A couple of years ago we decided to take advantage of the brilliant value – not to mention pretty well guaranteed all-day sunshine – that is Egypt and booked a holiday to the resort of Hurghada. I had been to Egypt before, to dive in Dahab and a couple of days visiting Cairo. But this time, with two, active children, we decided to chose our hotel based on one thing: the number of waterslides provided!
In the end we went for Jungle Aqua Park – which had a huge waterpark attached and also offered countless swimming pools and about eight all-inclusive buffet restaurants. Sadly the quality of the food didn’t live up to the size of the water park, but nevertheless with so much choice, we always found something to eat.
While we were in Hurghada, we booked a few trips out of the resort (after all, watersliding has its limits!). This included a great snorkelling trip we made to the nearby Red Sea – which involved spending most of the day on the boat or in the water. Sadly, one of my daughters is not a fan of salt water and has never really taken to snorkelling. The younger one though absolutely loved putting her head under the sea and watching the beautiful jewelled fish and waving corals.
We also took a trip out into the desert one evening – certainly a trip we weren’t going to forget! It started with a hair-raising race through the sand, over dunes and rocks….we did wonder what their health and safety level was like….
When we finally ended our initial bone-rattling drive in the dry desert heat, we were taken to an enormous sandune which we climbed from one side… and then….
…ran down the other! The tour guide took us on to meet some of the local desert bedouin living nearby, a fascinating mix of the ancient and the modern, the old ways and the new. My daughters loved seeing how these ancient people still lived – and also enjoyed tasting their just-baked flat bread (stones and all!).
The next part of the trip saw us climbing a nearby hill to watch the sun set in the stilness.
While nearby, tribesmen prepared their evening meal.
The evening ended with a simple meal and then the most magical experience looking at the stars. I can’t show a photograph of this but lying on the still-warm desert ground, staring up into the velvet black punctuated by millions and millions of bright stars, the milky way so clear that it made you feel dizzy with the knowledge of what was out there…this is something that will stay with me always.
We managed another trip to a museum in the next door hotel which, we were told, was holding some of the antiquities from the Cairo museum, to keep them safe whilst there were all the problems in the capital.
But to be honest, the thing the girls loved best was…..
Anyone else holidayed in Egypt? What did you think?
I visited Egypt years ago – I was a student athlete and we had a swim meet in Cairo. We visited the pyramids & took a trip down the Nile but now that Im here as an expat adult I’m looking forward to visiting again!
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You should – it’s got a lot to offer for a holiday. Although sadly a lot of the country is still off-bounds for security reasons 😦
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Woweeeee that water park looks amazing. I went to Egypt in my 20’s loved it x
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When did you go? Would love to get more info (when you have time – no rush at all) as this sounds amazing – stuff to entertain the kids AND doing some sightseeing too. We are normally not resort travelers but in this case it sounds perfect!
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Drop me an email clara@expatpartnersurvival.com and I’ll give you the full low down when I get a chance!
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Ah those slides look crazy! It looks like you got to try some amazing experiences though – I think your evening meal with the tribesmen in the dunes looks perfect.
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It was a lovely experience – at the end the guide had a huge telescope and we were able to see Saturn’s rings really clearly – stunning.
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Egypt with waterslides, now that sounds like the perfect holiday. Pyramids to meet my desire to see history and waterslides for family fun. I had no idea Egypt offered this.
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There are quite a few places like this, I think in Sharm as well as hurgada
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Nice!! I have been to Egypt 2 times, first to Marsa Alam and this year (last May) to Sharm-El-Sheikh. Both were diving trips 😀
About the food… well, it seems to me it is a problem in Egypt, everywhere you go the food isnt so good. I had the same problem in both my trips, in every place I went to eat and with the hotel food. And I normally like everything because I am a foodie 😀
But it’s great that the trip compensated with so many cool waterslides!! The desert trip sounds great! I did something like this in Sharm!
#MondayEscapes
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I’d love to visit a desert to watch the stars – your experience sounds amazing! Putting together ShowYourWorld round up today (better later, than never, right? 🙂
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Hahaha I was thinking I’m sure I wrote this a while ago! Do you have a move date yet? House? Schools???
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A trip to Moscow mixed up all the plans 🙂 My husband’s going on a house hunting trip next week – it’s summer, everyone’s on holidays, planning’s not going as fast as we would’ve liked.
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I would definitely put in a call to the local authority about school places, if you haven’t already.
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I called them and asked, which schools have free places, so we’re looking for a property around those schools.
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Oh good! Schooling can be such a head ache!
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I can’t say I’m really looking forward to dealing with it.. 🙂
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Are you all set for South Africa?
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Yes pretty much. My husband is there now, arrived this morning. We Skyped with him so he could show us the house again. Girls already arguing about who gets which bedroom! Looking forward to getting there now… Ten days to go…
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Enjoy the last few days in UK! I already started feeling like on holidays in CZ – my husband finished his job here, older daughter out of kindergarten, all unscheduled and hectic.
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Same, it’s quite nice at the moment just relaxing at my parents’ house. Hope all your planning goes well x
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Thank you! Best wishes on your move too!
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