Reviewed 04 May 2011 by Lisa Calmiano
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Hard to judge as it was all so brilliant, but probably the felucca trip and diving in Dahab.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Egypt is a brilliant country with so many friendly people, nothing to fear post-revolution, the Egyptians are all so happy to see tourists back in the country. If you do the felucca, bring mozzie spray!
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes, we had lots of opportunity to talk to local people along the tour and could see the impact of having tourists to the economy of the company. Also the visit to the orphanage really showed how local charities are being directly supported.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Brilliant vacation and the way issues were handled by the company (train and ferry route issues) means I will definitely travel with them again. The sights are amazing and the people friendly, who could ask for more on a fab vacation!
Reviewed 04 Jun 2010 by Dan Beacon
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Habu Temple, very quiet compared to the other tourist attractions and the examples of the paintings were fantastic.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Prepare yourself for a lot of hassle from Egyptian shop keepers. Don't be afraid to ignore them if you don't want to buy anything.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
We had local tour leaders, bus drivers etc so it that way I suppose it benefited local people. In terms of the environment, we took a local flight and lots of bus journeys so I guess it wasn't the most environmentally friendly trip.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Very Good, enjoyed it immensely.
Reviewed 16 May 2009 by Emma Winch
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Egypt is an amazing country so it's hard to chose - the pyramids, sphinx, museum and all the temples we visited were all memorable. Abu Simel was definitely worth the 3am start! I did really enjoy the donkey ride to and from the Valley of the Kings and it was longer than I anticipated - nearly half an hour each way so I had plenty of time to bond with my gorgeous white donkey! The opportunity to have a hot air balloon ride was also great. Learning about the Nubian culture was something most people may not get to do so I really appreciated it here.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Take lots of antibacterial hand wash and also face wipes for the train and felucca come in handy. If you do take a hot air balloon, don't be lazy - do it early to catch the sunrise! I missed the sunrise and although it was special, it would have been so much better with the added bonus of seeing the dawn too.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
There seemed a fair amount of involvement with local people, such as the camel, donkey and horse-drawn carriage rides, the felucca trip, and the Nubian people who were very hospitable in showing us around their home, providing dinner and taking us on trips in their boat to the botanical island and showing us around Elephantine island. The state of the rubbish pollution along the banks of the Nile did cause concern about the impact tourists were having on the area, so I guess its down to individual responsibility.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
I went on this vacation alone and was quite anxious about it, but was pleasantly surprised. The tour seemed very well organised, and I felt safe throughout. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly (too friendly with me - watch out for him girls!). It was a complete whistle-stop tour of Egypt and you are on the go the whole time, we did 3 temples in one day once. Worst point: whilst the felucca experience was worth having, I think one night would have been more than enough!
Read the operator's response here:
Thank you very much Emma, for taking the time to complete this review. We value all client feedback and are glad to hear you found Egypt to be an 'amazing country' and the trip to be 'very well organised'. We share your concerns about litter along the banks of the Nile. As a company we ensure that our Tour Leaders and felucca crew do not contribute to the problem and make sure that all rubbish is disposed of appropriately. Our clients, as I am sure you will have found, are encouraged to do likewise. We have also written to the Egyptian Government to share these concerns about rubbish pollution and ask for advice/comments and plans for the future. We are, as yet, awaiting a reply. Regarding the felucca experience we do find that this appeals to some clients more than others-for some people it is the highlight of their trip but you obviously had quite a few others! It is hard to choose on that trip! Thank you again for drawing these matters to our attention.
Reviewed 29 Apr 2008 by Andrea Talibard
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
It is very hard to pick one thing. The pyramids are a great way to start off the vacation with their grandeur, the feluccas for their tranquillity, the temples and the amazing guides with their vast knowledge of Egyptology but for me possibly the most memorable was climbing Mount Sinai at 1am to watch the sun rise! Awesome!
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Be prepared for very basic and largely unhygienic toilet facilities. Baby wipes are a necessity and a sense of humour!
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
I did however the local community has a long way to go in understanding looking after their own environment and I think educating local Egyptian communities to clean up their environment must be put into place or incorporated into the trip somehow. The banks by the Nile when we stopped on the Feluccas were littered with plastics and cans. As a group we endeavoured to clean up as much of the area as we could. It was frustrating to see locals and tourists alike have so little regard for their environment.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Excellent, however, a little too much compulsory activities and very little time to yourself to relax, however the activities were well worth being sleep deprived for.
Reviewed 01 Apr 2008 by Anouska Behl
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Egypt is an amazing country, with lots to do and lots to see. The pyramids were classic, traveling down the Nile on a Felucca, riding a donkey in the Valley of the Kings, partying in Luxor and diving in the Red Sea in Dahab.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Research Egyptian culture before you go. There is so much to take in it can be a bit overwhelming.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
I felt that the operator uses the same (fairly well off) locals, so it felt like the rich were getting richer and the other locals did not benefit at all.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
The desitination is amazing but I would not travel with the operator again - they have no level of customer service at all unfortunately. So if you do have a problem you cannot rely on them at all.
I give this vacation five stars for the destination and people and no stars for the operator
Read the operator's response here:
We are obviously delighted that you share our love of Egypt. As you state it is an ‘amazing country’. We are disappointed to read some of your other comments however. In terms of your comments that we ‘use the same (fairly well off) locals, so it felt like the rich were getting richer and the other locals do not benefit at all.’ As a company we are very proud of the fact that we use small independent operators and family-run hotels, not generally used by other companies. Our felucca trips in particular are run by Ahmed and his extended family. We started working with Ahmed five years ago, when he had one felucca and no regular work. Ahmed now works with us all the time and has expanded to three feluccas. Ahmed does not work with any other company. Similarly, in Luxor, Tayeb sources donkeys for the ride to the Valley of the Kings from amongst his family and neighbours. In years gone by Tayeb used to provide donkeys for other companies, but now most companies use Air conditioned mini buses and he does not have as much business. These are just a couple of examples of local people that we have supported in their own small business ventures. Whenever possible we prefer to support small local operators for the reasons you stated so that ‘the same fairly well off locals do not get richer and the other locals do not benefit at all’.
With respect to your comments about our level of customer service we are sorry that you feel like this. We pride ourselves on the fact that the majority of our bookings are from recommendations or repeat bookings. You have expressed your dissatisfaction to us about aspects of your trip. In particular, the fact that the airline lost your bags and we ‘took five days to get them to you’. As we explained we did everything in our power to get your bags to you as soon as possible.
Secondly, you were dissatisfied about the fact that one of the hotels we stayed at during your trip did not have hot water or toilet paper. If you had raised these concerns at the time something could have been done about them. Hot water is sometimes an issue in Egyptian hotels but if you had made us aware of the problem at the time we could have tried to get the problem fixed or move your room. Toilet paper could have been requested from reception.
Thirdly, you raised the issue of dissatisfaction with vegetarian meals. We recognise that this is a problem in Egypt and it is an ongoing issue for us. Vegetarianism is not common in Egypt and the concept itself is often not even understood. This means that the choice of vegetarian meals can be very limited. We are however working with our suppliers to try to improve this situation. We thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to our attention. We value all client feedback and use it to help improve the service we provide in the future.
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