We had a 12 hour layover in Cairo, 5am to 5pm basically, and thanks to reviews on Trip Advisor we decided to take a tour with Egypt Fun Tours. Now, let me preface this by saying that I am a perfectionist, and a very, very honest one too. Ok, here’s the one liner: I honestly cannot think of a SINGLE THING I could fault Egypt Fun Tours on. Honestly. These guys are the tourist’s dream – knowledgeable, personable, honest, upfront, clear, quick to respond, trustworthy, safe, hospitable…the works. We wrote to them to let them know what we were interested in and when we were arriving and they replied extremely quickly to suggest an itinerary with an upfront price. I wrote back with a few more questions, and within hours I had clear answers to all of them with a few tips thrown in. They were upfront about what was and was not included, but on the day they included FAR more than they had said they would. We practically had to fight Hani (our guide) to pay for our own lunch, and this was after he had already paid for breakfast, coffee, water, drinks, tips for various people…I just hope they still made a profit on our trip!
Hani, our guide, was on time, and we were delayed so he waited for us for over an hour at the airport, exactly where he had said he would be, to our great relief when we came through. He pointed out things that weren’t on the ‘tour’ that we drove past and he is EXTREMELY knowledgeable. Extremely. The only difficulty was taking it all in, and – for him – how much could he cram into 12 hours!! He took us to a fab local cafe for breakfast (and some seriously strong coffee) which we loved. We were never hassled – never. This is something a lot of people complain about in Egypt, especially at the pyramids, but I felt totally safe with Hani and he was very upfront about our options (e.g. if you take pictures in there, you’re going to have to ‘tip’ the official, or you can leave your camera with me and go in for free…etc). Despite protecting us from hasslers, I noticed that he treated everyone, including the local guys trying to sell us stuff, with a lot of respect and generosity, and they treated him with respect in return. Everyone we met treated us well – and him – and he them – and so we didn’t feel like were taking advantage of people. It was just a really nice atmosphere. Read some of the reviews on the pyramids on trip advisor to see how different this is from some people’s experiences.
We are sadly quite ignorant but Hani managed to pack so much knowledge and background into what we were seeing that we felt we learned tons, but without missing opportunities for funny and playful moments like taking pictures of our sunglasses “on” the Sphynx and hanging out in the cafe, walking through the downtown streets…we really got a feel for Cairo, although of course one day is not enough! There were jaw-dropping moments, mind-blowing moments, quiet moments and moments full of laughter. Also, they are flexible and you can change the itinerary on the day if you want to…they are happy to go with the flow. If you’re tired, hang out in a quiet cafe for a bit. If you’re energised, stop at another attraction!
I feel like I could be here all night saying how great they were – seriously – but no one would read it if it was as long as that would result in, and I haven’t even unpacked yet. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC is my summary. Trustworthy, honest (one of their policies is to return any commission they get given on any purchases tourists make back to the tourists, to make the prices more reasonable for us)…this is a tour company who are passionate about what they are showing you, believe in what they do and have a philosophy of business that is second-to-none.
Also if you’re unsure about going to Egypt in light of the recent revolution, I can honestly say that I felt 100% safe at all times.
Our driver was also so thoughtful, kind and trustworthy and I left all my stuff with him (money, passport, camera etc) when I wanted to go for a walk and he gaurded it. I can’t believe we did so much in such a short space of time. One great thing was that Hani was always watching the time and so I felt I could just relax and enjoy the day – it didn’t feel like a layover, it felt like a second holiday – and he got us back to the airport EXACTLY at the time we had agreed, to the minute. We had plenty of time waiting around at the airport after getting back through security etc. These guys know their stuff.
Egypt Fun Tours are the best. I am sure you won’t find better. Book with them!
Thank you Hani, Hamada and Ahmed
