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From Andrea Fahnestock, New York, February 2009

“The trip was an amazing adventure and a perfect way to celebrate my 50th. 1959 doesn’t seem so long ago when compared with 2600 B.C. for the pyramids at Giza! Highlights were: the seven-day cruise up the Nile on the Oberoi Zahra, and all the wonderful staff on board; the temples at Abu Simbel south of Aswan, which was an optional trip offered by the Zahra, reached by a short flight; the Philae island complex off the shore of Aswan (relocated, incredibly, to the nearby island of Agilika by Unesco in the 1970s to protect it from the rising waters of the Nile), particularly here the little gem of Trajan’s kiosk; the fabulously painted Tombs of the Nobles on the west bank of Luxor (which weren’t all on the Zahra itinerary, but we convinced our very accommodating lady guide to take our little group of six to); and Petra, in Jordan, which wore us out with twelve hours of walking/climbing over two days, but the combined appeal of the surreal, swirling coloration of the rocks and remarkable carved structures was well worth the exertion.

Perhaps the most unexpected pleasure was our stay at the magical Adrere Amellal lodge and the treks into the gorgeous surrounding desert at the Siwa oasis. I adored this remote eco-lodge in the northwest corner of Egypt (my husband wasn’t so thrilled about the no heat and electricity part—he is a luxury travel kind of guy, and it was indeed quite cold in January—but I found it the perfect blend of an elemental kind of luxury and simplicity…with great, creative food). We should have flown both ways to Siwa to avoid the interminable ten-hour drive through dull terrain from Alexandria (with unnecessary police escort), but we only flew on the return. The plane was a brand spanking new Beechcraft King Air 350 with two super pilots, and the short flight was heaven compared with the drive. The landing strip is on a tiny military base about forty minutes from Adrere Amellal, and the lodge will pick you up and take you there (no charge). The pilot zoomed us down over the pyramids at Giza for a closer look as we approached Cairo, which was a thrill! Mounir, the lodge’s charming young manager and nephew of the owner, seems to know the right strings to pull to charter a plane quickly and at a relatively reasonable price, and he told us everyone books the flights directly through the lodge.

If we had it to plan over again, chief among things we wish we had managed to see is Abydos, which is on the itinerary of the Abercrombie Sun King IV boat, but not on the Oberoi’s. By all accounts, one of the most beautiful and significant temples, and we were sorry to miss it. The Oberoi Zahra also passes by the lovely temple at Esna without stopping, curiously. Also, we should have spent all our nights in Cairo at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza rather than some at the Mena House in Giza across the river. I was not to be dissuaded when we made our plans, however, since my great-grandmother had stayed there in 1910 and wrote about it in letters home, but the room was in a pretty sad state, and the great view of the pyramids has been marred by lower buildings, cell-phone towers, and other surrounding detritus. Another place she stayed on her journey, the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan, of Agatha Christie fame, is now under renovation, so let’s hope they make it fabulous again.

Egypt and Jordan seemed utterly safe, and we sensed no anti-American or anti-Western sentiment at all, though it is possible that we were just shielded from it by having such tight “parental” control on us all the time in the form of our guides. As an unrelated but interesting sidebar, the local people we met when we did get out on our own all wanted to talk about Obama, Obama, Obama. This was true in all corners of Egypt and Jordan, particularly since we were there during the inauguration and the lead-up to it. I even got an unsolicited bear hug from a man in the Aswan souk when I acknowledged we had supported his campaign. They have placed such high hopes for peace in the region on him, hopes we all wish will be fulfilled.”

Read another member’s postcard on a family trip to Israel and Egypt

Read Melissa’s Why Go Now: Egypt

Read a member’s postcard on Off the Tourist Path in Egypt

Read an insider report on Cairo

For more information or to be connected to one of our preferred specialists in the region or to learn about special rates and offers, contact our booking department by calling 212-988-2611 or by sending an inquiry

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Laurel Kenner, a commodities trader, author and journalist in New York City, recently traveled to Egypt. She brought her 4-year-old son, Aubrey, along for the Cairo portion of the trip—offering him, she says, the 21st-century version of the Grand Tour. For the rest of the trip she took a Nile cruiser on her own from Luxor to Aswan. Here are her comments on the experience.

I felt very safe in Egypt. The Egyptians were very warm and kind. Wherever I went, I was asked where I was from. I always said “New York,” and the response was always a smile. “Welcome to Egypt,” or “Obama—good.”

I did take precautions. I never went anywhere unaccompanied by an Egyptian. I never wore short skirts or sleeveless shirts off the boat. For the first few days I even wore a head scarf, which cut down on stares, but after a while I gave up on it. As Gina, my delightful Alexandrian guide said when we went to the Islamic Museum, “It’s not compulsory. I’m a modern girl.” Everyone treated her respectfully —of course, she looks like a movie star!

I did read the papers, so I was up on the election. I was in Cairo on Tuesday, two days after the election, and I didn’t see any disturbances. Nor did I see any in Luxor. My feeling is that nobody blamed America for what happened.

I really appreciated my Cairo guide, Sameh, and the drivers. I did a lot of reading about the sites beforehand, so the other guides were kind of a nuisance. They would plant themselves in the entrance of the site and start giving a basic history lesson, speaking loudly so as to drown out all the other guides doing the same thing. When I was in a group, I’d just sidle away so I could discover and see things on my own before the time was up. My Oberoi guide, Emad, quickly figured out what I wanted and was great‚ showed me cool things, took me out shopping at the souk and for tea at the local cafe. At Abu Simbel, though, I had a personal guide, and he was a bit huffy when I told him to wait for me in the coffee shop.

Egyptair was surprisingly good and clean. Coming back, the Delta security officers in Cairo searched EVERYTHING in everybody’s carry-ons and purses—you might tell your clients to be ready for that.

There was a little scare when some guy had breathing difficulty just before it was time to taxi to the runway. The lights in the plane went off—I guess a flight attendant pushed a panic button, but I thought it could be a terror attack. The lights came on and flight attendants gave the guy oxygen for half an hour. I was still scared—I thought maybe his illness was a diversion. Finally they got him off the plane. We waited until they went through all the suitcases in the hold to find his. Then he wanted to get back on the plane! The pilot said no, fly another day when you feel better.

Your advice was great on the Oberoi Zahra and the Four Seasons Nile Plaza were absolutely over-the-top heavenly.

Everybody should go to Egypt. I couldn’t get enough of watching the life on the riverbank—the paths going back into the palm groves, the boys riding donkeys, the water buffalo grazing on the little islands. I was so excited about seeing Karnak, Luxor temple, the Ramesseum, the avenue of the sphinxes, the great statutes, the paintings on the tombs of the nobles and workmen. Learning about Egypt’s prehistory was fascinating. It’s the greatest history lesson in the world. My kid loved it. He loved climbing up on the ancient tomb near the pyramid, and bargaining with the souvenir merchants and seeing the King Tut exhibit, and he ESPECIALLY loved Pharaonic Village! And what a great thing to tell everybody back home.

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From L. Coleman, February 9, 2009

I’ve just returned to Paris from Egypt. It was sublime, though Cairo is a crazy city and one takes their life into their hands when simply trying to cross a street. I ended up at the Four Seasons in Garden City which was a good location and very well run. The people everywhere are so nice. We saw this amazing dance performance, sort of a Whirling Dervrsh kind of thing, but not touristy, and incredibly fascinating. Your connection to Sherine was great, we met her at the Egyptian Museum and recevied a really good over-view of  pharonic history. We even went to the cheesy Sound and Light show at Giza. There’s a beautiful park which we visited on a Saturday (weekends in Egypt are Friday & Saturday). It was interesting to watch the robed women picnicking, and children playing pick-up games of soccer. Many comments to our pale faces and “foreignness.” They typically say “you’re beautiful,” “what’s your name-what’s your name -what’s your name,” “where are you from?” When we say the United States, they want to know if we’re from Alaska. And many give a thumbs-up to Obama, and a thumbs-down to Bush. I did no shopping anywhere – though the markets were good to visit.

In Aswan we stayed at the Movenpick, which looks like a cross between an ugly airport and a very large, orange Holiday Inn. A bizarre place. But it was on Elephantine Island so we wandered through the Nubian village, be-friended the “chief” Mustafa (and his 11 children), and he hiked with us all over the two villages, showing us his farms and the irrigation systems, houses, bread ovens and amazing views. He was very friendly and not looking for baksheesh - just a chance to practice his surprisingly good English.

Our 4 days on the Steam Ship Sudan were amazing and felt as though we’d stepped back into a by-gone era. We were the only Americans, so they even arranged for our own english-speaking Egyptologist. The food was relatively great (supposedly the chef formerly worked for Mubarak.) I’m so glad we chose this boat; the A&K crowds on the other ships were taking pictures of US!

Al Moudira was just like your “postcard” from one of your readers. It is truly remote, but I don’t think going to the city center of Luxor is worthwhile. For two full days we stayed on the property, soaked up the rays, played backgammon, read, ate well and slept in rooms that felt like your own private palace. The decorations were divine and inspired. Most of the other guests were very British and rather funny. High-born and demanding. One lady in a wheel chair visits for a month each year. She brings her butler, nurse and priest – and various friends come and go for a few days at a time. (I don’t think they can stand being with this lady for much more than that!)

Being the good mother that I am, I agreed to take the “deluxe” overnight train from Luxor to Cairo. This was definitely  not a step back into a by-gone era of luxury travel. What a rattling heap of junk. The dinner and breakfast were a disaster of plastic wrapped breads, the generator broke in the middle of the night, and we were 5 hours late. Which means we were moving at a snails pace (the donkeys and old men out the window passed us continually). It was funny only in retrospect. On the positive side, there were no cockroaches or rats.”

Read our insider’s report on Cairo

Read a member postcard Back from Egypt and Jordan

Read a member postcard from the desert oasis Siwa

Read a member postcard about a family trip to Kenya and Egypt

Read a member postcard Off the Tourist Path in Egypt

See our Library for recommended reading on Egypt

For advice on traveling to the region or to learn about special offers and rates for our members, contact our booking department by calling 212-988-2611 or by sending an inquiry