Egypt with Zahi Hawass
 

Hi All!

Wondering if anyone went on the Archaeological Paths trip with Zahi Hawass last Feb 2014?

Did you like it? Was it worth it? Pros and Cons?

How was Dr. Hawass?

Any info would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Brooke

I haven't taken that trip but I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Hawass when I was in Egypt and I would take any trip with him.

As P_M haven't done a trip with Dr. Hawass, but did meet him at a presentation at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. Amazing to listen to a grown man (probably well in his 70s) as excited still about what he does and where... it's contagious. I do wonder though if he is the so-called Tour Leader, what the cost might be as I'm sure he doesn't come cheap.

At this time, with overall tourism down in Egypt (though still safe to travel), I'm sure there are similar tours, with excellent routing, where and what sites visited, maybe a Nile cruise, great guides of course (I'm sure need the work), and way less visitors/crowds - at more competitive rates.

You might want to contact the organization that is putting this tour together for names of previous participants you can contact by email, or if some living in your town/state/country, you call for personal feel of their comments - pro or con. Believe me if it's a reputable organization, they should be glad to provide such information. Good luck!

I was on that trip and thoroughly enjoyed most of it. I felt we had unprecedented access to some sites that other tour groups usually don't offer but also had some relatively minor quibbles regarding other aspects. All in all, going to Egypt is one of those "trips of a life time". There are more comments pro and con at this address from people who were on the trip including me.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...ths-Egypt.html

Some of things that people responded negatively about are things that could occur with any tour traveling in Egypt and I feel they should be taken with a grain of salt when evaluating the tour.

This tour is definitely expensive compared to some but I felt they offered more access to special areas and you will need to determine how important it will be to you to be visiting Egypt with Dr Hawass.

Hi, The one highlight of this trip was the visit to the In Search of Cleopatra dig which is currently being conducted in Alexandria. Not many other groups go there; altho it is not exclusive to AP, because other groups came in behind us. My disappointment with this company was that the advertised for many months before the trip to include access to Seti I and the Step pyramid. 2 days before the trip, AP sent an e-mail saying the Egyptian Authority pulled the permission to these 2 sites. NOTE: altho AP had 2 e-mails for me, I never did receive the e-mail. 2 folks sent it to me after the trip. My husband and I did never did get an apology. This group was advertised as a small group up to 24 to 30 people. Final total was over 70. If there was ever a chance that AP had access to Seti and Step (which I now doubt), it was pulled when the group grew to 70+ people. You'll notice they no longer advertise Seti and Step and no longer going to Alexandria. It was way too much for a one day trip from and back to Cairo. There were other disappointments along the trip, which made it a less than stellar experience. My suggestion is that you carefully compare this with other trips. I respectfully disagree with the other commenter that the negative comments are "things that could occur with any tour traveling in Egypt". That has not been my personal experience, and I feel strongly enough to weigh in with these comments. Happy trails.