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Day 01

Monday 01 November 2010

Depart Johannesburg on Egypt Air flight MS 840 Depart 21:45

Day 02

Tuesday 02 November 2010

Arrive Cairo International airport, flight MS840 at 05:40, be met, assisted and transferred to fly on MS11 (Depart 10:05) to Sharm el Sheikh Transfer to Dahab, about an hours drive. Check in to 5 star hotel Lunch, Dinner  and Overnight stay at the hotel

Day 03

Wednesday 03 November 2010

Day at leisure Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner at hotel. Time to enjoy snorkelling or just to chill out. At midnight we will transfer to Mt Sinai

Day 04

Thursday 04 November 2010

We will then climb Mt. Sinai to watch sunrise. There are two principal routes to the summit. By the longer and less steep track known as Siket El Bashait, is possible to ascend either on foot or by camel hired from the Bedouin along the way - approximate time on foot two and a half to three hours. The climb is achievable by a moderately fit person.  The steep, more direct route (Siket Sayidna Musa) ascends the 3,750 "steps of penitence" directly up the ravine behind the monastery. This route may only be used during daylight hours. Then descend and visit Saint Catherine's Monastery. The monastery is one of the oldest continuously functioning Christian monasteries in the world. The monastery is Greek Orthodox and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian I between 527 and 565, enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush ordered to be built by Helena, the mother of Constantine I, at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush; the living bush on the grounds is purportedly the original. The site is sacred to Christianity and Islam. Transfer back to the hotel. Rest of the day at leisure. Lunch and Dinner at the hotel. Stay overnight at the hotel.

Day 05

Friday 05 November 2010

Tansfer to Taba Harbour to board boat for Aqupa. One day tour at Petra with lunch, evening back to Taba harbour at 20:00. Transfer back to Dahab , dinner & overnight stay at the hotel

Day 06

Saturday 06 November 2010

Early breakfast at hotel, check out from hotel and depart Sharm El Sheikh for Cairo, Egypt Air Flight MS 021 departing at 07:00.

Transfer to visit the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to the most extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, the remainder in storerooms.

The museum's Royal Mummy Room, containing 27 royal mummies from pharaonic times, was closed down on the orders of President Anwar Sadat in 1981. It was reopened, with a slightly curtailed display of New Kingdom kings and queens, in 1985.

Day 07

Sunday 07 November 2010

Breakfast at the hotel, Transfer to begin another day tour to visit Dahshur, site of the two Old Kingdom Pyramids ( Bent & Red Pyramids ), built by King Snefru. Continue to the Djoser or Step Pyramid. The Pyramid of Djoser, or step pyramid (kbhw-ntrw in Egyptian), was built for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser by his vizier Imhotep. It was constructed during the 27th century BC at the Saqqara necropolis to the northwest of the city of Memphis, and is the central feature of a vast mortuary complex in an enormous courtyard surrounded by ceremonial structures and decoration.

This first Egyptian pyramid consisted of six mastabas (of decreasing size) built atop one another in what were clearly revisions and developments of the original plan. The pyramid originally stood 62 meters tall, and having a base of 109m x 125m and was clad in polished white limestone.[1] The step pyramid (or proto-pyramid) is considered to be the earliest large-scale stone construction

Late lunch then visit Carpet School and transfer back to the hotel. Dinner and Overnight stay at the hotel

Day 08

Monday 08 November 2010

Transfer at 05:00 to the Great Sphinx for an exclusive visit. We have private access to the Sphinx which is not given to other tourists. Experience the sun rising whilst standing between the "paws" of the Great Sphinx. Transfer back to the hotel for Breakfast. Leisure time until 15:00 when we will transfer to the Great Pyramid on the Giza Plateau. Our group will have sole access to the Great Pyramid from 16:00 to 18:00 with no other tourists. Exclusive private time is spent in both the Queen's Chamber and the King's Chamber. Transfer back to the hotel for Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

Day 10

Wednesday 10 November 2010

Transfer to optional Balloon flight.  Transfer to visit the West Bank. The Colossi of Memnon (known to locals as el-Colossat, or es-Salamat) are two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. For the past 3400 years they have stood in the Theban necropolis, across the River Nile from the modern city of Luxor. Continue to the Valley of the Kings (Arabic: وادي الملوك Wadi Biban el-Muluk; "Gates of the King")is a valley in Egypt where for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth through Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt). The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, across from Thebes (modern Luxor), within the heart of the Theban Necropolis. The wadi consists of two valleys, East Valley (where the majority of the royal tombs situated) and West Valley.

The area has been a focus of concentrated archaeological and egyptological exploration since the end of the eighteenth century, and its tombs and burials continue to stimulate research and interest. In modern times the valley has become famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun (with its rumours of the Curse of the Pharaohs), and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. In 1979, it became a World Heritage Site, along with the rest of the Theban Necropolis.

Continue to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. The Temple of Deir El-Bahri is one of the most characteristic temples in the whole of Egypt, due to its design and decorations. It was built of limestone, not sandstone like most of the other funerary temples of the New Kingdom period. It is thought that Senimut, the genius architect who built this Temple, was inspired in his design by the plan of the neighboring mortuary Temple of the 12th Dynasty King, Neb-Hept-Re. The Temple was built for the great Queen Hatshepsut (18th Dynasty), to commemorate her achievements and to serve as a funerary Temple for her, as well as a sanctuary of the God, Amon Ra.

Visit the alabaster factory then transfer back to hotel. Lunch, dinner and overnight at hotel.

Day 11

Thursday 11 November 2010

Breakfast at the hotel. Check out and transfer to visit Luxor Temple which is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes).

Known in the Egyptian language as ipet resyt, or "the southern harem", the temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut, and Chons and was built during the New Kingdom, the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from nearby Karnak Temple (ipet-isut) to stay there for a while, with his consort Mut, in a celebration of fertility – whence its name.

Check in to 5star Nile Cruise ship (4 days/5 nights) Lunch on board. Late afternoon felluca sail on the NIle which provides beautiful panoramic views of Luxor. Dinner and overnight on board.

Day 12

Friday 12 November 2010

Breakfast on board. Time at leisure with Lunch and Dinner on board, Sail to Esna.

Day 13

Saturday 13 November 2010

Visit Edfu, which is known for the major Ptolemaic temple, built between 237 BCE to 57 BCE, into the reign of Cleopatra VII. Of all the temple remains in Egypt, the Temple of Horus at Edfu is the most completely preserved. Built from sandstone blocks, the huge Ptolemaic temple was constructed over the site of a smaller New Kingdom temple.

Day 14

Sunday 14 November 2010

Sail to Kom Ombo and visit Kom Ombo Temple. The Temple known as Kom Ombo is actually two temples consisting of a Temple to Sobek and a Temple of Haroeris.  In ancient times, sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the river bank near here. The Temple has scant remains, due first to the changing Nile, then the Copts who once used it as a church, and finally by builders who used the stones for new buildings. Sail to Aswan and visit unfinished obelisk Overnight on board..

Day 15

Monday 15 November 2010

Early Breakfast on board, check out and transfer to visit Philae Temple which sits on an island in the artificial lake between the Old Dam and the new High Dam. This is another edifice rescued from the new water levels caused by the construction of the High Dam. Previously, before any dams were built, the temple stood on the sacred island of Philae, in the corner of a small bay on the East of the Nile. With the building of the Old Dam in 1898, the temple was submerged for most of the year, emerging only in August and September, when the gates of the dam were opened to allow the annual flood through. However, the building of the new dam meant that the temple would be under a constant depth of 4 metres of water, and the constant movement of the water would have eroded the foundations. Between 1972 and 1980, the temple was moved to the higher islet of Agilkia, where it can now be visited by boat all year round.

Transfer by coach from Aswan to Abu Simbel. Check-in to hotel Transfer in the evening to watch the spectacular sound and laser light show at Ramses II Temple, Dinner and Overnight stay at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.  check-out transfer to visit (early) temple of Rameses II. The main temple was dedicated to Ramesses II and to the four universal gods Ptah, Re-Harakhte, Amun-Re, and to Ramesses II himself. Of the seven temples he built, Abu Simbel is considered to be the most impressive. The facade of the main temple is 108 feet high and 125 feet wide with four colossal seated statues about 65 feet high wearing the double crown and having the cartouches of Ramesses II. They are taller than the colossi of Memnon at Thebes and are carved out of solid rock.

The temple was moved to higher ground with the building of the high dam.

Transfer by coach to Aswan to depart on Egypt Air flight MS384 (Dep. 13:25) to Cairo. Arrive Cairo,  transfer to your 5 star hotel, check in,  relax before dinner and overnight stay at the hotel

Day 17

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Breakfast at the hotel, transfer to visit the Citadel of Saladin. Few structures associated with Saladin survive within modern cities. Saladin first fortified the Citadel of Cairo (1175 - 1183), which had been a domed pleasure pavilion with a fine view in more peaceful times. Visit The Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha or Alabaster Mosque (Arabic: مسجد محمد علي, Turkish: Mehmet Ali Paşa Camii) is a mosque situated in the Citadel of Cairo in Egypt and commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha between 1830 and 1848.

Situated on the summit of the citadel, this Ottoman mosque, the largest to be built in the first half of the 19th century, is, with its animated silhouette and twin minarets, the most visible mosque in Cairo. The mosque was built in memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad Ali's oldest son, who died in 1816.

Transfer to visit Khan El-Kalily market then transfer back to hotel. Time at leisure. Dinner at hotel, check out and transfer to Cairo Airport for floght to Johannesburg. Flight MS839 departs at 23:45

Day 18

Thursday 18 November 2010

Arrive Johannesburg at 08:45