Egypt & Jordan

Please note: Due to the continuing political instability, we have decided to cancel our 2012 Egypt tour. Hopefully by 2013 things will improve!

Egypt has been one of the world’s most desirable tourist destination since the birth of tourism several thousand years ago, and marvelling at Egypt’s antiquities is a major feature of our tour. With this in mind, we will visit all the important sites and indulge ourselves in the region’s essential experiences. This includes being dazzled by the Sound-and-Light show at the giant Abu Simbel statues close to the Sudanese border, exploring the environs of the Sphinx and Great Pyramids, visiting the Egyptian Museum housing Tutenkhamun’s breath-taking treasures, the vast Temples of Luxor and Karnak, and the tombs of the Valley of the Kings.

Furthermore, our tour is timed to coincide with the peak bird migration between Africa and Eurasia. Storks, raptors, waders and passerines passing through make birding here easy and enjoyable. Amongst others, we will be searching for specialties that include Crowned Sandgrouse, Greater Painted Snipe, Pharaoh Eagle-Owl, Greater Hoopoe-Lark, Nile Valley and Palestine Sunbirds, and the beautiful Sinai Rosefinch. The easy birding and breathtaking antiquities are augmented by luxurious hotels, a 4-day Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor, incredible snorkelling and exciting shopping opportunities, to make this a thoroughly enjoyable tour for both keen birders and non-birding spouses.

Our 3-day extension to the Kingdom of Jordan includes a full day exploration of Petra, the most astounding ancient city left to the modern world. This capital of the Nabataeans’ housed an estimated 30,000 people, and many impressive state buildings were manually hewn from the rose-red cliffs of the Sharrah Mountains. Aside from the excellent birding, this is without doubt the most ‘must-see’ site in the entire Middle East.