Mar 8, 2021
Unforgettable Adventure - This trip was absolutely amazing. Amado and his team were so knowledgeable and were able to make this experience truly unforgettable. We signed up for one tour with Amado and stayed with him for 3 trips. Very helpful and attentive. Highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 12, 2020
Amazing trip, well worth the journey - Our visit to the desert was amazing. The local guides were really kind and attentive. They made sure we had everything we wanted and needed and they took care of us. They obviously knew the desert really well and spoke some English- enough to explain a little about the desert.
We first travelled to the Bahariya Oasis and had lunch at the local guide, Emad's house. The lunch was really tasty and the fruit and veg was washed well so we didn't have to worry about getting ill. After lunch, we went out in the jeeps to the desert. We got to see the village that Emad and Ahmed, another local guide, lived in. We also saw some of the mud houses as we travelled out to the desert.
We drove first through the black desert, then to the crystal mountains and then to the white desert with some driving on the road and a bit of off roading. We stopped quite a few times at spots that were good to take photos so we got to see plenty of the desert. We also got to try sand boarding which was a bit scary but really fun! We went with some French speaking people and their tour guide, who gave a lot of information about the pyramids. The local guides told us some facts about the deserts too.
In the evening, the local guides set up the camp. They were really well organised and had big tents and a generator so we had lights. They cooked a really tasty meal for us with fire grilled chicken, salad, stew, rice, and fruit. After the meal there was plenty of Egyptian tea and the local guides sang and played various instruments which sounded really good. We also had some shisha before we went to bed in smaller tents.
In the morning, we woke up early and saw some more of the white desert. We visited the oasis where there were palm trees and a hot spring before heading back to the house for lunch and then to Cairo.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 30, 2019
Amazing experience - We knew the desert would be exciting, but the experience totally beat our expectation. Our tour guide Ahmed was amazing, as well as our local guide Emad and driver Salem .
We started the first day with hotel pick up right on time, and drove in a private car out of Cairo. After 4 hours later, we arrived at Emad’s home and were welcomed by a delicious home made lunch. It was very tasty and surprisingly had a great variety of food - arguably the best Egyptian meal I’ve had in Egypt so far. Then we changed to a 4x4 Jeep and marched into the desert. No need to say too much about the white and black desert itself - photos tell everything. We visited black desert, crystal mountain, mushroom desert, sand dunes, and then white desert. Emad also showed us a fossil dolphin buried in the desert - so fascinating. Around sunset time, we arrived at the white desert - it was so beautiful, everything golden’ed by the sun. After watching sunset, Emad set up our tent and started preparing dinner for us. Honestly I didn’t have much expectation for dinner in the desert but it was quite nice - Fruit, soup, salad, stew, naan, rice, fired grilled chicken, dessert, Egyptian mint tea, sweet potato. It’s our first
-time experience camping and sitting next to the fire pit and stargazing while driving tea and baked eating sweet potato felt too good to be true. There were about 6-10 cars (Ahmed and Emad said there are probably 20 cars in the white desert that night) camping in nearby area so we didn’t feel too lonely or scared, but they were also far away that you feel like you have the space all to yourself. We slept in the tent in sleeping bags. Weather is the best in November because the desert is between 10-25 degree.
Next morning we naturally woke up around 6 am and watched the sunrise. It looked very different from sunset - it’s pure white all around. Emad prepared breakfast for us, tea and coffee served. The photo shows our tent, Jeep car and the cute meal table. After breakfast and some free time to walk around, we got on the Jeep again, drove through the white desert and mushroom desert and took photos. When we are back in black desert, Ahmed made a stop and let us climb one of the black mountain - the view was so great from the top! Then as we drove back, we made one more stop at a sand slope near Bahariya and did sand-boarding- It was so much fun! Lunch was at Emad’s home and afterwards we switched back to Salem’s car and drove back to Cairo. Arrived at hotel around 6 pm.
I rarely write long reviews but feel like this time I should do justice for Ahmed and his team. He is an amazing tour guide - knowledgeable, funny, caring, respectful and a man of honor - he keeps his words and take pride in his profession. He listened to what we wanted, felt for what we liked, and knows so much about the area. He is also a very good photographer - most of the photos were to his credit. Emad was energetic and took good care of us. He is also a good chef ;) Salem was very friendly.
If anyone asks me for advice, I’d highly recommend Ahmed. After the Desert trip, we actually booked another Cairo pyramids trip with him, and he helped us arrange our Luxor trip. Just shows how much we trusted him. We really hope we’ll see Ahmed - our new Egyptian friend - next time when we come back to Egypt.
Review provided by Tripadvisor