WHAT TO EXPECT

There will be lots of sightseeing, so comfortable (but modest) clothes and shoes are important (shorts and t-shirts are fine). A wide-brimmed hat will be provided for you at orientation but we do insist you bring sunscreen as that may not be provided. The sun can be very intense at times.

You will be met at Cairo’s International Airport and will be taken through immigration where you can pay for your arrival visa (estimated $25 USD per person, and please note it will be best to pay in cash. US, British pound sterlings, and Euros readily accepted). From there you will be transported to our Cairo hotel where you will enjoy a welcome dinner and fellowship with other travelers. After dinner, a presentation by Gary Bates will detail what exciting things we have to look forward to over the coming days.

In both the hotels and onboard the cruise, you will be well-catered to by high quality buffets for all your meals. We recommend trying the local Egyptian food as well. It is similar to Mediterranean style—it is not spicy, but it is delicious. And there is often a story that goes along with the names of many of their dishes! Presentations will be conducted in the hotels and onboard the Nile cruise portion of our tour. There will also be some after dinner games and quizzes to help you remember all that you are seeing and experiencing.

Around Cairo, prepare to be stunned when we visit the enormous pyramids on the Giza plateau and also the massive necropolis complex of Saqqara. Northern Egypt was home to the world’s greatest pyramid builders and where the legendary Egyptian priest, Imhotep, left his legacy.

After flying to Luxor (your internal airfares are included), you will be taken to a beautiful hotel that overlooks the Nile as an overnight base. From here we’ll visit the magnificent monuments of the New Kingdom period of Egypt—the richest in all of Egyptian history. It is in this period that many Christians believe the Exodus took place. Evening presentations will explore the pharaonic candidates for this important time in biblical history.

We depart Luxor and cruise down the Nile on a 5 star ship for the next 4 nights. Our final cruise port is Aswan, the home of the Nubian empire which was incorporated into the greater Egyptian empire at various times. Aswan’s famous red granite quarries supplied the stone for some of Egypt’s grandest monuments, including obelisks in Luxor and blocks in the great pyramid of Giza that weighed up to 80 tonnes. A visit to the high dam of Aswan helps us to understand the importance of this modern engineering feat.

While in Aswan, we’ll be taking a full-day side-trip to the edge of Lake Nasser to visit one of the most amazing ancient constructions in all of Egypt—the temples of Ramses II at Abu Simbel. The story behind the construction and the way it was aligned to illuminate the interior on two certain dates each year is an astounding story in itself.

After our sojourn down the Nile to Aswan, we will fly back to Cairo to see even more. This includes two Cairo museums one of which is the brand new Grand Egyptian Museum which houses over 100,000 artifacts—an indication of just how much Egyptian history there is to see.