Lindblad (Nat Geo) Nile Cruise on Oberoi Philae

[acadian_dad]

We'll be heading out next week for a Lindblad Expedition trip to Cairo and then Nile river cruise Luxor to Aswan hitting all the main sites as far as I can tell.

Just curious if anyone on the forum has done this specific trip recently (this year ?!?!) and how they found things - any specific tips for things to be sure to do / sure to skip ?   And any comments on the accommodations on the Oberoi Philae boat ?

[SCrozier]

Hello Acadian_Dad.  Fellow Canadian here.  We have a Nile cruise booked with Lindblad on the Oberoi Philae booked in 2024 and was wondering how your cruise was and any tips/recommendations about the cruise ship?

 

Thanks

[acadian_dad]

2 hours ago, SCrozier said:

Hello Acadian_Dad.  Fellow Canadian here.  We have a Nile cruise booked with Lindblad on the Oberoi Philae booked in 2024 and was wondering how your cruise was and any tips/recommendations about the cruise ship?

 

Thanks

 

Ahoy @SCrozier !!   We had a FANTASTIC trip - I couldn't recommend the overall Lindblad trip more.  It was interesting to note that we were one of the few couples on board that weren't return Nat Geo / Lindblad customers (we'd never traveled with them before).  Almost everyone else had been on multiple Nat Geo / Lindblad trips before and keep coming back - they seem to be doing something right !

 

We loved the food on board - the fish (often Nile perch) was always a good choice and the fresh fruits were great.  I think the kitchen staff may have been Indian as there was often an Indian inspired dish on the menu and they were always excellent.  You can get local wine and beer (and its honestly not bad), but we tended to order non-alcoholic drinks as they have quite a variety since Egypt is largely Islamic of course.  One of my favorite drinks was lemon with mint (think tart, low sweet lemonade with fresh mint - yum).

The tour logistics was excellent - never had to wait for a bus to arrive - they were always there waiting for us and they shepherded us well through immigration, security checks, etc.  There was always lots of cold water available on the bus.  We never felt concerned with security.

 

We really liked our Egyptologist, Mohammed.  There were two on the tour and while we didn't have to stay with him, we tended to.   The Nat Geo photography instructor (also is the Lindblad "rep" on the tour) was very friendly and helpful. The sites were all fascinating of course.  Maybe the GEM will be open when you get there but I wouldn't hold my breath 😅 as its been about to open now for years.  If it is open, it will be amazing for you.

 

One thing you may wish to think about is whether or not to go inside the Great Pyramid at Giza.  If you haven't been before, then I suppose you really feel like you have to.  But its important to know that it is quite an effort to walk up the first ascending passage to get to the burial chamber - it's a very low ceiling (you WILL be crouched over for sure), quite steep, narrow and hot for about 150' until you reach the Grand Gallery which is much taller and wider.  When you get to the burial chamber itself, again there is a short section with a very low ceiling that you need to crouch to get under - but it's quite short and then you are in the chamber ... which is honestly very anti-climactic.  No interesting carvings, etc.  When we were there it was quite crowded (I think it is all the time honestly) and I think this specific site likely contributed to a few people on board coming down with COVID.  If I was going back, I would not go inside again BUT, if it was my first time, even knowing what I know now, I'm sure I would still do it - but I would definitely wear a mask the whole time inside.

 

The camel ride at Giza is also an optional thing.  We did it and had fun getting a few interesting pictures.  At least one person on the tour had a problem with the camel guide not listening to their concerns though - so not everyone enjoyed that.  If you didn't go in the pyramid or on a camel - there would just be a lot of standing around for that time (couple of hours) ...

 

One thing I would caution you about is which cabin you are in.  Initially we were booked into cabin C07 which is the aft-most cabin on starboard side on deck C.  The noise and vibration in this cabin when the boat was underway was absolutely jaw dropping.  It was not a problem when docked but you couldn't hear yourself think when underway.  Our shipmates in C08 across the hall mentioned the same thing.  Shipmates in C05 and C06 (one cabin forward) did NOT find it that bad for noise - so it may just have been those 2 rooms at the very back - see the deck plan below.

 

 

We mentioned the noise to the boat manager on the 2nd morning and we were very lucky that there was a vacant cabin on our boat (there had been a last minute cancellation apparently) and by the end of the 2nd day of the cruise they moved us to cabin C10 and it was blissfully quiet whether underway or not.  C10 was just a tiny bit smaller than C07 but the cabins are huge by cruise standards and C10 was so quiet.

 

Not sure what else you'd like to know but I would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have !   I wrote up a bit of a "trip report" (it was originally touching base with our TA after we got back ... it covers some of the above and a lot more) and I attached it here as well.

 

post_trip_notes_Egypt_2023.docx

Edited August 18, 2023 by acadian_dad

[SCrozier]

Wow.  What an amazing reply and VERY much appreciated.  Definitely sets our minds at ease after reading your review, notes, and tips.  Our travel agent recommended Lindblad as her clients all loved sailing/traveling with them.  I saw that Gary Bambridge (You-Tube vlogger) also mentioned cabins at the rear of the ship.  We were or are lucky enough to have booked D05, so hopefully will be a little more forward and wont have the noise/vibration issues.

I did a lot of research and comparisons of tour operators and cruises, and the Lindblad itinerary checked off just about everything on our wants/needs list and having BOTH an Egyptologist and photography instructor on board was the tipping point.

 

Also will take your advisement about the Giza entry and camel ride, but since it’s our first time in Egypt, we’ll probably end up going on both.  It’s that FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) thing, but we won’t set our expectations too high.😀

 

We’re also going to do the Jordan extension as Petra is on our “bucket list”.  We’ll probably need a vacation from our vacation, from the sounds of it.

 

One note is that I can’t open your attachment. It’s saying permissions are required to open it, or maybe it’s something I’m doing wrong.  I’ll refrain from asking you dozens of questions as I’m sure you’ve answered them in your trip report.

 

Thanks again and Safe Travels wherever you’re headed next!

[acadian_dad]

9 minutes ago, SCrozier said:

Wow.  What an amazing reply and VERY much appreciated.  

...

One note is that I can’t open your attachment. It’s saying permissions are required to open it, or maybe it’s something I’m doing wrong.

 

You're very welcome - try this attachment (PDF) - maybe it will work better ?

 

Also - wow - love your upcoming cruise calendar in your signature - quite the variety !

 

post_trip_notes_Egypt_2023.pdf

Edited August 18, 2023 by acadian_dad

[Host Jazzbeau]

This is what I get:

 

[acadian_dad]

18 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

This is what I get:

 

whoa that’s weird - it’s just a basic PDF (or docx file depending on the one you tried) - I’m in Canada so perhaps there are restrictions in other regions ?

 

if anyone is interested in a direct copy, they can email me at dgrleblanc at gmail dot com

[gnome12]

57 minutes ago, acadian_dad said:

whoa that’s weird - it’s just a basic PDF (or docx file depending on the one you tried) - I’m in Canada so perhaps there are restrictions in other regions ?

 

if anyone is interested in a direct copy, they can email me at dgrleblanc at gmail dot com

I’m in Canada and couldn’t get it either. 

[acadian_dad]

OK - so for some reason it seems the boards don't like the attached docx or pdf files - so here is what was in those files ... (long post warning ...)

 

In summary, the trip was fantastic and we would recommend it to anyone looking to see Egypt.  We went in Feb 2023 and did not take the Jordan extension.

 

Flights

• We booked our own international air - Air Canada business class on the transatlantic legs between YUL & FRA and Lufthansa economy between FRA & CAI
• The AC flights were great with the “pods” on the 777, comfortable and the service was good – 8 hr flights
• The layover in FRA going to CAI was too long (6 hrs) but I chose it as I was nervous about short layovers with winter travel – the fact that we were in economy for the next leg meant we didn’t have lounge access in FRA – which was not ideal
• The layover in FRA coming back was better – about 4 hrs – and we had access to the AC lounge which opened at 6AM just after we got off the flight from CAI, so were able to have breakfast and wait in some comfort – that was better
• I do NOT recommend those Lufthansa flights between CAI and FRA (in A321-Neo) – the seats were hard and ours didn’t recline (exit row) – so not great for a 4.5 hr flight – in particular on the red-eye from CAI to FRA (2AM dep)
• Bulk of group, from the US, took the Air Egypt flights CAI to/from JFK as recommended by Lindblad – though most felt the flight was not all that great – they said service & food were not very good and boarding was a free-for-all – but it was direct from NYC, so they liked that
• Internal air in Egypt was handled by Lindblad (from CAI to Luxor, Aswan to Abu Simbel and Abu Simbel to CAI) & was a charter by Petroleum Air Services on a DASH8 so a little cramped / noisy
• Flight times were about 1.5 hrs CAI to LUX, 45 min from Aswan to Abu Simbel and 2.5 hrs from Abu Simbel to CAI
• The flight from CAI to Luxor had an issue with no cabin heat … so it got a little chilly on the plane – my wife and I were fine but a number of others complained (apparently Lindblad tore a strip off the airline, talked to the Minister of Tourism, etc. !)
• Since these were relatively short flights, they just provided a small bottle of water - no snacks or drink service
• Security checks in Egypt airports are multi-level and repetitive - you need to go through x-ray / metal detector / pat down just to enter the airport – then you need to go through another one to access the departures area – sometimes a 3^rd to get to actual gate

 

Hotels

• We arrived a day earlier than the main group and we all stayed at the Nile Ritz Carlton which we quite liked
• The view from our room on the 10^th floor of the river and downtown Cairo was SPECTACULAR !  (you could also see the Giza pyramids in the evening if you looked carefully)

 

 

• There are sliding doors on the windows and they didn’t 100% seal so there was a little bit of ambient street noise that would come in – cars honk incessantly in Cairo (you get used to it) and the calls to prayer – this was not an issue for us but it might bother someone else who is a light sleeper
• Our room had a connecting door to a neighboring room whose occupant was smoking.  There was a gap under the door and the HVAC pulled the smoke into our room.  It was quite bad but I stuffed a towel under the door and that resolved it.  I chose not to make a complaint to the hotel since the towel resolved the issue.  Interestingly housekeeping did not move the towel so they must have figured out why it was there.
• The lobby has a wonderful lounge/restaurant where you could get all sorts of mezze and drinks – we did that a few times
• At checkout, we had 3 different wrong charges (restaurant/bar charges) on our folio that I had to clear up with the front desk – in all 3 cases they found the chits and it was just a transcription error of the room # and they happily reversed the charges – but I think it bears repeating to always check your bill …
• 2 couples mentioned they thought they had food poisoning from restaurants at the hotel … hmmm not sure, while certainly possible, we found the all the hotel food excellent and I suspect Pharoah’s Revenge more likely
• There were many bottles of complimentary water – continually replenished – and there was a touch up / turn down service in the evening
• The hotel backs directly on Tahrir Square, right beside the original antiquities museum. One evening we went for a neighborhood walk and I would NOT really recommend that. It was safe from a crime perspective but there was little interesting to see and crossing the main road by the hotel felt death-defying … (there are no cross walks and 8 lanes of traffic !)
• The last night before leaving Cairo for home was at the Intercontinental Hotel near the airport which has a massive open lobby with bars and restaurant.  The adjacent mall was nice to be able to go for a walk after dinner.  I’d say the room was definitely not as nice as the Ritz Carlton – but we were only in the room for a few hours to shower and repack before heading back to the airport for a 2AM flight after the farewell group dinner so this wasn’t really an issue for us
• It was only a 15 min drive to/from the airport – so this location makes complete sense for that last night with all the different departure arrangements they need to manage
• There was bottled water in this hotel room as well - but it was not complimentary (LE 65 / bottle - ~ USD2 per bottle) – although when we checked out and this was the only thing we had consumed from the “mini-bar”, they waived the charge

 

Boat

• The Oberoi Philae is a very nice boat with a maximum of 42 guests – the boat was not full due to a couple of last minute cancellations
• The staterooms are MASSIVE – about 2x the size of a normal cruise cabin – the beds were SOOO comfortable (for me anyway – the mattresses are very firm but I really prefer that and there were very nice feather pillows)
• Some of the furniture (the dresser drawers), wood floor in the room, tiles, shower silicone in the shower look a little cosmetically dated / shabby … but that really is nit-picking a little – it was quite clean
• Service from everyone on the boat was absolutely top notch – friendly, efficient – top marks
• Common areas were plentiful and well appointed
• At embarkation, or returning from tours, we were always greeted with cold towels and a fresh lemon juice drink – always hit the spot
• We had free laundry services on the boat which was appreciated since we packed for carry-on only (and chose to comply with the stricter Lufthansa requirements of only 8 kg / bag for carry on!)
• But, here is the only real negative that I have on this whole trip (apart from my flight mistakes) …
   
• Our stateroom (C07) was SO loud when the boat was underway – it was unbearable to be in the cabin – even when docked, if the engines were idling, it was quite loud
• We’ve been on many cruises and ferries (first time on a river cruise tho) – sometimes near the back and there is always some vibration underway or with docking maneuvers … we understood that – but this was next level … you literally had to shout to communicate over it
• My wife takes afternoon naps if the opportunity presents itself and she tried that on the boat on the first day underway using her noise cancelling headphones which addressed the noise but the vibrations through the bed were still horrible
• We mentioned the issue to the boat director on the evening after our 1^st day underway (like the hotel manager on a cruise ship) to see if another room was available – he was a little non-committal but he confirmed there would be no night-time sailing, so we kind of let it go and figured we would have to live with it
• The couple in C08 across the hall confirmed that they found their room very noisy as well.  The people in C05 and C06 (next rooms forward) said they had some noise but it wasn’t that awful.
• On the 2nd day, the boat director called us after we got back from our tours to tell us there was an empty stateroom near the front of the ship – room C10 – they helped move all our stuff to that room in about 5 min flat and it was BLISSFULLY quiet …
• We were lucky that the boat was not full, and we feel guilty that we got moved while our neighbors in C08 did not … but I was very happy that the manager did move us as we had a couple of long days of sailing the Nile coming up  (I hate to think what if we could not be moved and then had to quarantine in that room due to COVID for eg. – it would have been an absolute nightmare – I would have demanded to be disembarked !)
• Bottom line – while I would definitely recommend this boat to anyone, I STRONGLY recommend NOT booking cabins C07 or C08 – on the other hand, C10 (& C09) is so quiet and while a tiny bit smaller, they are still a massive cabin by any standard

 

Dining in Cairo

• The group breakfasts and dinners (& one of the lunches) in Cairo were all in the hotel restaurants
• There was one group lunch in Cairo at a local restaurant/café in the bazaar – nice selection of middle eastern foods and fun but a little crowded / hectic
• The group lunch at Giza was at a hotel resort near the pyramids – large and fairly crowded buffet – there appeared to be multiple tour groups using the same buffet for lunch - it was good but busy
• The breakfast at the hotel each morning was a huge buffet with so many excellent selections – complete with a good "local breakfast" counter (mezze, taameya, shakshuka, ful, etc.) on top of standard buffet fare - we loved the Egyptian breakfast items
• You could get espresso drinks but might have to wait a while – regular coffee was quite good and the first cup arrived quickly (refills were hit and miss though)
• Dinner one night was in the hotel Italian restaurant – I enjoyed my dinner but heard a few “meh” comments from others
• Dinner another night was al fresco at the middle eastern grill restaurant with a local singer providing entertainment
• Be sure to try koshari if you can when in Cairo - its great

 

Dining on the Boat

• Other than the embarkation day lunch, which I felt was a little boring, and the box breakfast on the balloon flight morning (was just very basic), I found the food on the boat to be excellent.  However, I did hear a few complaints from some so I guess you can’t make everyone happy all the time.
• The breakfast was again a buffet – more modest than the hotel but still many selections – but also included a-la-carte options (waffles, eggs, etc.).  Along with the buffet each morning, I usually had 2 poached eggs which they always cooked perfectly.
• There were a few lunch / dinner buffets (one we had outside on the top deck which was very nice) – but more generally it was a sit-down a-la-carte affair in the dining room just below the waterline.
• Typically, a-la-carte choices would include 3 appetizers, 2 soups and 4 entrees and then 4 desserts (2 of which were always a fruit plate & ice cream) – they accommodated gluten-free requests for one couple we sat with a few times
• One guest who had mentioned she really liked a particular salad to the chef was invited back into the kitchen where the chef showed her how he made it as well as they prepared a large bowl of it she could have any time
• Appetizers and soups were small (I’m totally on board with that) but mains were generous enough in my opinion.  Never felt hungry.  Most salad dressings seemed to be mustard based which is fine with me but maybe a little repetitive
• Main choices always included a pasta dish and usually included a middle eastern or Indian option – the Indian items were uniformly excellent – very well spiced without being too hot
• The fish was often Nile perch – and I must say it was very good the few times I had it – the grilled preparation was better than breaded per my wife who had it more often

 

Tour staff & logistics

• We could have all fit on one bus but they always provided two busses so we had TONS of room …
• There were 2 Egyptologists for the whole trip – Mohammed and Ahmed – who each took one of the two busses provided for tours and there was the Nat Geo / Lindblad Rep / Certified Photo Instructor, Shane (note we did not do the Jordan extension - Shane accompanied the group there and a new tour guide joined them for the rest of that trip)
• There was no requirement to stay in your group with either Egyptologist, but we really liked Mohammed and stayed with his group for the whole trip (most people did stick with the same groups)
• Shane did 2 talks on photography but they were pretty basic – he did provide lots of suggestions while walking around if you asked, but also tended not to get too involved if you didn’t ask - his suggestions when he did make them were always excellent
• The three of them seemed to get along well – Mohammed and Ahmed have apparently known and worked with each other for many years
• Shane has been with Nat Geo for a while but hadn’t been to Egypt with them before – apparently last year he paid out of his own pocket to tour Egypt and learn / scout sites so that he could be more effective – dedicated !
• We only found out later in the game that Shane was the “tour leader”, not just the photo instructor – I don’t recall them saying that at the beginning but honestly could have missed something in the first few days with jet lag, etc.
• There were Lindblad reps at all the airports and hotels – they were easy to find and helpful when needed (we joked around that we were upset there was no Lindblad rep at Montreal when we landed to escort us through CBSA 😅)
• There is a saying in Operations (logistics) that goes, “the best you can do is not screw up” – well they did a great job – we NEVER had to wait for a bus to arrive or be opened, etc. – luggage was always right there at the bus – restaurants were ready for us on arrival, etc. - it was all very smooth
• The charter flights operate through airports with security checks, etc. and so that was not quite as smooth as busses – but they were there at the security checks, giving the porters tips and arguing with airport staff, etc. to get us through as smoothly as possible

 

Sites and temples

• Many of the sites (or at least some part of the sites) are absolutely breathtaking – the colors in some temples / tombs are so vibrant you’ll think that they aren’t original and they just painted them last week … but no … they are 1000’s of years old
• You do end up seeing a lot of temples and things can start to get a bit blurred together – my wife did a lot of research prior to the trip, so I really appreciated being able to ask her about things sometimes … (she was honorary Egyptologist # 3 😅)
• The GEM was still not open – there are rumors it will open in March and the guides seemed pretty sure by June – we’ll see (NOTE - I wrote all this in Feb when we returned - its now Aug and its not not open so ...) – some guests were upset it was not open for this trip (many of the Tut treasures have been removed from the other museums and moved to the GEM)
• My wife and I toured Coptic Cairo with a private tour guide on our 1^st day in Cairo (we flew in 1 day earlier than the main group) – we saw some very interesting churches as well as “Garbage City” on the way to one of the churches – we were very glad we did this tour
• The balloon ride in Luxor was US$200/pp but it was setup so that it did not interfere with any other touring – just an earlier start to the day and a box breakfast if you went – the balloon held 24 people + pilot ! – we felt it was worth it

 

Group dynamics

• We are mid-late 50's and I think there were only 5 people younger than us on the tour – mostly the group is older well-healed retired / semi-retired professional types
• While we think of ourselves as “well traveled”, we felt less so compared with most in the group
• We were the only ones who had not traveled with Lindblad / Nat Geo before and most had done multiple trips with them before – one couple had been to the Antarctic four separate times ! (I jokingly asked, “so did you like it ?”)
• While there were 1 or 2 small groups that tended to hang out in their own insular circles, most moved around to sit with different table mates at mealtimes – it was nice getting to know lots of different folks

 

Other stuff nobody tells you …

• Hot take - perhaps not everyone should go into the Great Pyramid at Giza … it’s a long line, a hard, steep, hunched over climb through a tiny passage for about 150 feet (with people coming back down at you), it's hot and the burial chamber at the end is just a mostly empty room with a stone sarcophagus and then you have the same passage to negotiate but going back down – our legs literally ached for 3 or 4 days afterwards (and I ride my bike quite a bit) - it was very anticlimactic and nothing like any of the other amazing tombs on the tour
  
  If you are claustrophobic at all, or have fitness or resp. issues, I’d say you should consider to not do it – but almost everyone on our tour, including the 90 year old Howard gave it a shot – he ended up needing help getting back down and hurt his head on the low ceiling.
  
  If I ever went again, I would not go in again - but I think its also fair that if you've never been, you really feel like you need to do it - even if for no other reason than to say you've been inside the Great Pyramid

 

 

 

 

• You won’t need a wake up call on the boat most AM’s – the 1^st call to prayer is a little before 5AM and there are always mosques near where the boat docks … we heard them every AM – we actually liked this - this first call of the day includes a line, "prayer is better than sleep" - haha
• The schedule is pretty intense (well, not relaxing anyway) – most mornings were up between 5AM and 6AM to have breakfast and be ready for whatever tour was leaving that day – dinners were late (8 PM on a couple of days) - coffee maker in the stateroom was very appreciated each morning
• Make sure to bring your own supply of Kleenex (eg. travel packs) – the tissues in the hotels / boat are rough, single ply and small – not optimal if you have / get the sniffles (also very handy since many public bathrooms have little or no TP available !)
• Fun fact - Cleopatra is closer in time to us than to the builders of the great pyramid ... she was born ~2,500 years after the Great Pyramid at Giza was built, and ~2,000 years before the first lunar landing – things that blow your mind
• Almost every site in Egypt requires you to walk past an onslaught of souvenir vendors who are often very aggressive – it gets very tiresome – there’s not much you can do other than say “no” and keep moving but it can be quite intimidating
• Haggling in bazaars or with these street vendors is required and their initial prices are usually just silly.  You know that you probably got to a reasonable price when they act all disgusted to close the deal.  I really don’t like haggling, but my wife was getting better at it.
• At most sites there will be “security” people walking around (making sure you stay behind ropes, preventing you using large cameras, etc.) – often, they will offer to take photos of you, try to explain some feature or even encourage you to go behind those ropes into a cordoned off area – they are looking for tips for anything they do … it’s a little like the vendors but not quite as aggressive … as a good rule following Canadian, I found it a little off putting but its how things work there
• Having a local guide is so crucial – we had ticket issues at two sites and needed our guide to argue with the guard (I think he might have been just trying to get a payoff) – we also saw one of our guides providing cash to the security screeners at sites and airports a few times to grease the skids
• Many visitors tip or pay in small USD bills – but locals can’t change $1 bills at banks – so you’ll often run into these vendors looking to trade stacks of $1 bills for larger bills - there is nothing nefarious about it - they just can't do anything with USD singles
• Lemon juice with mint … best darn drink on the boat – you decide how much sugar you want in it … SO GOOD  -  the local beers and wine (included with meals for eg.) were OK but we didn’t have too many as the non-alcoholic choices were always very good
• The fresh fruit (in the hotels and on the boat, we were assured were safe) and the fruit juices were so good – perfectly ripe and delicious - we never had any digestive issues - your mileage may vary ...
• The farmers along the Nile burn off chaff on the sugar cane fields after they harvest it and it generates prodigious amounts of smoke … there was day when the smoke we were sailing through was just so strong, I was almost having an asthmatic reaction to it … it permeated into the boat for a while … this is really something to think about for anyone with respiratory issues (say COPD, etc.) as there really is not much you can do about it other than maybe wear an N95 mask

 

Health and COVID

• Neither my wife nor I came down with “Pharoah’s Revenge” – there were 2 couples that had gastro issues early in the trip (one of them needed an MD brought in) but they felt it was "food poisoning" – after being pretty cautious 1^st couple of days, we started eating the fruit & salads at the hotels/boat without issues
• Almost nobody was wearing masks anywhere (we masked for all our flights to Egypt but once there, went with the flow and didn’t mask much)
• 2 couples on the boat ended up being quarantined in their cabins with +ve COVID tests – Howard (the 90 year old I mentioned above) was having issues, tested +ve first and then his wife later
• The second couple ended up testing +ve and being quarantined - I don’t know whether they requested testing or somehow were told they had to … We talked to them later on disembarkation day and they seemed fine, they weren’t wearing masks, etc. but were upset as they were supposed to go on to Jordan and had to rearrange their flights to go back home.
• There were MANY others on the boat coughing and sniffling by the last day (including my wife and I) I would estimate maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of everyone on the boat probably had it.  I initially thought my cough was from the sugar cane smoke (it started that night) – but it persisted for a few days and I got the sniffles after the smoke dissipated – but there were many others with similar symptoms and only those 2 couples got quarantined.  I think it was a bit of a "don't ask, don't tell" situation ...
• When we got home, we took RATs and we were both indeed COVID +ve (my wife with a strong line and mine faint) but our symptoms were mild – like a cold – not even a bad cold (I can only assume that was the vaccines and boosters doing their job !) - we were both testing -ve within 5 days after getting home
• I have no idea where or when exactly we got it – I think its likely to have been on tours in one of the cramped spaces like the Great Pyramid in Giza or a tomb since there was essentially no masking by anyone and some sites were quite crowded

 

 

 

 

[CPT Trips]

@acadian_dad That’s great information! We’re heading to Egypt, and I really appreciate your report.