Yes, it’s true! I just returned from a trip to Egypt.
My mother Claire will be 80 years-old in March. She and her husband Brian are seasoned international travelers, and to celebrate her milestone birthday, she wanted to go to Egypt. I was blessed to be invited along with my beau. Since it was a gift to me too, and frankly, I’m too busy to plan a big trip like this outside of my work for Experience Sicily, my mom picked a tour based on her budget and research.
It had been a life-long dream for me to go to Egypt – I remember standing in line for hours as a little kid in 1978 to see the Tutankhamun exhibit at The Met, so my imagination was sparked decades ago! I was excited not only because of my deep interest in archaeology, history, and ancient feminine deities, but also, I was excited to be a tour participant versus tour leader.
My mom purchased an 11-day itinerary that included the “greatest hits” of Egyptian ancient sites along with a Nile cruise. Because of the recently opened Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), my beau and I arrived in Cairo a couple of days earlier so that we could spend time wandering through its galleries uninhibited. I also reserved brunch at one of the country’s most celebrated restaurants that boasts views of the Giza pyramids. So, I planned our first full day and then next day, the tour started.
I don’t want to look a gift-horse in the mouth, but the nature of the itinerary, which was like a race versus an enjoyable journey, made me really appreciate the way that we host our groups at Experience Sicily and design our itineraries for our concierge clients. Because I love Sicily so deeply, I focus on making sure you will too – in a sustainable, slower way. Our tours are not about a list, they are about savoring the experience and being affected in a positive way by the culture, history, and local people.
Our Egypt tour shed light on the difference between a boutique company like Experience Sicily versus a large tour operator.
Just like when I listen to music as a professional musician, I analyze the performance, lyrics, chord progression, and production/arrangement. Now, I do the same thing with travel experiences.
The first thing I noticed was how the tour operator (who shall remain nameless) priced our Egypt tour. My mom was attracted to the list of what we’d see and the advertised cost per person – that is, the “Starting at” price. After she signed up, I pointed out to her that 80% of the daily excursions were add-ons for an additional cost – that seemingly lower price wasn’t such a break. Furthermore, when I looked at how many meals were included (pretty much only breakfast), the price tag started to increase more.
Also, important to note, the brand-name American tour operator that sold the tour wasn’t actually the company that planned and executed the tour, a local Egyptian company managed it.
The first official night at a Hyatt an hour outside of Cairo’s city center, we started with a group of 42 people, to whom we were not introduced during the opening reception (or ever!). The agenda of the “Welcome Meeting” turned out to be a sales pitch for the daily excursions that our fellow travelers had yet to purchase. Turns out that half the group only reserved the first six days of the itinerary, so when we went on to Aswan to meet our Nile cruise boat, we were down to a more manageable 22 participants (who we still never had a formal introduction to).
Our tour leader was also our guide – an Egyptologist. She was extremely knowledgeable and likable. Those first days, we visited Coptic Christian churches, street markets, the amazing pyramids (Where I was kidnapped into a camel ride – totally worth it!), the GEM again, Memphis’ open-air museum, and Saqqara (where I’m photographed at the top of this post). I kept hearing from my travel companions that the information was like “drinking from a fire hose.” Thankfully, I had been preparing/studying for a couple of months leading up to the tour, so I was able to follow who, what, where, and when most of the time, but I could see their point. It was overwhelming for a non-scholar.
We traveled through the dessert to go to Alexandria, which for me, the new Library was a highlight of the tour – mostly because my beau and I opted to stay there longer versus return with the group to the Hilton (which was 30-45 minutes from the city’s tourist center).
I could continue to talk about the caravan of twenty-five or so 50-seat busses that trekked 3.5 hours both ways through the desert together to get to Abu Simbel, pictured, (for which we left at 5AM and had only 1.5 hours there), the amount of shoulder to shoulder crowds to see the Temple of Horus (a 6AM call), the smog over the temple of Kom Ombo from the gaggle of cruise ships all arriving there at once, the fact that we had only one proper lunch and didn’t have a final farewell dinner!
… I’ll summarize to say that the glory of Egypt was often eclipsed for me by the unsustainable nature I found this kind of large-scale, fast, big-company tourism to be.
Our contact with Egyptians too, was disappointedly limited to our cruise ship hosts, bathroom attendants, and souvenir shopkeepers.
Look carefully at the tours you are considering. In the end, when it’s a trip of a lifetime, the price should be scrutinized, yes, but more importantly, ask yourself: What exactly are you getting for your money? Where are the hotels located? How many people will you be traveling with? Are the excursions and meals included in the posted price? Will it be a heartwarming, inspirational experience or will you just be checking items off a list that was published in a guidebook (Be wary about that!)? Will you actually be able to digest what it is you are seeing, experiencing, doing? Do you know who actually is hosting you?
My most memorable experiences were ones that I planned: when my beau and I were sitting at brunch that first day eating hummus and warm pita bread while looking at the pyramids coupled with witnessing Egyptians socializing and the quiet moments in the Library of Alexandria, taking in the Egyptians’ appreciation for collecting humanity’s knowledge, no matter the religion or culture, and putting it under one illuminated roof.
This trip reminded me why I fell in love with travel in the first place — and regretfully, often it wasn’t for the reasons that this check-box-driven tour featured.
There is a way to travel sustainably and respectfully, and I will continue to make that a priority for Experience Sicily’s approach.
