I was thoroughly impressed by the professionalism of this tour company. I emailed to inquire about the Cairo layover tour about 30 hours before my flight was scheduled to leave from New York. I was pleasantly surprised to get a quick response confirming the tour and assuring that a guide would be there to greet me at the airport. Given all of the positive reviews I had read, I felt very comfortable going with this plan. My flight landed around 11am and I was greeted by Hani, my guide for the day. We didn’t return to the airport until 7:30pm, after spending an incredible day visiting the Giza pyramids, the Sphinx and the mummification temple, a visit to Golden Eagle to see how papyrus is made, driving along the Nile and through Cairo, eating a delicious lunch from Felefela, walking around ancient Islamic Cairo, and visiting the Khan el Khalili bazaar. Wow.
Even though I was feeling physically exhausted from travel and the desert heat, my guide Hani was very accommodating and thoughtful and I felt very much at home throughout the day. It felt more like spending a day with a friend who happened to be an Egyptian local, rather than spending a day with a tour guide. I told this to him and he said this is the way he prefers to give tours, to make sure that visitors get a sense of the daily life of Egypt in addition to viewing all the incredible sights. As someone who has traveled extensively in many different places and has gone on lots of tours like these, I think this one is the most memorable thanks to Hani being so friendly, warm, and knowledgeable.
While I would hands down recommend Egypt Fun Tours, there are a few things that would have been nice to know in advance:
1. Definitely bring some Egyptian pounds with you during the day (at least 50, but more if you think you might want to buy some souvenirs like papyrus art; the caliber of handicrafts and art is very impressive given the good price you can get for them, so even if you are like me and don’t typically spend money on souvenirs, I recommend bringing a little more than you think you’ll need!).
2. I only had a 50 pound note, so I wasn’t able to pay for the entry into the small pyramid at Giza. Hani covered this for me, but I felt a bit bad about that. Next time I would ask the guide how I can get some small coins or notes to have on hand for this kind of thing.
3. At the Sphinx, Hani had a local kid take some photos for me, since the boy could tell me how to pose so that it would look like the Sphinx was kissing me, etc. This was great and I loved the photos. However, I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, and it wasn’t until after the boy had taken several photos that I realized he would want a tip for his efforts. I would have been happy to give one to him, but again, I didn’t have anything small. It would have been better if Hani could have told me about this in advance so I could have been aware what was going on. I don’t mind tipping people who are doing good work, but I do mind feeling like I’ve been somewhat coerced into a situation without being given all the information. Again, this was not a big deal, and is something that could easily be avoided by making sure with your guide to have some coins on hand and be aware that situations like these will come up.
4. Hani bought me lunch, which was a very generous thing to do, but since I knew that lunch wasn’t included in the tour price I again felt bad, given that he purchased so much food for me! Perhaps the price of the tour should just include lunch to avoid this kind of awkward situation.
Overall, as I said, I had an incredible day in Cairo and I feel like I learned so much while getting to explore this beautiful, captivating city. I always felt safe with Hani and the driver. Since I’ll be spending the next 10 months in Africa, I’m just trying to figure out when and how I can make it back to Egypt to book another tour with this company and see more sights 🙂
