Egypt Tour & Trip Reviews

Duy, the tour leader was attentive, informative and the food we were given was fantastic.
So much so, that we will organise another night street food tour in Hoi An when we arrive there.

Firstly, it was my understanding, and confirmed in a phone conversation with the company’s representative prior to our departure, that the schedule of events would go at our pace. We found this to not be the case. For example; we arrived in Cairo on October 25th, from Tel Aviv, Israel, later in the night than scheduled due to an airline delay. We were met at the airport by your representative and taken to a hotel 45 minutes from the airport. We checked in shortly after midnight. The representative said that we would “meet at 4:00” to be picked up to fly to Luxor. I thought he meant 4:00 PM, but no, it was 4:00 AM!!! We had less than 3 hours sleep before we were whisked off to our next destination. (By the way, the representative spent those few hours waiting in the hotel lobby; he didn’t even get a night’s rest.)

We arrived in Luxor, were taken to the hotel, deposited our luggage (the room wasn’t ready), had breakfast, and then met our tour guide at 10:00 AM for our first tour. We were exhausted, but mustered our energy for the occasion.

Is there a good reason why Cairo wasn’t the first city on our tour? In retrospect, it should have been for many reasons, not the least of which was the logistics described above.

All right, so now we’re in Luxor, and by afternoon we’re ensconced in a luxurious hotel with a magnificent view of the Nile River. There’s a swimming pool that we’re looking forward to relaxing by the next day during some much needed down time during the free time described in the itinerary; exactly what we expected from National Geographic. But instead, that evening we were told by our guide that we needed to have our luggage ready to check out of the hotel the next morning to relocate to the Nile River ship Minerva (coincidentally, owned by the same company as the hotel). We obliged, and in the morning we were taken on a tour with the luggage in the car, and then brought to the ship in the early afternoon. Our four suitcases were put in a room that was barely large enough to contain the bed, but the view of the river from our room was good enough to overlook this inconvenience, at least for the moment. I looked forward to resting in our cabin in the afternoon because I was exhausted. In fact, I was so tired that I have little recollection of that morning’s tour until I look at the photos to affirm that I was actually where the itinerary said I would be.

We went to lunch in the ship’s dining room and returned to our cabin to find that our view of the Nile was obliterated by a ship that had tied up alongside our own. This is now our view (see photo) and the blackout drapes that were drawn to hide it made the small cabin a crowded, dark dungeon.

Furthermore, that ship’s bunker oil fumes were now in the air conditioning system of our ship and flowing freely into our cabin making me nauseous and giving me a headache. I complained but there was nothing to do about it.

And if this wasn’t bad enough, the sound of the neighboring ship that accompanied the smell was intolerable.

Other issues I had with our cabin on the ship included;
- The bypass closet door wouldn’t stay shut
- There was a leak under the bathroom sink
- The carpet in the area near the bathroom was wet
- The toilet seat lid came off repeatedly
- Wifi on board the ship was only in the main lobby area, and was poor at best

I talked to the ship’s desk clerk, and he assured me that things would be taken care of shortly. They never were.

This doesn’t take into consideration that the buffet style food served on board was repetitive if you didn’t take the offered main course, which was usually meat (I don’t eat meat).

Oh, and I didn’t yet mention that our ship wouldn’t be leaving its mooring until the next day! We had traded a luxurious hotel for this!

With that said, it begs the question of why we were taken out of a luxurious hotel 24 hours in advance of the ship sailing away from Luxor? No pool to sit by, no view of the sunset over the banks of the Nile, no quiet room in which to sleep, and no dinner of delicious food. Certainly not what we expected from a Nat Geo Private Tour for which we had paid a premium price!

Unrelated to these issues, NatGeo’s survey asked if we felt that our health was well-protected. “No” is the short answer. A fuller reply is that we both got Covid on this trip; my husband first, then inevitably, myself three days later. We had avoided catching it for more than 2.6 years, and now we had it. I realize that one takes risks when going out in the world, and I certainly don’t blame NatGeo for our getting sick. But their people weren’t wearing masks until I asked them to, mostly to protect themselves from us. One agent who met us at the airport when we arrived back in Cairo from Aswan, now openly sick with Covid, disappeared for 10 minutes to purchase a mask when I told him in no uncertain terms that he needed to wear one around us.

Overall, NatGeo profited from our illness as we were too unwell to utilize the dining allowance at the Cairo Ritz Carlton or to go to out for most meals offered with our guide. The one restaurant I was taken to for dinner without my husband was a touristy place with fake grapes leaves hanging from fake arbors. When a 35 person tour group trouped in past us it told me all I needed to know. My bowl of pasta with a tomato sauce not much thicker than tomato juice certainly couldn’t have cost more than $10, if that much. Then, the next day I was too sick to go out at all, my husband, who was feeling better by then, went out alone with the tour guide for the day, but it’s my understanding that they skipped all meals.

All in all, there were many aspects of the trip that were memorable for all the right reasons, but also memorable for the above mentioned wrong reasons. For us to have paid as much as we did begs the question, “Was it worth the expense for this private tour experience?” As seasoned world travelers, I’m hard pressed to reply in the affirmative.

Just finished up our South Dakota tour. It was great. Saw a ton of great sites like Mount Rushmore, crazy horse, badlands, devils tower. Beth our guide was great and very knowledgeable. Being the first trip out during COVID-19 I was a little worried but they went above and beyond to put us at ease. Clean bus everyday, spacing out of guests, keeping the same seats everyday and provided masks for everyone. I can not say enough about our trip. We took our two children ages 13 and 14 and they really learned so much. I will definitely try another Collette tour again!

We had the best time ever! It was truly the best vacation we've ever taken. The people were fabulous, service oriented, friendly, accommodating...a pleasure to be around! Everything was just perfect!

The accommodations, fabulous, the food was way too delicious. We highly recommend this trip to anybody and kept toasting Costco along with three other couples for the way they put this trip together it was really brilliant thank you so much for your help with all our questions and how quickly you got back to us for each inquiry you are very efficient at your job. Thank you so much!

On another note, on the safari, Francois put together a surprise celebration luncheon at their treehouse to celebrate our daughter Kate's medical school graduation. It was truly amazing and we couldn't have been happier or more appreciative of all they did. It was so special and they put so much effort into it—leaving champagne, a beautiful lunch, and also baking a cake just for this occasion! It was such a nice, wonderful touch and made for a fabulous memory!

It was absolutely fabulous. Marataba is an experience beyond words. The animals speak for themselves but the lodge is extraordinary. Capetown was lovely but Marataba is an impossible act to precede. We will be recommending you and your colleagues without reservation and with the greatest enthusiasm.

a totally wonderful tour with Tereza who was passionate about Prague s history and her knowledge in general was expansive and was relayed to us with character which made the whole day so enjoyable highly recommended. Prague itself is stunning but to have the added bonus of a place to eat where the locals go and knowledge about this incredible city was very much a bonus.
My wife & I came away thoroughly invigorated after our tour .. really good !

We have returned from our trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe. Our accommodations and travel arrangements were excellent in each location, but our safari in Thornybush at Shumbalala Game Lodge was EXCEPTIONAL!

The accommodations were outstanding, the staff were exceptional, and our experience was off the charts.

We saw the Big 5, had great meals and met wonderful people. You provided us with memories for a life time.

By the way, Cape Town and Victoria Falls were excellent as well, but Shumbalala stole the show!

Thank you so very much.

We had an absolutely amazing time in South Africa. Everything was perfect!!
Thompsons provided excellent service from the airport transfers to our full-day tours of the wine lands and the Cape Peninsula. Their staff were friendly, accommodating and very professional.

The Twelve Apostles truly offered a 5-star experience; we had a beautifully decorated room and the staff were outstanding. We ate all our diners at the hotel in the Leopard Lounge which, provided nightly entertainment. We also dined at the Azure restaurant. Everything was perfect.

Our tour to Robben Island was truly heartfelt and a definite must for anyone visiting Cape Town.

Shamwari truly offered us an experience of a lifetime. The tents were indeed ‘‘my kind of tents”! Our guide JB was extremely knowledgeable and a terrific ambassador of the Reserve. We had the opportunity to see The Big 5, zebras, giraffes, pumas, antelopes and countless other species – he even provided us the opportunity to eat a termite (yes both of us). The evening Sundowners and lunch in the bush were a nice treat - our visits to the Born Free Sanctuary and the Rehab Center were truly inspirational. All the staff were welcoming and ensured we had a fabulous time.

It was nice that we had the opportunity to meet and mingle with fellow Lion World Travel guests from California and New York during our stay in Cape Town and Shamwari.

Our Journey to Freedom Tour in Johannesburg provided us the opportunity to truly understand the history of South Africa. Our guide, Ben, was friendly, knowledgeable and willing to share his experiences.

We want to thank you and Lion World Travel for providing us the most wonderful experience to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We will definitely recommend Lion World Travel to our friends and colleagues. We may even look at another visit to Africa.

We had a fantastic time. We felt so cared for by being greeted and guided each step of the way, once we reached Johannesburg (especially after doing all the logistics of NYC).

We loved travelling with Joe and Jason, who also booked through Lion World. We got along famously, and it added to our enjoyment.

The experience far exceeded any expectations we had. The experience of the guides, the comfort of the lodges and the vast number of animals that we got to sit and enjoy at length were all more than we expected.

We were glad we left Vic Falls for the end. The Victoria Falls River Lodge was beautiful and having the river to ride on was a great feature. I’m definitely glad we didn’t stay in town.

We surely appreciate all you did for us in preparation for this trip. It was a trip of a lifetime!

We have posted some pictures on Facebook as well.

What a wonderful experience!!!

Everything was absolutely great! I had read many reviews and heard good things about Lion World, but everything far exceeded my expectations.

All food and facilities were beyond our expectations!

Otherwise, I have shared our experience with our friends and co-workers and recommended Lion World highly!!!

Thanks for an amazing experience!

We will not hesitate to use Lion World again for our next trip to Africa!

Just my two bobs worth.
We did the Jordan Isreal and Palestinian tour with Intripid.
The tour was great, some minor things could be left out of it.
Loved most of it.
Some places you stay are not the best either below our standards to say the least.

One thing we absolutely detested was the driver and tour guide of the tour for continuous chain smoking.
Wherever we went,
"we" the tour group, waited on them everyday countless times to finish their cigarettes.
Sometimes waiting up to 50 minutes to move on again.
They considered these stops
"rest stops" for the group, but... the stops were longer and actually catered for them and their smoke breaks, they also had places that catered for them to sit and have "sheesha" with other friends..
So those stops were really long.
(just about) every male smokes over in these countries.
When breaks happened frequently, it got boring, a waste of our time and completely thoughtless for the group.
We all hated, the time waiting for them to finish their 4th 5th or 6th ciggie... it was ridiculous.
Non of us in the group smoked either.
So.. be warned in Jordan, if you tour with a guy called "Yasim", you will have your time wasted waiting on him and his driver.

We then went on to Turkey with Perigriene another tour, and that tour guide also smoked, but NEVER once did we wait on him.
It just showed us that our other tour guide from Intrepid was thoughtless or very complacent.

Absolutely recommend Lion World to anyone interested in touring South Africa. My husband and I had a wonderful time. From accommodations to the day trips planned, everything was perfect. Was truly spoiled on the trip. Laurandie, our rep, was very knowledgeable and helpful when it came to some concerns. Was a trip of a lifetime! I would travel with them again!

Wonderful experience with this team! Perfect trip...trip of a lifetime...perfectly planned. Kudos to Cheryl who patiently worked out all the details and is a great communicator!

Thank you for your kind Welcome Home! I had a fantastic trip.
Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience! The places we stayed were incredible, the food everywhere was delicious, the people warm, friendly and knowledgeable, and the animals, of course, remarkable in every sense of the word! Thank you for putting this together for us.

Thanks again for all your help in making this such a special trip.

Thank you so much for the follow up email. Yes the trip was fantastic and exceeded all our expectations! Our guide/driver was super great! We wished the trip was longer.

We saw about 70 lions in total. I can’t thank you enough for guiding us to Tanzania! It was definitely the best trip we have ever taken! We want to go back in few years and will be contacting you when the time comes. I will strongly recommend you guys to anyone who wants to go safari!

The timing was also great. The peak season will be too crowded. The # of safari vehicles we ran into were only in low teens and we were able to stop and watch lions as we please. We had a picnic lunch under the nose of the lions, and another picnic lunch while the lions were mating near our vehicle.

Thank you for making our trip so fantastic!