- Guides: Mostafa and Adri
- Dates: 12/20/2024 to 1/3/2025
Saturday morning, December 21st, 2024, we started our Egyptian journey and adventure and departed from the Jacksonville Airport. Our flights went from Jacksonville, to Newark, to Frankfurt and finally to Cairo. Within the adventure there were multiple flights, and all told there were a dozen flights involved for this vacation.
Our outgoing flights were a little delayed, but otherwise no issues as we made our way to Egypt. The transatlantic flight was our first time on a double decker plane and our seats were up top. They were not quite as private and isolated as some seats we’ve had before, but they were comfortable and laid flat which was nice.
In Frankfurt, we had to wait a few hours until our flight to Cairo, and the last flight was just a few hours. Upon arriving in Cairo, we were met by a greeter after we exited the plane and he drove us through the airport on a golf cart to a VIP waiting area. A staff member took our passports and handled all the customs and visa requirements for us while we relaxed and stashed bottles of Coca Cola in our bags. When they returned with our passports and luggage, we boarded a shuttle to take us through the Egyptian traffic to our hotel. The traffic was wild. We have seen some countries that don’t bother with lanes and that like to honk horns, but perhaps the scale of the traffic made it surprising for us in Cairo.
We arrived at the Ritz Carlton on the Nile, and checked in to our rooms. We ordered some pizzas through room service and went to bed fairly early. We slept around 15 hours that night and had a very late start to our first full day in Egypt.
On Monday, the 23rd, we ate lunch in the lobby and then set out to do a short walk around town. We wanted to go by a pharmacy to pick up some deodorant and sea salt spray for Connor, and to look at some local clothing shops. Walking out of the hotel was a bit stressful. We went out through the security area and were immediately approached by people trying to sell us things. We wandered down to Tahrir Square, and quickly determined that we would need to cross the street to get to any shops. We found an area that seemed to have a crosswalk, and stared at the traffic in a stupor, unable to figure out a pattern or a safe moment to cross. There was a light that eventually turned red, but it was treated as a suggestion. Eventually we just stepped out in traffic when some Egyptians did, and did our best to weave between the cars. We survived it, and eventually found a few shops where Shawn used his google translate app to ask for our items. We didn’t find any clothes or souvenirs and made our way back to the hotel safely.
As we crossed the street back towards the hotel, I took a video of the process to cross the street. We were a little more confident on this crossing, but a nice Egyptian man chatted with me while we were halfway across and he helped us the last stage. I took a video of this and you can also hear a nice man in a van that yells a welcome to us out his window and wishes us a Happy New Year.
It was a relief to go back through security and leave the cacophony of honking horns. We did a little shopping inside the quiet and peaceful hotel shops before turning in for an early night.
Tuesday, Christmas Eve, we got up at a more reasonable time so we could enjoy the hotel breakfast.
We met our guides Adri and Mohammed, and it was nice to see Adri again, as she was our guide when we went on our Wyoming adventure. For this adventure, there were actually two separate groups. Our group used the color orange, and the other group used purple. We were scheduled for the same activities, but at different times, and there wasn't much interaction planned with the other group, especially prior to the Nile cruise. However, once on the river cruise boat, we would have more time to meet them and possibly get to know them.
After our meet and greet with the guides, we got cleaned up and dressed for our photoshoot. Andrea had actually been researching camel rides when she came across a photographer on a Facebook group. We loved the idea of having a photographer take nice family pics for us in Egypt, and the camel ride was part of her photoshoot, which was perfect.
Our photographer Minar set up transportation for us, and our taxi driver took us out through the crazy traffic in the early afternoon. The taxi driver had his windows down for the ride, and as we got on the highway it was starting to get a bit windy, especially for the girls with their hair fixed for pictures. I did my best to ask the driver to roll his window up a little, and he thought we wanted the air conditioning on. He definitely didn’t know how to work it well, and he turned on his emergency lights and started to pull over as he fiddled with the controls. The car drifted too far to the side of the road and he smashed in to the curb, with the front tire jerking up on to it briefly before crashing back down. He apologized profusely and got out of the car to put his rear view mirror back in place, which had partly fallen off. Thankfully nobody was hurt, and the tire didn’t pop on us, and we were able to continue.
When we arrived to the pyramids, we had to go through security before getting back in the taxi to drive further in. The security process was horrible and it was a confusing mess where to scan our tickets, and the scanners didn’t work well. There was nobody that was helpful, and dozens of people speaking various languages all trying to squeeze through a few turnstiles. Eventually, we made it through to meet up with our photographer, and I was starting to wonder if the entire day was a bust and a horrible waste of time.
From the moment we met up with Minar, everything changed and became wonderful. She walked with us to our camels, and on the way there, Paige and Andrea purchased a few head scarves from a vendor. We all got our own camels, and we held on tight as they went through their awkward process of standing up. Minar led our camels through the desert toward our first picture spot, and we marveled at our view of the pyramids and all the people and animals around us. We took some pictures on the camels, next to the camels, and then together with the pyramids as our backdrop.
We were thinking that we were pretty much finished after doing a few poses, but then we rode our camels back to our pickup point and made our way down to the Sphinx for more shots. On the way there, Connor and I decided to also get some head gear, so in our second set of photos we are all wearing the local attire.
Minar did an amazing job organizing our day, setting up different shots, and making us comfortable. She actually sent us a couple dozen sneak peek pictures overnight, and I could not have been happier with her work or with the pictures.
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was dark. We got a little dinner in the lobby, and went to bed fairly early.
Wednesday, Christmas Day, we got up early and had breakfast with the Disney group. It was the first time we were all together, and after the guides introduced themselves, everyone went around and introduced their families. Paige did it last time in Portugal, and Connor was brave enough to step in and do our introductions this time.
After breakfast, we boarded our bus for the first time and headed out for our first tour. Our local Egyptologist Marwa gave us our history lesson about the city, the Saladin Citadel of Cairo and the Great Mosque of Muhammad Ali.
After our tour, we headed to Al-Azhar Park for lunch where we had an Egyptian meal. We started off with a variety of dips and bread, followed by BBQ meats that came on little grills right to the tables. The little grills kept everything hot until you put it on your plate, which was especially handy since it was super windy out. It was uncomfortable on the chilly windy patio, but the view was pretty, and I loved the food. Paige didn’t care for it much, but I think the rest of us enjoyed the meal.
In the afternoon we took a tour of the Egyptian Museum, which is something that Shawn’s been dreaming to see for his entire life. The museum itself is a bit old, the exhibits are not well presented or well lit, but the artifacts are so ancient and priceless. Marwa took us through many of the areas, before setting us loose in our own. The King Tut section alone was worth the visit, and there were so many things to see that it was a bit overwhelming. Paige and I stayed a little extra and we thought that the two unwrapped mummies Yuyu and Thuya were incredible. The two mummies were completely unwrapped, and you could get within inches of their desiccated heads to see their hair and skin and everything.
We had a couple hours in the afternoon to relax and then went to dinner in the second floor restaurant, where we had a variety of Egyptian foods. Connor fell in love with the Margherita pizza, and our guide Mostafa ordered an entire pizza for Connor to take back to the room. We watched the Chiefs vs Steelers on our iPads in the room before bed.
Thursday, December 27th, we left the hotel at 9:15 for our long and last day in Cairo and Giza. We started the day with a walking tour of the Khan el-Khalili market.
We were given 500 Egyptian pounds each ($10 as of 2024) to spend on a white elephant gift, and then we were set loose in the market to try our hand at bargaining. Paige purchased a couple stone camel statues and Connor purchased a slightly larger ornate blue camel. I was doing my best to barter the gentleman down when Connor told me to cut it out and that 1200 pounds for the camels was perfectly fine. I did not feel like arguing with the store owner as well as my kids, so I’m sure we overpaid for the camels.
I talked with the kids about it afterwards to be sure we were all on the same page and same team going forward. Andrea purchased an alabaster bowl, and got the store owner down within our budget. I purchased a stone statue of Khonsu for 500 pounds after a bit of bartering.
We got drawn in to a long interaction with a nice gentleman running a store filled with random trinkets. Connor and Andrea liked some cloth tote bags and the shopkeeper was determined to upsell us and tried to gaslight Paige in to believing she desired an Egyptian hieroglyphic necklace. Thankfully when I discretely asked Paige if she actually wanted it, she gave me a subtle but firm shake of the head. Eventually I disentangled the tote bags from the deal and got him down from a starting price of $165 for the bags + necklace down to $20 for the bags. He said my name should be Ali baba and I was robbing him, but we shook hands and closed the deal amicably.
Lunch was in a cute little restaurant where we had soup, soup, lentil soup as an appetizer (it was a funny chant the servers did as they passed it out) along with a variety of tasty starters. The main dish of the day was roasted pigeon, which was stuffed with herbs and rice. We were shown how to rip it apart with our hands, and we all tried it. Unsurprisingly it tasted like chicken, and we probably would have enjoyed it more if we weren’t already stuffed on everything else.
Following lunch was the main attraction of the day, and in fact, the entire trip. We went with our group through the horribly run security and ticketing area, and then rode the bus up to a scenic overlook to take pictures. We didn’t really get very long for pyramid pictures, and if we hadn’t already done our own photoshoot prior to it, I would have been devastated. Since it was windy and cold, we were fine with the 15 minutes allotted for the pyramid pictures, and we were happy to get back on the bus to head over to the Sphinx.
All of the other tourist on site had to stand packed together behind a chain, up above the Sphinx and probably 20-30 yards away. Our guides took us right down to the Sphinx and our Egyptologist Marwa gave us a short history of the Sphinx before we were let loose to snap photos all around it. We had plenty of time to wander all the way around the enormous statue, and got every photo we could imagine. It was amazing to not only be down on ground level with the Sphinx, but also to be able to touch it and see the large stone with inscriptions between the legs, the Dream Stele. It was a special moment and definitely something that set our trip apart from a typical visit.
Once we finished with the Sphinx, we rode the bus up to the Great Pyramid. The crowds had all been kicked out after closing at this point, and as the sun set behind the Pyramid, Marwa explained what we would be seeing once we entered the passages. Stepping inside the pyramid was amazing, and for Shawn personally it was a dream come true.
The tight shaft sloping upwards eventually opened in to the towering diagonal passage of the Grand Gallery.
The height of the area was amazing and you could tell that you were breathing some stale and damp air. The King’s chamber was a fairly empty box with a lidless rectangular stone box where the pharaoh would theoretically be entombed.
We did not stay in the King’s chamber for too long, and we started our descent. Past the Grand Gallery, we went through a horizontal passage to the Queen’s chamber. It was similar to the King’s chamber, but with a vaulted ceiling. We made our way through the cramped tunnels out of the pyramid and back to the bus.
I’m glad we all went inside the pyramid and also glad that we were able to experience it after hours with only our group. During the day, there were always long lines waiting to go in, and I can’t imagine trying to ascend and descend while trying to pass people. With so many more people crammed in the tight tunnels, I also imagine it would be a bit more claustrophobic and uncomfortable. I was a little apprehensive that Andrea wouldn’t want to do it, and a couple of the people in our group did not go inside.
Once we were all aboard the bus, we took a short ride to a nearby hotel where we had a buffet dinner. Our table had a view of the pyramids, which were brilliantly lit at night, but unfortunately they turned off the lights as our dinner began. We typically don’t enjoy buffets, but the buffet had a huge variety of dishes and Connor found some sweet and sour chicken, which is one of his current favorite dishes. We all found quite a few things we liked, and Marwa the Egyptologist joined us at our table, so we chatted with her about life in Egypt as we dined. It was late when we got back to the hotel, but we commented that it didn’t seem like an especially long day, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Friday, the 27th, we departed from the Ritz with all our luggage as we began our journey south. I think our flight was supposed to be early in the day, but after Egypt Air changed the flight time, it gave us the opportunity to go to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. The museum was recently opened, and isn’t fully complete, however the mummy section is open and worth the visit. We enjoyed seeing some of the ancient artifacts like the 35,000 year old skeleton, but we left the group a little early to spend more time with the mummies. There were 22 mummies, and most of them were encased in glass boxes in the middle of open rooms. You were able to stand next to them and get within inches of their bodies, close enough to see the fingernails, color of the hair, and texture of the skin. No pictures were allowed, so we spent our time reading about their lives and examining each one.
We found out that our flight to Aswan was delayed an additional hour when we arrived to the airport, and it was further delayed by the time we boarded and eventually took off. Egypt airlines is apparently notorious for delays and schedule changes, so it was not surprising, but was disappointing. We landed at sunset and took our bus to our dinner spot.
We were supposed to do a sailboat cruise, but it had to be postponed. Dinner was wonderful, with more Egyptian flavors, and then we rode our bus to a motorboat that took us to the relocated temple of Isis. The temple’s original location became flooded after the Nile was dammed, and it had been deconstructed in to over 45,000 pieces and reassembled. We watched a light show as voices described the temples history, and walked through the temple ruins. It was certainly an amazing site, but it was a bit chilly, and the presentation was a bit longer than we liked.
After our long day, we were happy to arrive at our riverboat where we would be sleeping for a few nights. Mostafa and Adri had informed us of our special surprise earlier in the trip, and we were excited to see the Family Suite that we’d been given for the cruise. The suite spanned the entire width of the boat with panoramic views off the front of the ship. It was late by the time we unpacked and we went to bed as soon as we got comfortable.
Saturday, December 28th, I woke up early for the flight to Abu Simel. Andrea and Connor had decided the night before that they would prefer to skip this part of the trip since the flight in the morning was early, and the flight back the same day sounded awful after our previous experiences. Paige had intended to go with me, but changed her mind when her alarm went off. The flight from Aswan to Abu Simel was incredibly short, and thankfully on time.
The temple in Abu Simel is another that was relocated due to the waters rising after the dam construction. It has four huge statues in the entrance and the hieroglyphs inside are some of the few that have retained their color over the years. While I’m glad I got to see it, I think it was a good choice for everyone else in the family to relax on the cruise boat. It was beautiful, but not so very different inside compared to the Temple of Isis.
The flight back to Aswan was short and our guides helped to coordinate transportation our family could all enjoy the next activity, Felucca boat sailing.
Andrea and the kids spent the morning on the boat, they had lunch at one and then a bit after two they got a ride over to the Felucca boat. Mostafa organized the day for them in the morning and they loved being able to sleep in and have a relaxing day.
The kids found an automatic coffee maker and Connor fell in love with a hot chocolate milk drink and would guiltily drink a few cups per day. He's in great shape, but loves to eat healthy and rarely drinks sweet drinks, so it was quite the indulgence for him.
I loved meeting back up with my family after spending most of the day apart, and we boarded our Felucca boat for the ride. The Felucca boat was fairly large, but our group split up in two two separate boats. We sang along with the Nubian crew and Andrea’s heart melted when some little boys came over on their paddle boards and sang to us to. We gave them a little cash and then continued down the river. The sailors uncovered a table of their wares, and Paige and Andrea bought some beaded bracelets from them.
Our sailing ended near our river cruise boat and once we were back aboard we went to the top deck for tea time (ice cream for us) and enjoyed the scenery.
After dark, we exited the boat to do a night tour of the Temple of Kom Ombo. The process of leaving the boat was awful and the way the boats were docked, we had to walk through the other boats which were all tied together. For some reason, it took almost an hour for them to finally open the doors and we had to walk through around ten boats before we got to land. We didn’t pay close attention as we were leaving because we assumed it would just be one or two, but we were stunned when we kept going and going and going. It was maddening as well that many of the people on the boat docked beyond ours were in a hurry and decided to push their way past us, which made the process even longer.
Eventually we made it off the boats and started towards the temple. On the way, we ran in to the typical incompetent security procedures, young boys trying to sell random things, and aggressive merchants. Our Egyptologist was always chipper and pleasant, but she snapped and shouted at one young man that was trying to take over our group from her. The tour of the temple was a little crowded and awkward at night. It was hard to pay attention with so many people around, and other guides shining laser pointers at things.
Once we made it back on the boat, we ate dinner and then changed in to our outfits for the party. Andrea bought a galabeya dress in the boat for the party, Paige wore the dress we got her in Portugal, and I wore the headscarf that Connor got at the pyramids.
The party started off with a bottle passing game which was kind of like hot potato and the kids made it to the final round and won.
Next, four guys competed in a ball swinging competition, and although I got stuck in an awkward position next to another contestant at the beginning, I persevered. The purple team’s guide even tried to cheat by moving the finish line, but I stayed focused and won.
In the final competition, Paige wrapped Connor up in toilet paper for the mummy competition. The toilet paper was incredibly flimsy, and it was quite a bit harder than it could have been. Paige covered Connor much more thoroughly than anyone else and based on the crowd cheers, they were certainly the winners.
As we departed the party, Andrea grabbed Marwa and Adri to get some Galabeya pics together.
Sunday, December 29th, we got to sleep in and the boat went through a lock in the morning. We wrapped up our gifts and then went to the upper deck to do our white elephant gift exchange.
We were required to wrap our gifts with whatever we could find, and Shawn was proud of the mummified packaging for his statue, adorned with mysterious hieroglyphics.
Andrea brought an alabaster blue bowl, Connor brought a blue ornate camel statue, Paige brought an alabaster camel statue, and I brought a black stone Khonsu statue. The rules were that you could steal a gift on your turn, or open something. Anything stolen twice was locked and couldn’t be stolen again.
Andrea’s bowl was one of the first gifts opened and she was planning to steal it when it was her turn, however it got stolen twice in quick succession and wasn’t first gifts opened to be locked. Andrea stole a set of coasters from someone, and when it got stolen from her, she stole a different set of coasters that we liked even better. Unfortunately, it was stolen and locked, so she stole back her original set of coasters, locking it and it’s what she ended with. Connor wanted a little ceramic bowl that someone had opened, and he stole it and finished the game with it.
Paige opened a gift on the table and got a flowery bead necklace that she was not too crazy about. My statue was unwrapped early, and I stole it, but the wife of the man I stole it from stole it back, which locked it. I ended up stealing a different statue since I didn’t see anything better to steal, which I gave to Paige.
After we finished, Andrea and I relaxed and watched the scenery go by.
A very friendly and outgoing girl from the purple group asked Paige and Connor if they would like to play cards, and Paige was super excited to make some friends.
Al Karnak was our eventual stop, in Luxor. We took a walking tour of the temple, which also featured recreations of the barques they used to use for ceremonies, and a long road lined with Sphinx statues.
Once we finished the tour, we rode the bus to a building where they gave us a papyrus making demonstration. We were each given a custom cartouche of our names in hieroglyphics, and some of us may have done a sloppy job of trying to add gold paint to the otherwise beautiful custom creation. We purchased an overpriced framed map of the Nile on papyrus, in lieu of a magnet for our refrigerator. None of the magnets we’ve seen so far have been very nice, and since this is one of our most adventurous trips, it deserves the extra size and space on the fridge.
We went back to the boat for dinner, and most of us were happy to stay in the room for the evening to pack up for the next day’s departure. I asked the kids individually with no pressure either way if they were interested in going to the late night tour of the Luxor temple. I fully expected that they’d both be uninterested, but Connor said he wanted to go. I went along as well, and the temple was amazing and I am glad we went. The Luxor temple had enormous columns and some unique artwork on the walls, and it was beautifully lit at night.
Monday, December 30th, we had an early start to our day. We were out of the room by 7:30 and after break we set off in our bus. The first stop was Hatshepsut’s Temple, and then we went to the Valley of the Kings.
In the Valley of the Kings, we went to King Tut’s tomb first, which was an extra ticket and the most popular of the tombs.
With our regular ticket, we were allowed to pick a maximum of three other tombs.
We all went to Merenptah’s first, which was described as one of the more adventurous tombs. It had a sloping walkway that went fairly deep underground before opening up in to a large chamber. After the difficult tomb, we visited Ramses the 9th’s tomb, since it was described as easy access. It had a fairly short tunnel, with colorful markings.
Paige was tired and wasn’t interested in seeing more, so she went with Connor to our group’s meeting place while Andrea and I went to our last stop. There was a bit of a line for the tomb of Ramses the 4th, but it was worth the wait. The passage and tomb had the most vibrant colors, and Andrea and I managed to fight off the tight packed crowds to get a couple of pictures.
As we departed the valley of the kings, I haggled with a merchant for a Horus statue. He started off at $55 and I insisted on $10 since that’s what I’d paid previously. Paige almost told me to cave in when he eventually came down to $20, but I didn’t want to overpay and I got him down to ten in the end. Paige said that grandma Alice would be proud.
We rode the bus to a Hilton hotel for lunch, and enjoyed kabobs, hummus, and chicken shawarma. For the rest of the afternoon we spent time waiting for our flight time on the boat. Since our boat was being cleaned up for the next cruisers, we were given a random room on a different boat, where we could rest and clean up from our dusty morning.
In the evening we went to the airport for our flight to Sharm El-Sheikh, which was delayed. The flight didn’t take off until almost midnight and by the time we landed, collected luggage, got to the hotel, received our bags, cleaned up and went to bed, it was past 3:30am.
Tuesday, New Year’s Eve December 31st, we slept in a bit later than originally planned. Our family skipped breakfast to get as much sleep as possible and we met up with the group for snorkeling at 11:15am.
The ride out to the snorkel spot was a little windy and cold, and we were worried we’d be freezing in the water. Andrea spotted some wet suits, which they hadn’t planned to hand out, but after Andrea asked for one, many other people decided to wear them as well, including Paige and Shawn.
We jumped in and explored the coral reef. There were many colorful fish, and we saw some clams and Connor saw some puffer fish as well.
Paige’s skin was burning and uncomfortable, so she wanted to go back after about 20-30 minutes and Andrea went with her.
I had gotten a rash on my face earlier in the week, and thought I might go in too, but Connor was having fun so I stayed out with him. I got quite a few nice pictures and videos of him diving down underwater before it was time to finish up.
Getting out of the water was the worst part. It was incredibly chilly to towel off, and even after drying off it took a long time to warm up. Connor’s lips were blue and his whole body was visibly shivering, and I was so uncomfortable for a lot longer than I expected. The girls had already eaten the lunch provided, and Connor and I ate while the boat moved on to the second snorkel spot. Not many people went in the water at the second spot, but we were happy to see that Connor was really enjoying himself and he went in again.
While Connor and some of our group snorkeled, the rest of us relaxed and chatted. I was sitting in the lower deck when Mostafa asked me how I liked Egypt. I told him how much I loved the Pyramids and the Sphinx, but how much I enjoyed the people, food, and culture as well. Mostafa is my age, born just a month later than me, and we ended up chatting for around an hour about everything he experienced over the years. I was worried I would be prying or that it would be inappropriate to ask about things like the Arab Spring and relations with Israel and the Western nations, but Mostafa was open and eager to share his views with me. It was one of my favorite moments on the trip and it made me appreciate Mostafa and Egypt even more.
Once the snorkelers were back aboard, we went back to the dock, and then to the resort. We relaxed in the room until dinner, and then met up with our group for one of the largest and nicest buffet dinners we’ve seen. There were many things to choose from for dinner. There was pasta, sushi, Egyptian food, Asian food, octopus, and even ostrich. As we were wrapping up our meal, one of the Adventurers from the purple group came over to invite the kids to hang out. Before the kids ran off, we snapped some cute New Year’s celebration pics with props that our guides had provided.
The kids took off to party away the rest of the year, and we were thankful that they were able to have something special to do. They spent some time with the group of teens, wandering around the resort, to a game room, and to the celebration area where a live band was playing. They eventually ended up playing cards in one of the hotel rooms and had some fun moments playing “Spoons”, but since they didn’t have any spoons they used the hotel slippers instead.
Andrea and I fell asleep before the clock struck midnight, but the kids ended up doing the countdown at the party venue with the band and everyone else at the resort. Andre and I had alarms set to check up on them shortly after midnight, and the kids showed up as planned, safe and sound.
January 1st, 2025, we had a chill day at the resort. Paige met up with some of the kids and went swimming, while the rest of us explored the property and ate lunch.
I hadn’t been feeling very well, so I went back to take a nap, while Andrea and Connor joined our guides to take a bus downtown in Sharm El Sheikh to see a mosque and to do some shopping. Paige ended up going downtown too, but she rode the purple group’s bus and went with her friends.
In the evening, we packed up our things, wrote a thank you note for our guides, got their tips together, Andrea ironed her galabeya, and we set off for our farewell dinner. The dinner was out near the water on the beach, and afterwards we moved over to a cute sitting area on rugs and pillows to relax. Our guides brought in henna artists and Paige got a henna tattoo on her hand. There was also a belly dancer and whirling dervish performance. As is the ABD custom, our guides talked about how they had fun with us and a few of the adventurers shared what some of their favorite moments on the trip had been. We watched a slideshow/movie that was a compilation of moments from the past week, and then we said our farewells. The kids went out and goofed off with the other teens until a bit later in the night, and then we all went to bed.
Thursday, January 2nd, we had to get up early for the beginning of our tortuous journey home. Our first flight was early in the morning back to Cairo with Egypt Air, and thankfully it was on time and went off without a hitch. We heard that other people in our groups had delays and missed connecting flights due to Egypt Air problems. In Cairo, we collected our bags and made our way to the Le Meridien hotel which was connected to the airport. We may have had some drama and stressful moments finding the hotel and crossing the streets with all of our luggage, but apologies have been made and that’s enough about that. We relaxed for a few hours, had luck at the sports bar in the hotel, and then napped and waited around until the evening. It was a long day to have the four of us crammed tightly in a room together, but it was a great idea to have the room and I’m thankful that Andrea had arranged it. Everyone slept for a few hours, took a shower, and we all felt much better than if we’d been sitting around at the airport.
Late in the evening, we made our way back to the airport and then made it on our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. The flight did not have lie-flat seats, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable and wasn’t too long either. We went through the Germany passport control and security, then went to the lounge near our gate. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to spend seven and a half hours, but at least we had chairs, a bench to lie down on, food and drinks, and clean restrooms. Our flight to Newark was on another one of the huge double decker planes and our seats again were upstairs.
We made it to our house around midnight on Friday, January 3rd, 2025.
Overall, what an amazing experience. We had so many laughs, saw amazing sights, made new friends, and thoroughly enjoyed our family time together. Both of the kids were fun to travel with, and I especially liked seeing Connor's eagerness to participate in the tours and activities. We've seen so many teens over the years that seem annoyed and disengaged during the tours, but both of our kids currently love to travel and we hope that continues.
It was wonderful to travel with Adri again, and to hear what she's been up to since we traveled with her through Wyoming. We all loved Mostafa. His positivity, warm nature, and welcoming approach made us feel comfortable and well taken care of. Mostafa went out of his way to help me find medicine at a number of pharmacies to help with an annoying rash, he helped us find chargers for our Gopro's battery, and made a special order to get us an extra three bags of the chocolate dates. Adri and Mostafa made an effective team, and Mostafa is currently our favorite of all the local guides we've ever traveled with.
After each of our adventures, I ask the kids what was their favorite parts of the trip. For Egypt, Connor's favorite part was snorkeling. Paige said her favorite part was making fun friends, and hanging out with them to ring in the new year. Andrea's favorite part of the trip was felucca ride. My favorite part was seeing the ancient artifacts and my favorite moment was the long talk I had with Mostafa about life in Egypt.
As is also our custom, we think about all our Adventures By Disney trips and we rank them all. I had high hopes and expectations for Egypt and I'm thrilled that it came in as my #1 trip. I was worried that everyone else was being dragged along to the location because of me, but it's great to see that Egypt consistently came in high on everyone's lists.
Shawn's ABD rankings:
- Egypt
- Costa Rica
- Disney and Hollywood
- Wyoming
- Peru
- Iceland
- Danube
- Portugal
- Canada
- Arizona
Andrea's ABD rankings (Not numbered due to ties):
- Costa Rica & Egypt
- Danube & Iceland
- Peru & Wyoming
- Disney and Hollywood
- Canadian Rockies
- Portugal
- Arizona
Connor's ABD rankings:
- Costa Rica
- Egypt
- Peru
- Iceland
- Wyoming
- Portugal
- Danube
- Arizona
- Disney and Hollywood
Paige's ABD rankings:
- Egypt
- Costa Rica
- Disney and Hollywood
- Wyoming
- Peru
- Iceland
- Danube
- Portugal
- Arizona
