Jjhukill

Alexandria, Egypt was a port stop on a recent cruise, so knowing that we'd have two days in port I went looking for a private tour guide for Cairo. I contacted Ahmed Fayez at Memphis tours by email, and he responded immediately, helping to iron out our plans and making the process very simple. It's nothing like booking an excursion through the cruise line, where you don't have much if any say into your itinerary. With Memphis Tours, I essentially told Ahmed what I did and didn't want to see, and along with his suggestions he adjusted everything accordingly. We decided on a two-day tour of Cairo, with an overnight stay in a local hotel sandwiched in between. At one point I preferred to stay in a different hotel than was originally included in our package, so Ahmed changed the reservation without question and at no charge. I found that the price Memphis charged was significantly cheaper than a similar tour provided directly by the cruiseline. The only difference was, instead of being on a bus with 20 other random cruisers, we had a air-conditioned minibus, personal driver and personal tour guide, all to ourselves. The actual tour of the city was fantastic. Our tour guide, also named Ahmed, was incredibly knowledgeable of Cairo and really put his heart into making sure we had an enjoyable time. He met us at the port in Alexandria at 7 am and was with us all day until he dropped us off at our hotel around 8 pm. We picked him up the next morning and he saw us around all day until it was time to reboard the ship. Our personal driver was always on-time, and shepherded us around the frantic streets of Cairo without incident..trust me, you would NEVER want to attempt to navigate the city on your own. The Hotel, Mena House Oberoi, was simply incredible. The pyramids were right outside our window, the service and food was phenomenal, and our room was like our own private villa. We rued having to leave in the morning. All in all, an experience of a lifetime. Being in a foreign country can be daunting, but we were always at ease with our guide and driver at the helm. We loved Egypt and will be using Memphis Tours again the next time we visit. Thank you Ahmed and Ahmed!