Category: Egypt

My experiences of Egypt are very mixed, however the amount of excursions you can try in Sharm El Sheikh is incomparable to other countries, while the deep rich history in areas such as Cairo make this a must for any true traveller. While you may hear stories of protests and unrest, these are largely not seen in Sharm El Sheikh, meaning the tourism is largely not affected like the rest of the country. This is certainly the country you visit if you’re a history buff. However don’t feel like you have to see the Pyramid of Giza. It is easily the biggest tourist attraction in Egypt, bringing in millions every year and recognised as the last standing ancient wonder of the world. However there are actually over 130 pyramids to be seen throughout the country, therefore you can definitely beat the tourist trap with a bit of adventure and careful planning. If we’re talking about size, then the Pyramid of Khufu is the one you will want to see. You should look into all of the stories around mummification and also the curses that were set for people who found and opened the tombs, with the eerie connections to reality with many British explorers that found them. Also, expect to see a few cats outside houses and cat monuments everywhere, as they were considered to be sacred animals by Ancient Egyptians.

Excursions In Sharm El Sheikh

My guide to Excursions in Sharm El Sheikh

If you are planning on visiting Sharm El Sheikh, check out my list of excursions below, from quad biking to camel riding. The prices might have changed since last summer, however it should help to offer you a general idea of what to expect in regards to prices and also to ensure you aren’t ripped off. Remember if you book more than one activity, you can normally get a really good deal. If you are travelling with a child, remember they only qualify as a child if they are under 12 years old. You will nearly always be picked up from your hotel, while the booking sales people will wander around the hotel grounds near the swimming pool area.

General rule – always negotiate!

Day	Tour	Includes	Price for an adult (GBP)	Price for a child (GBP)
Sunday/Wednesday	City tour	Visit Naama Bay, church, peace mosque and old market	15	7.50
Daily	Snorkelling boat trip to Ras Mohamed	Transfers, lunch, soft drinks, snorkel guide, entrance	34	17
Daily	Snorkelling boat trip to Tiran Island	Transfers, lunch, soft drinks, snorkel guide	30	15
Sat/Sun/Wed/Thur	Pirates sailing boat (Tiran Island)	Transfers, lunch, soft drinks, snorkel in astyle, guide	55	27.50
Tue	Pirates sailing boat (RAS MOH)	Transfers, lunch, soft drinks, snorkel in astyle, guide	62	31
Daily ex Thur	VIP boat (Tiran Island)	Transfers, lunch, soft drinks, snorkel guide (ex equipment)	45	22.50
Daily ex Wed & Fri	VIP boat (Ras Mohamed)	Transfers, lunch, soft drinks, snorkel guide, park fees (ex equipment)	52	26
Sun/Wed	Glass Bottom Boat	1 1/4 hours trip incl, transfers	12	6
Sun	Coloured Canyon	Jeep safari, lunch & shopping in Dahab, mineral water, guide	45	22.50
Fri/Wed	Fantastic Four (Blue Hole)	Jeep safari, camel ride, snorkelling, lunch, guide, transfers	45	22.50
Fri	Mount Sinai & the monastery	Transfers & guide	40	20
Sat/Wed	St.Catherine’s Monastery	Transfers, guide, lunch, visit to Dahab	40	20
Mon/Wed	Camels, Bedouin Dinner, Star Gazing	Transfers, guide, camel ride, dinner, soft drinks, water, astronomer	40	20
Mon/Wed	Camel ride & bedouin dinner	Transfers, guide, camel ride, dinner, soft drinks, water	35	17.50
Daily	Horse Riding	Horseback safari in the desert for 1 or 2 hours, guide, transfers	25 per hr	25 per hr
Sat/Tue/Thur	Quad + Bedouin Dinner + Show	2 hours quading & dinner & oriental show	35	35
Daily	Quad Biking	2 hour trip with guide into the desert, transfers	20	20
Daily	Polaris Sand Buggies	2 hours of adventure into the desert, transfers	38	38
Daily	Super Mega Safari	Quads, camel ride, bedouin lunch, soft drinks, aqua park	45	45
Daily	Go-Karting at Ghibli Raceway	Transfers, 5 minutes warming & 10 laps on the track	23	23
Wed	Luxor by Plane	West bank, east bank, flight, transfers, lunch, guide	165	150
Mon/Thur	Cairo by Plane	Pyramids & Sphinx, museum, citadel, flight, transfers, guide, lunch	160	145
Mon/Tue/Fri	Petra by Boat	Entrance to Petra, horse ride, transfers, guide, lunch	190	175
Sun/Thur	Cairo by Bus	Pyramids & Sphinx, museum, bazaar, transfers, Egyptologist, lunch	70	35
Sun/Thur	Jerusalem by Bus	Transfers, entry fees, lunch, dead sea, church of holy september	130	115
–	Over Night to Cairo by Bus	Egyptologist, hotel, pyramids, museum, citadel, 2 lunch and 1 dinner	200	100
Daily	Seascope Submarine	1 and a half hour trip, transfers, soft drink	35	35
Sat/Mon/Wed	Dolphin Show	Transfers, entrance, guide	18	18
Daily	Swim With Dolphins	Swim with dolphins for 30 minutes, transfers	100	100
Sat/Mon/Tue/Thur	Cleopark + Lunch	Entrance, transfers, snack – sandwich, deserts & soft drink	25	20
Sun/Wed/Fri	Cleopark soft all inclusive	Entrace, transfers, drinks all day, open buffet for lunch	30	25
Sat/Mon	Fantasia – Alf Leila We Leila	Morrocan dinner, belly dancing, horse show, sound and light show	40	20
Mon/Tue	Pacha party	Entrance, 1 free drink or 2 soft drinks per person	18	N/A
Wed	Pacha party (all inclusive)	Entrance, unlimited alcoholic drinks from 23:30 till 2am	25	N/A
Thur	Pacha (house nation party)	Entrance, 1 free drink or 2 soft drinks per person	20	N/A
Sun/Wed	Ministry of sound (Space night club)	Entrance, 1 free drink or 2 soft drinks per person	20	N/A
Daily	Hard Rock	Entrance, 1 free drink or 2 soft drinks per person	10	N/A
Tue/Wed/Thur/Fri	Hard Rock (all inclusive)	Entrance, unlimited alcoholic drinks from 23:30 till 2am	15	N/A
Daily	Little Buddah (all inclusive)	Entrance, unlimited alcoholic drinks from 23:30 till 2am	25	N/A

March 8, 2014

Swimming with Dolphins in Sharm El Sheikh
Top of everyone’s list, this is one that had to be ticked off. The summer before I had been holding a beached pilot whale for 8 hours, however I still felt that I needed to experience swimming with dolphins in a less depressing state.

The little child in me was so excited, just to see them, however I would much rather see them in a more natural habitat, as all these excursions involved animals in a small area of space to maneuver.

The cost was high, at about £70 (700 Egyptian pounds) for 15 minutes, however for a once in a lifetime experience, you really have to put it in perspective. When visiting Miami we were quoted £250 to swim with dolphins, so despite the high cost of £70 in Sharm El Sheikh, it was still comparatively cheaper. You can pay a bit more to be in for 30 minutes, which offers you the opportunity to play piggy in the middle, with the dolphin in the middle trying to take the ball off you. I loved watching the hesitation of everyone as they saw this giant of the sea bursting towards them!

If you book this with the hotel, they will pick you up in a minivan around 10am from the hotel and escort you to the pool. The guide comes with you to the pool and will help with any questions you may have. Normally these guides are very friendly and helpful, so make the most of it and if your money isn’t too low, offer a pound as a tip (or 10/20 Egyptian pounds). I booked this directly via the team from Iberotel Club Fanara, where they offer a number of excursions in Sharm El Sheikh.

Climbing into the pool, there were 4 dolphins, and our group was split so that there were three people per dolphin. For each activity you did with the dolphins, we all took turns, such as having a kiss on the cheek from the dolphins, going for a dance with them and being dragged across the pool while holding the fin.

They truly are amazing creatures, and were surprisingly big, standing at around 9 foot. Just tickling their bellies brought made me giggle like a hyper five year old on Christmas day.

One word of warning, when they carry you across the pool, they do it at some pace, so make sure your costume is on tight. My shorts flew off instantly, as I had to stand bollock naked in a pool filled with people. Luckily, all eyes were focused on the dolphins and I think I got away with it, or at least that is what I convinced myself!

The photos taken with you and the dolphin cost £7 per photo (70 Egyptian pounds), which is incredibly expensive, so we only took away one. However one cheeky trick you can do is to get the person who took you on the trip to take lots of photos. You can then give him a tip of 20 Egyptian pounds (about £2) which is a hell of a lot cheaper!

I was sad to read on Tripadvisor that people don’t recommend taking part in this as it is cruel to the dolphins and they aren’t treated amazingly, so I apologise to anyone who feels it was wrong. I know I should have held temptation, however I knew this opportunity doesn’t come around very often. Before swimming with dolphins, try to find out from others how well they are treated as you don’t want to support a cruel practice. I hope you are stronger mentally than me, because it was frickin awesome!!

Having said that, years later I’m happy to say I did it in a more natural way, swimming with wild dolphins in Bolivia. The experience was a bit more scary, considering I was surrounded by alligators who were ready to eat me, but talk about a life experience!

If you want to book the excursion while you’re here on holiday and you’d rather not go through the hotel then you have a few options, such as the below:
If I’m being honest with you, I have no idea of the name it was booked under, considering the hotel excursions team arranged it, therefore I cannot give a solid review on the three highlighted above, however following some research they seem to be the most well known in the area.

Let me know, would you rather swim with dolphins or go shark cage diving?
April 23, 2013
Iberotel Club Fanara – My Review

I stayed at the Iberotel Club Fanara in Sharm El Sheikh from the 27th July – 10th August 2012 on a two week getaway from the two jobs and the five days a week in the gym, for a relaxing holiday on a beach. This was hands down the biggest hotel I have ever witnessed, stretching down an entire street, with the Italian restaurant on the other side to my room, meaning a long walk every evening. This walk wasn’t too bad however as we were entertained by all the gekkos and the exquisitely warm weather, keeping our minds away from the constant belly rumbling (well, mine was rumbling).

From the moment you get there, you notice the extra effort they make, as they served cocktails on arrival and had a nice chat with us. Obviously, my mind was on food, so I slipped away as quickly as possible to get to the buffet!

The quality of food was I guess about the same as all the hotels, enjoyable but not much change day by day. The buffet mainly cosisted of a salad bar, a cheese and processed meat bar, a bread section, soup, pasta/spaghetti with bolognese, chips, some form of meat (normally beef or Turkey), about 5 tasty meals, fruit buffet and a desert buffet. Therefore the choice was very high, however after about 5 days you have decided your favourite options, and with minimal change day-by-day, it does tend to get a bit boring. This should not really paint a bad image on the hotel however, as this was much the same as all the other hotels in Sharm El Sheikh, including some of the most expensive 5* resorts.

In the evening they opened up an Italian Restaurant which was much tastier and I would definitely recommend people eat there for the entirety of their stay. I would also point out that the Italian restaurant is included in the cost, so there is no extra charge along the way.

The staff at the buffet and the restaurant are the nicest people you will ever meet. You very quickly learn their names, and by the end of the holiday you feel a little like you’ve fully settled in (our favourite waiter was Mohammed). Full credit to everyone who works at the hotel, I have never met such a nice and helpful group of people.

The room had a balcony and an absolutely amazing view of the sea, where we had a drink of wine in the evenings and played cards. I am not a smoker, however I can imagine that being the ultimate place to smoke, overlooking the coral reef and the cliffs to the right.

The coral reef, well, that was on our doorsteps! The hotel had a private beach, and being located in Ras Un Sid meant we got the chance to witness some of the most amazing looking fish. In a sense, it takes away the need to go on any snorkeling trips as you can see it all from your hotel resort. Watching tourists walk over the coral reef did make you boil with rage, however I was always distracted by an overweight sparrow which kept a smile on my face. The beach was a decent size, and there was a free bar close by, so you never really had to go far. I loved this addition as after swallowing a pint of salty sea water, having a coke machine on tap was epic. I’m sorry, I feel I should repeat this again…FREE BAR! Any drink you want is included for free! The beer was pretty rancid and the wine wasn’t great so you were limited to cocktails, but it’s not the worst thing to have, a Pina Colada while dipping a toe in the pool.

The hotel gym was basic, but to be honest, this is a holiday, get out of the gym and into the buffet! I had a crack in there, but with only a bench press and a lat pull-down machine, weight training was highly limited.

The excursion staff that walk around are incredibly annoying when you are trying to relax and you realise you are going to be bothered every five minutes (one even had the nerve to prod me while I was sleeping until I woke up, just to try and sell me a glass bottom boat trip). Saying that, I would 100% recommend booking your events with these staff members. You could get cheaper rates elsewhere, however these included transfers from your hotel and back, meaning all the work and effort is taken away, allowing you to relax and focus on having fun. The other side to it is the security, as some of the people selling you excursions on the streets can be fake, while they can also be quite aggressive when trying to sell you a trip. You should have a read of my list of excursions in Sharm El Sheikh to get an idea of what is available and prices.

Some of the highlights of the excursions you could try out are the crocodile show, banana boats, water skiing and para-sailing. You will also get a holiday rep, who arranges a welcome meeting with you soon after you arrive. This person will run through the other excursions you can do, such as camel riding with stargazing, quad biking, water-parks and trips to Luxor, Petra, St Catherine’s Monastery, Jerusalem or Cairo.

I would however recommend against swimming with dolphins in Sharm El Sheikh, it was an experience I was excited about, but once I got there I realised how cruel the place was and since then I have read endless stories of how the dolphins are treated, so it will be an experience I will live to regret.

The massage staff are the epitome of grease-balls They will come over and stroke your skin and tell you how much they want to massage you, never taking no for an answer. I truly felt sorry for females who had been left on their own for just a minute, as the massage staff would pounce on them and pester them until a man appeared on the scene. Whether it is the culture towards how they treat women or whether it is just because they really need a sale, the way they handle themselves is disgusting and I think they should be warned by the hotel management. My reaction was based around aggression, so I probably shouldn’t recommend that, but if they forcibly touch my back i’m breaking their arms!

The ‘animation’ entertainment staff really do try their best to get everyone involved, however unfortunately from an English speaking person, their is nothing you can really join in with. The animation team only speak Italian and run all the events throughout the day in Italian. One of them managed to speak a little English to us, which was nice, however it does make sense as we did seem to be the only English visitors to the hotel. The majority of the hotel came from Italy, Germany, Russia and Poland. Therefore I completely understand the reason for them not speaking any English, and besides, the animation team are really there for children, so I wasn’t really bothered. They still managed to make a really funny and entertaining show in the evening called the ‘MTV show’ which was based on the animation team dressing up and impersonating famous musicians while the songs played.

Finding a deckchair became almost impossible at times. This was not down to the hotel not supplying enough, there seemed to be thousands of them! However the visitors to the hotel all seemed to have this infuriating attitude of going down to the poolside and ‘reserving’ a chair with their towels, then to not return to the pool all day, sometimes only in the evening to collect their towels back. This concept never made sense to me, and I can’t even explain how frustrating it is looking for a seat when they are all empty except for a towel or a bag. It was that attitude of certain groups in the hotel, where they would push in in the queues for food or putting their towels on a chair they didn’t plan on using, that I will never understand.

Next to the pool was a lunchtime buffet, offering mainly chips and pizza; On holiday you let yourself go, and I truly brought a new meaning to that. A couple of pizza’s as a snack between meals really added on the pounds, but that’s the fun of a holiday!

I never got round to it, but it is worth pointing out that there is a scuba diving class run through the hotel, allowing you to learn the basics or even become PADI qualified. We filled our stay with so many excursions that I never got round to doing this, while I also found that you seem to see the same things whether you scuba dive or snorkel.

You can also watch my video of Sharm El Sheikh, which is below:

Overall I would give the hotel…4.5 stars!

April 17, 2013
Quad Biking in Sharm El Sheikh

I’m not one to spend an entire holiday sitting by the pool, trying to get a tan, so quad biking was always going to be a definite when I visited Sharm El Sheikh. The price was relatively reasonable, at £20 for a good couple of hours , while there weren’t many negatives to point out about the experience. To find out more about the activities, you might want to have a read of my list of excursions in Sharm El Sheikh.

The times that are often offered for quad biking are around 10am, or 4pm, as this means you miss the mid day heat. You should definitely go for 4pm, as on the way back, you often catch a bit of sunset, which looks truly amazing in the desert.

The ride is very bumpy, however I expected worse considering the reviews I had read on Tripadvisor. I would point out however that a lot of people pointed out pain in their hands from holding the accelerator down constantly. I think people who are nervous tend to grip a little too hard, so make sure to relax and have a casual hold over the steering.

The first stop you make offers you a stunning 360 view of the desert, illustrating the emptiness of the land. If you haven’t seen a desert before, it will truly take your breath away, as you realise how barren the area is. You do unfortunately have to remain in a constant line, with a guide at the front and at the back, however you still get to go to quite a fast pace, especially if you ‘accidentally’ lose pace and need to catch up!

I cannot express more seriously how important it is that you bring sunglasses and a scarf, as they will cover your face from the sand that flies up from the quad bike in front of you. The staff will happily wrap them around your face (and then most likely try and get a tip out of you) while the photos you get of yourself look amazing! You might also want to bring sun tan lotion, as you do spend a fair amount of time away from the shade. The other incredibly important item…Bring a lot of water! I brought two bottles, but finished them off within 30 minutes. At one of the stops, they will offer to sell water to you, however the prices are obviously more dear.

At the end they will try and sell you the photos they have taken of you, for exceptionally high prices so just barter down to get a good price. They originally quoted us 10 English pounds per photo, so we brought it down to 3 photos for 10 English pounds.

Do not be scared to jump on the quad bike, people of all ages were riding them, while the dangers were minimal (as long as you use common sense). This was truly my funnest moment of my trip and I would strongly recommend you try quad biking if you visit Sharm.

Quick Safety Warning

I wanted to add this quick safety warning, as I saw a lot of people that got minor injuries, while I almost lost control of the quad bike.

Firstly, I’ve done quad biking plenty of times in my life, but you still shouldn’t underestimate it in the desert, where the climate is quite different to the mud buggies in Crawley. They are also quite a lot quicker than I’m used to.

The guides will take you on a really specific route, where you shouldn’t go over any bumps that should knock you off at all, but if you go off course then you are taking a huge risk. Stick to their designated route as it is there for your safety, it is tested and they know it’s generally safe.

April 8, 2013
Camel Riding and star gazing in Sharm El Sheikh

Camel riding in Sharm El Sheikh, or anywhere in Africa, is something you have to tick off the bucket list. Beginning this excursion, we were transferred to a bus, which took us out of Sharm El Sheikh, on a 20 minute journey. The trip wasn’t too bad, as we were entertained by a flamboyant travel guide, sharing his knowledge about the bedouins and their way of life.
We arrived to the site of what must have been about 150 camels.Their faces could amuse me for hours, I wish I got a close up picture of one! Soon as you get off the bus you are surrounded by very young children who beg for money, of which you guiltily hand over anything in your pockets which resembles a coin. I should mention, if you have a scarf and they offer to tie it around your face, you genuinely don’t need it. The camels when standing are very very far from the ground (something I didn’t know until it elevated me into new heights I had never seen) therefore no sand will fly back into your face, nor is there much sand in the wind (unless there is a sand storm, in which case it might be better sitting on the bus for a bit).

The camel riding is incredibly fun, however what they don’t point out when they sell this excursion is that the camel riding only actually lasts 5 minutes! You have a short ride with them and then you return to the starting position. I like to think I’m now a veteran of the camel riding world (I survived), however 5 minutes on my CV might not qualify me. There are plenty of other excursions in Sharm El Sheikh which I can recommend trying out on your visit to Egypt.
Be careful, the moment you get off the camel the staff will instantly demand a tip off you, almost to the point of aggression. Even once you give them a tip, they begin demanding more. Once you’ve got past this awkwardness, it is easy days. My tip is to pretend you can’t hear them, I have an amazing ability at staring blankly at them and then bursting into giggles; They never know how to respond…winner!
Surprisingly though, the fun didn’t stop once we got off the camels. We were taken to a comfy area where they offered us habak tea and begun telling us about how the bedouins lived in these areas. They then got all the girls in the group to help make the flatbread, something surprisingly tasty for bread (a bit like a pancake). Us guys stood around laughing and taking photo’s, like the truly supportive people we are!

We then began eating, which was also surprisingly good (I shouldn’t sound so surprised all the time). The food was much the same as what we got in the hotel, however it tasted a lot fresher and was very much appreciated after 4 hours without even a thought of spaghetti hoops (ok, a quick day dream and drool). The guide continued to converse about the vast differences between our cultures, and the valuation of “a camel in exchange for your girl” which seemed to be an obsession to everyone in Sharm.
After the meal, more tea was offered around, and they brought over a number of apple flavoured shisha’s which were very warmly received. The people on this excursion were incredibly friendly and we had a good chance to chat amongst ourselves while smoking the shisha.
Finally, they began to play music, while they encouraged all the girls to stand up and dance. Fortunately, they weren’t overly pushy when asking the girls, while they danced around the fire to what I’m certain was actually a rendition of a Shakira track.
After a long and incredibly enjoyable evening, we got up to go to the bus, so that they could take us to the area where the telescopes are set up. By this point it was almost pitch black, however we managed to catch sight of a desert fox, which was about the same size as a chiwawa.

The stargazing was absolutely phenomenal, with two telescopes set up, one pointing at the second brightest star in the sky, and the other pointing at Saturn. You could really see the details of the planet and its ring, almost to the point that we were certain it was a sticker at the end of the machine.
This sadly brought us to the end of the excursion, however we truly felt, for £40, we got our moneys worth, even if the camel riding was much shorter than we expected.

This is a great afternoon/evening activity which will cover you for a good few hours, while we did quad biking in Sharm El Sheikh in the morning, which was just a couple of hours meaning it worked perfectly with our timing.

I strongly believe Sharm El Sheikh (despite a few issues with the locals on a few occasions) is one of the best places in the world for activities and excursions, allowing you to tick so much off your bucket list. You should certainly avoid the swimming with dolphins in Sharm El Sheikh, something I did at the time as a ‘once in a lifetime experience’ but now feel incredibly guilty for. They are captured and treated really badly, dieing way before the age they should.

February 12, 2013