Our 10-person, 16-day customized trip with Odysseys Voyage was absolutely spectacular and unforgettable. Mohamed Mousa, the highly professional and personable owner of the company, assembled an ideal itinerary and provided impeccable customer service before and throughout our seamless trip. Our primary activities - visiting ancient pyramids, temples, mosques, tombs, and monumental structures in Cairo, Giza, Saqqara, Dashur, Memphis, Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, and Philae, as well as impressive museums like the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum - revealed to us Egypt's incredibly rich and well-preserved ancient civilization. There were no limits to the deep knowledge of our extraordinary Egyptologist guides, George and Rady, who provided just the right amount of detail in their explanations and responses to our many questions, as we unhurriedly explored each site. We learned so much. They were excellent speakers, lively and fun, passionate about their work and country, friendly and attentive to each guest. Our local guides at Sharm al-Sheikh and Mt Sinai, Ahmed and Mohammed, and the support staff on our dahabiya and elsewhere, were also excellent. Every request we made (and there were many!) was graciously accommodated.
In addition to the visiting numerous awe-inspiring ancient sites, we enjoyed a good balance of other local activities, such as: preparing a typical Egyptian meal, visiting a farm where we learned about date harvesting and sipped mint tea, riding in a hot air balloon at sunrise, sailing in a dahabiya along the Nile for 3 days, taking a small boat to a new farm-to-table restaurant on an island, visiting a colorful Nubian village by tuk-tuk, hiking at midnight up Mt Sinai to experience views of the gorgeous surrounding mountains at sunrise, snorkeling in the Red Sea, and enjoying plentiful delicious meals in every setting. At several dinners, the local staff broke out the lute and drums to play lively music, and our group enthusiastically joined in to dance!
Other favorable comments: The hotels were fabulous. I especially loved the Villa Belle Epoche boutique hotel n Cairo, Hilton Luxor Resort and Spa in Luxor, and the Azal Lagoons Resort in Abu Simbel. Logistics and transportation were flawless - comfortable private air conditioned vans and buses with skillful drivers. There was an unobtrusive security presence everywhere - either police, army or private security -and I felt safe at all times. And finally, this trip was very reasonably priced!
Virtually everything exceeded my expectations. I wholehearted recommend this exact itinerary with Odysseys Voyage! Thank you Mohamed and all who made this trip so phenomenal!