kmyUSA

I have just returned from my second trip to Egypt, and I loved it just as much as the first time! On our initial visit, we chose Memphis Tours based on their numerous positive reviews and competitive prices. This time we chose them based on our exceptional and unforgettable experience with them the first time around. Ahmed Shalpy, our tour consultant, was on top of everything, from start to finish. He quickly responded to all of our questions, and readily accommodated any changes we wished to make along the way. He was also more than willing to grant our request to have the same group of representatives as last year - at least for the Cairo and Alexandria portion of our trip. During the Nile cruise, we had different drivers and guides, provided through the cruise ship. Our tour leader was Hamada Roshdi. Our tour guide was Amany Salem. And our driver was Sayed Anwer. Hamada was wonderful, greeting us at the airport with his huge, cheerful smile and a bouquet of flowers. He even served as mediator when the airline misplaced the luggage of one member of our group. Throughout our entire stay, Hamada was always VERY friendly, accommodating, charming, and eager to please! I love that no matter what the time of day, or how long his day had been, he always had a great big, adorable smile and wonderful sense of humor! He is very personable, professional, and an enormous asset to Memphis Tours. Amany, our fabulous tour guide, was very knowledgeable and had a lot of information to impart regarding the numerous places we visited. Even as we drove, she described the various buildings we passed, and pointed out sites of interest. She also allowed plenty of time for taking pictures, which was very important to me! And, knowing that we didn't really desire buffet lunches, she offered up various options for our meals (all of which were excellent choices!). She too was very friendly and open, and always had something positive to say. Sayed, our driver, also greeted us with a great, big, cheerful smile and a bouquet of flowers! And obviously there are many drivers who can maneuver in, out, and through Cairo's crazy maze of traffic, but both this year and last, there were many times when I was absolutely amazed at his ability to expertly manipulate our van through the hectic streets and "parking lots" of Cairo with ease! I also appreciate that he stopped a few times (without me asking!) so that I could take pictures! And, like Hamada, no matter how long our day had been, he was always smiling and cheerful. We also had security, provided by the tourism police, Ahmed Alsayed Ahmed. He too was very friendly. I do think, however, we caused him concern when we spread out or lagged behind to take pictures, but he was always very patient! From the moment we inquired about our trip till the time we passed through airport security to go home, Memphis tours was there to support us and to ensure we had a memorable experience. Hamada, Amany, and Sayed were constantly going out of their way to ensure we were happy and comfortable. They readily adjusted our itinerary to fit in SEVERAL last minute sites, including a visit to Alexandria. They stopped many times to get us snacks (sometimes from places they knew and liked, sometimes from places we had read about and were interest in trying). We had a couple of VERY long days, lasting 12 hours and more; they stayed with us, always smiling and always cheerful! Memphis Tours even surprised us, providing us with hotel rooms in Aswan so that we could rest between our early morning trip to Abu Simbel and our late night return flight to Cairo! There is talk of a return trip to Egypt in 2012, at which time we will definitely be contacting Memphis Tours! And, of course, we will once again request the same amazing group of representatives! I miss all of you, and hope to see you again next year!