handmade textiles to paintings of the desert.

A bright bedroom with a vaulted ceiling, a red quilt and cane chairs
A double room with a striped quilt and paintings of the desert
The sitting area of a guest room, with a wooden sofa and blue cushions
A modern double room with a golden bedspread and wood floors

Elephantine Island

Life on the island.

Staying on Elephantine means stepping away from the bustle of Aswan while staying right in the middle of it.

I

An island in the Nile

Elephantine sits in the middle of the river opposite Aswan, a green island of gardens, palm trees and quiet lanes, reached by a short boat ride.

II

Nubian villages

The island is home to Nubian villages, where painted houses and everyday life carry on at their own unhurried pace.

III

Ancient Abu

At its southern tip lie the ruins of ancient Abu, one of the oldest settlements in Egypt, and one of the river’s historic Nilometers.

IV

Close to everything

From the island, Philae, the Nubian villages of the west bank and a felucca on the river are all within easy reach.

Aerial view of Aswan’s islands and the Nile at sunrise
Aswan and its islands from abovePhotography: Anakob

Getting there

A short boat ride across the Nile.

Elephantine Island lies in the middle of the river, directly opposite Aswan’s Corniche. A short boat ride brings you from the city to the island, and from there to the guesthouse among its gardens.

Tell us how you are arriving, by air, rail or river, and we will help you plan the last stretch.

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Stay at Mango Guesthouse.

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