Shahd Sameh

I only interacted with Shahd over WhatsApp, and overall it was a little tough to figure out who to talk to to get help during the trip, between Shahd, the local rep Samara, the guides, and the drivers. I would recommend there be one WhatsApp conversation for coordination with guests for the future.

Of the people we interacted with Samara was the friendliest and the best fit for interacting with our family. We had 3 days of activities on this trip. We did get to see the highlights of Egypt that we wanted to see, but it was overall the least pleasant trip we've had on a year filled with family travel. The guides we had for seeing the pyramids, the GEM, and the Valley of the Kings were a really bad fit for our family. They did ask for feedback, and were able to adjust a bit, but it was rough. It felt like the guides were prioritizing going through their pre-scripted content instead of listening to our questions, and adjusting. For the museum, we spent an hour listening to the guide before going into any of the exhibits and then only had 10 minutes to look at King Tut's tomb treasures. This was all during the coolest part of the day too, so then we were rushing to get to the Sphinx before it closed. Our family felt like we were being scolded by the guide any time we wanted to stop and look at something or ask questions.

In Luxor, it was worse. It was super hot and the kids were tired. They did not love being scolded for not listening to the guide. And neither did we! At one point, we were directed to read a display on the wall, and then the guide talked nonstop so we couldn't actually read it.

We also felt like the guides were especially dismissive of our daughters in a way that felt patriarchal. We had to have lots of family discussions about sexism and culture. Some expectation setting up front is necessary if that's what we would experience across the board.

There was nothing about this trip that was tailored to independent travelers, as KimKim advertises. We could barely have a conversation or exploration as a family on this trip.