Real Egypt - RealEgypt.Net

Real Egypt Tours - Samir Abbass was very thoughtful from the moment we made the reservations to the time he dropped us off. Based on our interests, Samir Abbass customized a day tour for our 12 hour stop over in Cairo on our way to South Africa. There was a guide waiting for us as we got off the plane to help us purchase a visa, get through customs and find our car. We hit the main attraction, the Giza Pyramids and rode camels, but we also saw areas of Cairo and learned about the different perspectives in Cairo: Muslim Brotherhood, Military and Christians. We visited the Coptic Cave Church, Old Cairo, Markets -- we saw a lot for the little time we were there.

I would highly recommend Real Egypt Tours - Samir Abbass to anyone who has a stop over in Cairo. We felt safe the entire time we were there.

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Let me ask you a question first: Would you think it was safe for a young,white Australian woman with congenital heart disease to travel all around Egypt? Well, speaking from personal experience,I can tell you that it is safe. My partner and I researched tour operators online and found a couple of well established tour companies. While these companies had positive reviews in their thousands, they had a small number of damning reviews. Another tour company we contacted refused to consider us due to my medical condition. As our intended trip would be very expensive, and I had to undergo a cardiac procedure just to qualify for travel insurance, there was no way that we were going to take any risks with our tour operator. However, it seemed that we would have to... until we found a video for Real Egypt Tours - Samir Abbass on you tube, then we looked up their website. It was well set out and had a form where we could submit our personal details and interests with respect to visiting Egypt so that our trip could be tailor made. That was new to us as all the companies we had seen tried to get us to accept a standard itinerary. We looked at Egypt Tours - Samir Abbass on trip advisor and couldn’t believe it – all the reviews were excellent.

After we contacted Egypt Tours - Samir Abbass, we received an email asking us to Skype with them in order to better understand our interests and my medical situation. That meeting was the first time we "met" Samir. He spoke to us for a whole hour without any obligation from us. During this time he helped us to map out our itinerary (which would grow to an extensive tour) and explained the physical demands associated with each activity on our list. At this point it is important to know that we didn’t just plan to go to the major cities, our tour also included cruises, camping in the desert and hiking at Mt Sinai. Samir and his team made several arrangements due to my medical condition. These included taking a GPS and satellite phone on our desert tour so that emergency services could be notified of our location in case I became ill, working INR blood tests into the itinerary, arranging a camel for transport on Mt Sinai, and ordering low salt meals where possible.

Samir and his team did a fantastic job to ensure that every transition went smoothly. His team is located all over Egypt, so he was able to contact them to organise what we needed in advance without wasting any of our time. We met Mohamed in Aswan, who took us to the sound and light show in Philae Temple, arranged for a doctor to visit my partner on board the Dahabiya when he was suffering from heatstroke and traveller’s diarrhoea, and even bought us gifts! Mohamed and Gamal, the “desert tigers” were also wonderful hosts on the desert safari. They prepared delicious food and set up the camp site after some very long days of driving. Youssri, our driver for the first week, also made us feel very comfortable upon arrival in a new country by negotiating the complicated streets of Cairo.

Over the five week tour, we must have stayed in at least 20 different locations and visited close to 100 sites. Our accommodation ranged from five star hotels to tents in the desert. Within this range some of the more unique places we stayed at were the Taziry Lodge and AdrereAmallal eco lodges in Siwa (which were made of salt and sand), Bait Sabi guest house on the west bank of Luxor, and the Nubian guest house on Elephantine Island in Aswan. The tents in the desert were also surprisingly comfortable!

Health and safety were of key concern the entire time. Everyday Samir checked the news reports and a few sites in Cairo were rescheduled due to the possibility of protests. On long road trips we travelled with security or as part of a convoy if it was advised. Almost all of the cars had seat belts,while life jackets were available on boat trips. Samir and his employees were cautious of our health as well. None of the drivers smoked in the cars, while Samir advised us to drink lemon juice and water at breakfast to avoid stomach upsets. One of the most critical situations for me in terms of my health was climbing Mt Sinai due to the altitude. Salem, our guide for that portion of the tour was extremely patient and allowed me to rest whenever I needed to (we took six hours all up). He had also bought biscuits and dates for the journey. The next day when we climbed down the mountain I noticed him helping other tourists as well even though he wasn’t being paid for it... which brings me to my next point.

Egypt Tours - Samir Abbass takes a very different approach to tourism in that employees are selected based on their personal character rather than their knowledge and skills alone. This is to ensure that guides and drivers are not tempted to take tourists to so called "tourist traps." These are shops where tourists are coerced into buying trinkets, perfumes, papyrus or rugs from the "museums" or "factories" at inflated prices so the guide can earn a commission. Instead, our guide took us shopping to buy the things we wanted, and told us the maximum price we should pay in order to start bargaining (for example, the original price of a cotton shirt was 120 pounds, our guide helped us to get it for 30 pounds). Another time we bought some souvenirs on our own and later that day our guide gave us the money he had received as commission from the shop owner.

Samir and the staff of Real Egypt Tours - Samir Abbass treated us like family over the five weeks we were in Egypt and made sure we were always happy and safe. We were given a phone and USB modem (for our laptop) to stay in contact with each other and home (back in Australia). Each day we were also asked if there was anything about the service that could be improved. On the last day, he even invited us into his home where we met his wife Hala and children Sara and Basil. Egypt Tours - Samir Abbass is a tour company that will do everything they can to help you to create the vacation you want and make it real. Before I went on this trip, I never would have imagined even half the things I saw and learned. I could say so much more about this invaluable experience, but I will simply say that I had the confidence to go on this journey thanks to Real Egypt and our friend Samir Abbass. Shokran!

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A week- long trip with Samir Abbas of Real Egypt. We had been looking forward to this with great anticipation. I started my correspondence with Samir back in March 2013 and within the first few emails we knew for sure that we had chanced upon the right man. He had an indefinite well of patience for every query, every change in itinerary suggested after almost finalizing everything. A much discussed and much planned trip.

Reports on the unrest in Egypt kept coming on and off throughout the months between our booking the trip and the day of travel. We kept our optimism high and decided that if Samir as the local tour organizer/guide thought he could keep us safe and did not advise against travel- then there was no reason to worry.

Samir is an extremely hardworking, innovative young man with a true passion for his country. He found ways of engaging my daughter who usually does not find monuments exciting. We could not have found a better guide.

Trouble might be happening in pockets of Egypt but that should no way deter tourists. Egyptians are friendly, hospitable and with the variety of places we visited- we never felt unsafe. We were in the country when the Al Jazeera journalists were arrested and protests over the freedom of speech were bubbling. No trouble reached our range. Tourism is undoubtedly on its lowest ebb. Good people are leaving the tourist industry or finding other businesses in the present climate. There might be irrevocable damage done if tourism continues at this level for many years and that would be a great loss to world heritage. Or if you want to visit Egypt before the crowds return- now is the time, make the most........

Real Egypt arranged and guided a 9 day tour of classic Egypt for our family of 4. Because of Samir and his colleagues, it was the best holiday our family has taken. We travel extensively, have seen and experienced many different cultures and countries, and our time in Egypt has been our favorite because of the exceptional services we received and wonderful experiences they provided.

We were privileged to have Samir with us each leg of our trip. He is an intelligent, thoughtful, trustworthy person, commanding and easygoing all in one. He not only has a great knowledge and love of his country’s history, but has the talent for engaging his audience in ways that capture their interests regardless of age. I especially appreciated how well he engaged our children, having them search for certain symbols or by offering incentives for answering or asking questions. He also found ways to surprise them with special treats, such as driving the horses on a carriage ride or arranging a ride on a donkey. He was equally adept at engaging the adults and assessing our level of interests to tailor our discussions. We had good conversation that went beyond ancient Egypt, as well. Samir represents his country well.

We experienced great hospitality from the Real Egypt colleagues who assisted us. Waleed took great care of every detail of our arrival and departures in a most professional manner, as well as the Luxor and Aswan staff who were competent and personable. Mohammed, our Cairo driver, was thoughtful and kind, making sure we (and the stray animals, much to the delight of our youngest) did not go hungry, spontaneously stopping at a roadside stand for fruit when running late for our meal. Bottled water was provided each day. If we had a need that was known, the staff was sure to accommodate. Sometimes it’s the little things that set one experience above another, and Real Egypt staff gets that.

One reason we chose Real Egypt was Samir’s desire to truly understand our wishes for our holiday and tailor it to our wishes. It was well worth the time to fill out the questionnaire on his website. Even though our tour focus was ancient Egypt, we had equally worthwhile experiences with the current culture. We spent time with a local farming family in Luxor in their mud brick home and learned the art of baking bread in a wood-fired oven, while our girls engaged with local children. The idea seemed intimidating to the more introverted members of the family, but some of the Real Egypt team participated with us and there was never an awkward moment. We stayed in a traditional guesthouse in Luxor, enjoying the delicious local food and the relaxing atmosphere on the rooftop terrace. We spent 4 incredible nights on a dahabiya (larger traditional sailing boat), sailing down the Nile, an amazing way to travel. We stopped at sites between Luxor and Aswan, some inaccessible by the larger cruise boats. The crew was amazing, food plentiful, atmosphere relaxing, and evenings fun. Our kids say it’s the best part of the trip. One morning we had an unplanned stop at the island farm community of our tug boat driver and his young brother. We handed out candy to the kids, had tea with a local family, and were given a tour of the farm by a local boy. The whole adventure was relaxing and fun.

We have told our friends that now is the time to visit Egypt. We felt safe and it’s very affordable. And, choose Real Egypt. They will arrange the trip of a lifetime.