I want to start by saying that the guide for the trip, Islam ("Sam") was amazing! He is 100% devoted to the experience and satisfaction of his customers. I now consider him a friend, and when I go back to Egypt, it will be to visit him.
What I liked about the trip:
1. The 15-day itinerary was fantastic, and I would recommend it to anyone who has the time. One suggestion I have is to alter the itinerary slightly and go to Alexandria after Cairo. Then take the sleeper train from Alexandria down to Aswan. It would save time, and I felt we needed a bit more in Luxor.
2. The transportation in general was top notch! I loved the sleeper train (because I love train travel!), and the buses were comfortable.
3. The night on the felucca was one of my favorite parts of the trip, and I think I speak for most our group in saying that we all wanted to stay on the boat longer.
4. The Nubian homestay was inviting and relaxed. We took a walk up to a lookout for sunset, and other that we mostly just played with the kids. It felt like visiting family.
5. Sam picked some stellar eating opportunities for us, and I just never wanted to stop eating. The food was phenomenal!
6. Sam had excellent recommendations for things to do during our free time, and he knew all the local places to buy snacks, get cash, do laundry, etc. He was incredibly helpful in all respects!
Opportunities for improvement:
1. We generally had about an hour of free time at the major sites. This wasn't enough for me, and I really could have used another hour at least. I stayed in Egypt for a couple weeks after the tour, and I went back to some of the sites where I felt I had missed too much.
2. The timing of our visits to some of the major sites could have been altered so that we didn't arrive at the same time as the other groups. For example, we visited Philae Temple in the morning, and there were hundreds of people at the site. As we were leaving I noticed that everyone else was leaving too, and the site was nearly empty. The same thing happened with Abu Simbel. In both cases, we had free time in the afternoon, so there was no reason that we couldn't have visited the sites later in the day when we would have had them all to ourselves. In the warmer months, I understand it is necessary to beat the afternoon heat, but since it was cool season, the schedule could have been altered.
3. The hot air balloon ride with over Luxor was a disappointment. I have taken other balloon rides in the past (Cappadocia, Serengeti, Myanmar), and I have had good experiences on all of them. The Luxor balloon ride, in comparison, was a disappointment for several reasons. The ride was short (26 mins), it wasn't actually over Luxor or the Valley of the Kings, the captain was inexperienced and gave us a simple up & down flight profile, we were not given a safety briefing, his English was limited (which could be a major problem in an emergency), the transport vans caused their own traffic jams twice, and because we were late, we had to run to the balloon before it took off empty. It was a fiasco!
4. The hotels were generally subpar. I don't need anything fancy. I usually stay in guesthouses rather than hotels anyway. What I like in the places I stay is cleanliness, good customer service, and if possible, a bit of character. That's why I usually stay in guesthouses, which are often family-run and have a more personal feel. In any case, the Santana was probably the nicest hotel of the lot, but it really depended on the floor. The fourth floor (orange colored) was quite nice. The others, not so much. The hotel Cleopatra in Aswan was the worst, despite the fancy appearance of the lobby. The rooms looked like they hadn't had any sort of update since the 1970's, and cleanliness was definitely a problem. I get that Intrepid is trying to support local companies, and I appreciate that, but these companies don't seem to be very responsible when it comes to the satisfaction of their guests.
