Wonderful and Affordable Egypt

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People told us we were crazy to go to Egypt at this time. They were wrong. Despite the fact that Egypt has been in the news lately; first with the Arab Spring and now with some protests about depictions of the Profet Mohammed, it is important to remember that these problems have not involved the major tourist areas of Giza, Aswan, Luxor and the Red Sea. Even in Cairo the few demonstrations that occurred since the Arab Spring have been in Tahir Square, a location that can easily be avoided if necessary.
Barring new developments, which are easily monitored on national trip advisory web sites and on current individual travel blogs, I wouldn’t hesitate to return with the assistance of a tour company.

Egypt is a lively, colourful place where modern day technology mixes with traditional ways. Where else does one see cars, trucks and motorcycles sharing a four lane highway with tuktuks, (small three wheeled taxis), donkey carts and camels? I enjoyed people/traffic watching as much as I enjoyed Egypt’s rich historical and cultural sites.

We always felt safe and comfortable on our recent two week visit in August. As a matter of fact, this was one of our most enjoyable trips. The best part was that we received amazing value on the Egypt portion of the trip with Memphis Tours. This was my first experience with this company and I have only good things to say about them.
I have no affiliation with any tour company but I strongly believe that when visiting a country that is so different than your own, it’s a good idea to go with a tour company that knows the ins and outs as well as the language. In our case, this was vital because our eldest son has life threatening allergies to peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish.

My husband and I went to Trip Advisor and looked up the top three recommended customized tour operators in Egypt. We sent all three companies a list of everything we wanted to see in our two weeks. Memphis Tours had the best price and we were impressed with the patient, thorough and professional way that Yosri (the tour coordinator), answered our questions, dealt with my son’s dietary challenges and was flexible with our tour plans.

In Egypt, Memphis Tours consistently surpassed all our expectations for service, accommodations, meals and sight-seeing.

On arrival, Hussein Zakaria, our Cairo guest relations representative, met and expertly navigated our family of four through the airport to our waiting van and on to the gorgeous Oberoi Mena House Hotel and Resort. We loved staying in this hotel located at the base of the Giza pyramids. It was wonderful to go onto our private balcony and watch the sun rise over these amazing structures.

Throughout the trip, on most days Memphis Tours organized a private tour guide and driver for our family.
In Cairo, Maha Mahmoud El Halwagy was our English speaking tour guide. We loved her candor, humour and knowledge. She was a joy to work with, (and a great photographer).

We were surprised to even have our own body guard when we went to the Egyptian Museum, the Citadel, Coptic Cairo and the Market. Although I didn’t think we needed a guard, our tour company took no chances.

The charismatic Sayed Selim was our tour guide for Upper Egypt. He skilfully guided us through Abu Simbel, Aswan, the Temple of Philae, Komombo, Luxor, Karnak, the Valley of the Kings are more. Besides being knowledgeable, he was personable, a lot of fun and went out of his way to connect with all members of our family. He also partied with us on the cruise.
In Upper Egypt we stayed at the immaculate Movenpick Resort in Aswan and enjoyed a three day cruise on the luxurious Sonesta St. George cruise ship. The service on this ship went beyond our expectations. Not only was the staff fabulous but our suites were spacious, beautiful and comfortable. We even had a whirlpool tub with coloured lights in our washroom…and individually packaged natural loofah sponges.

Sayed always kept us well stocked with bottled water and saved the day when ironically, I suddenly had digestive issues (pharoah’s curse), during our tour of the Valley of the Kings… possibly brought on by eating salads or consuming ice cubes. This experience accentuated for me the importance of being with someone who knows where the clean bathrooms are when an occasion like that arises.

We next moved on to Hurghada where the capable Aziz Kotb was our guide. A true test of a tour company is how they react when a glitch arises. Aziz passed with flying colours. When our resort could only accommodate my son’s allergies for breakfast, Aziz went out of his way and quickly came up with a solution which worked for everyone. Realizing that our teenagers were missing their junky food, he ordered lunch to be delivered by cab from McDonald’s. The boys were ecstatic.

Our time in Egypt passed much too quickly and our family will always remember the wonderful sights, the hypnotic history and the wonderful, warm-hearted people.

Although we found Egypt to be safe to visit, tourism is still down as are the crowds and the prices. It is rare to receive the type of value for our money that we received by going to Egypt during the off season, (August and Ramadan) and travelling with Memphis Tours. If you ever dreamed of seeing this amazing destination, don’t wait. Jump at the deals that Egypt has to offer while they last.

For more details of our Egypt experience, check out our trip’s daily posts on Travel Addict on a Budget.

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