Egypt with Ibrahim Morgan

Thanks to a letter in ITN (Nov. ’04, pg. 82) singing the praises of one Ibrahim Morgan (phone [002] 012 347 6343 or e-mail morgan_eg@yahoo.com or visit www.highrock.com/Ibrahim), my husband, Paul, and I contacted him by e-mail and asked him to arrange a 21-day trip to Egypt for us for March 2-22, 2008.

Mr. Morgan, who earned a Master’s Degree in Egyptology from the University of Alexandria, developed a complete itinerary for our visit.

In crowded and hectic Cairo, the Grand Hyatt became our island of calm. Our view of the Nile River was a welcome solace at the end of each day.

We are expert travelers and most often “go it alone,” but we discovered for ourselves that Cairo is no place for the uninitiated. Mr. Morgan was an expert at managing this unwieldy urban environment.

Time after time, he and his expert drivers threaded us through unbelievable traffic, timed our entrances and exits to all of the major sites to avoid the crowds, and arranged for visits to places of great interest that were off the beaten track.

Of course, our visit included all of the not-to-be-missed venues, including Giza, the Valley of the Kings and the Egyptian Museum. We were in and out of Cairo three times in the three weeks and were able to leave luggage at the Hyatt while we took side trips to Abu Simbel, Alexandria and Mt. Sinai.

Our trip included a 4-day Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor on which Mr. Morgan accompanied us to provide personal guide services at each stop, thus we avoided the ship’s bus tours, which often can be crowded and slow. Even though he was always available for advice and assistance, we were given plenty of personal “space.”

One of the benefits of having an individually designed tour was our ability to discuss our own particular interests with him in advance and even to “tweak” the trip each day to suit our needs. One example — a trip to Wadi Al-Hitan (Egypt’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site), where we saw fossilized whale skeletons in their entirety.

Another highlight was a trip to Mt. Sinai for which Mr. Morgan arranged an 8-person van for the three of us so we could stretch out and sleep on part of the 8-hour trip from Cairo.

On the mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments, sleep was in order as we began our ascent at 1 a.m. in order to see the sunrise — an experience that we heartily recommend one time per lifetime!

We were greatly impressed by the city of Alexandria, in particular the striking piece of 21st-century architecture that is the Alexandria Library. Housing the second-largest collection of books in the world (the Library of Congress takes first place), the building is a technological as well as architectural treasure.

The price of our tour was determined by our choice of hotels; for the two of us, it cost $9,800 for the 21 days. This included a 4- or 5-star hotel plus breakfast in each city; the 3-day Nile cruise with all meals; daily expert guide services plus air-conditioned van and experienced driver, and two domestic airline flights.

To this was added approximately $800 in tips, which Mr. Morgan distributed on our behalf in order to smooth our path through the country.

Mr. Morgan is a very honest and intelligent individual who commits himself fully to his work. He has a wonderful sense of humor and a deep knowledge and love of his subject matter. His professionalism, knowledge and integrity made this trip one of our best. We recommend him highly.

We would be happy to provide additional details about this trip. Feel free to send an e-mail to us c/o ITN.

MARILYN WHISENAND

San Clemente, CA