Nubian Adventure

Customer Reviews

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  Jon

  · November 1st, 2023
  This is a difficult review to write. The star rating asks for “overall rating” and the reality is that there are two parts to any tour; the sites and the experience. The tour definitely covered all the sites; Giza, Aswan, Luxor, Cairo. The tour guide was an “Egyptologist”; he went to college and studied mummification. But, the experience was very poor and the descriptions of what we we’re supposed to see/do we’re inaccurate or misleading. The Guide: completely unable to relate to people. Zero interaction other than doing what his script told him he was supposed to cover. Pyramids, check, temples, check, Nubian village, check (even though nobody was there), mango tree, check (it’s a tree with nothing on it!), tea in a house, check (while he sat on his phone texting!), meals, check (while again sitting at another table on his phone!). He would take off like he was going to give a walking tour, completely oblivious to the fact that our group was not even behind him. At one point one of our group members fell because it was getting dark and the tour guide was so far ahead that he had no idea. So, the sites, we saw them but the experience, horrible. The Inaccurate Descriptions: “Drift down the Nile River on a faluccia boat and sleep on the open deck under the stars…” Reality: They take you around the waters in the Aswan city shoreline, past the diesel fumes of the cruise ships, park on the shoreline across the river and you sleep under a tarped shade roof while other boats play loud music with party crowds on them all night. Statement: “Watch the sunrise over the dessert as you take a hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings…” Reality: You may or may not make it in the air to watch the sun rise and you definitely will not see the Valley of the Kings; it’s on the other side of the mountains where they don’t go! You see the tomb area where the artists and workers who worked in the Valley of the Kings tombs are buried. Um, not the same thing, just sayin’ But don’t worry, you’ll get to see that again too… Artists and workers tombs, check. So, I'm not a grumbler although it sounds like it on this review. We travel a lot. After the trip I wrote Encounter Tours directly to say hey, this wasn’t a good tour. Would you be willing to at least refund us for the hot air balloon tickets since that was an extra… Nope, nothing. They completely blew me off until I had our travel company who we booked through write them with my concerns and complaints. Encounter Tours final response, Sorry you had that experience, we will put that guide in with groups more appropriate for his style and hot air balloon rides are outside our control. There was more but you get the idea. Very poor ownership and Customer centric decision making. I hope this is helpful; at the very least, it is honest.
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  Encounters Travel commented on this review

  Dear Jon, Thank you for your review. I would like to repeat our apologies from our previous emails to you about the poor experience you had on the tour with your guide. We also apologised for the delay in getting back to you which was caused by us being... Show more
  Trip date: October 2023
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  Cristian

  · January 28th, 2020
  A tip for all Americans. PLEASE STOP BEING SO NAIVE ! For me it's incredible how easily my fellow travel mates were fooled into going to "local" places with prices at least 5 times bigger than the rest, even ten times once. Please pay more attention to local prices and stop paying ridiculous ammounts for everything, just because the guide says it's a good place. Every place the guide takes you he gets a comission. Absolutely nothing is done for free in Egypt. Instead of spending time at the alabaster shops or perfume shops, papyrus shops ( the guide says it's "educational" ) we could have spent more time at the Pyramids, Egyptian Museum or other extremely interesting sites. Also the tip the guide asks for is ridiculousy high ( he said 15 20 dollars per day, per person ). Even on the website the recommended sum is between 10 and 15 dollars. At the end of the tour he gave us envelopes in which we should write our name and put his tip money in it. The tip should be an entirely voluntary gesture for excellent service, we should not be pressed with envelopes and writing our names on the envelope so he knows how much we gave. The total ammount of tips he would have recieved would have been at least 1500 dollars for a week. For Egypt this is ridiculous. Please instruct your guides to stop giving envelopes or suggesting how much money we should give to him and actually mentioning that the tip is entirely voluntary and personal. For me this was a disgusting gesture from the guide. For the positive side of the review, the trip was extremely well organised. Everything was very punctual and efficient. Also the sites visited are magnificient. I meet some extremely nice people on the tour with which i hope to remain friends. Also we had enough free time to relax or visit other sites individually. I had some really nice experiences and can recommend this tour for this. Just be ready to be considered a walking credit card.
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  Encounters Travel commented on this review

  Dear Cristian, Thank you for taking the time to provide us with a review of your recent experience on our Nubian Adventure Tour. Firstly, I'm pleased to hear that you were happy with the local tour arrangements and found that the tour was... Show more
  Trip date: January 2020
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  Alex Santiago

  · December 30th, 2019
  The heat was unbearable but great tour nonetheless!
  

  Encounters Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for taking the time to get back to us with your feedback. We are happy you enjoyed your Egypt holiday (despite the melting sun) and we hope that you'll join us again in the future!
  Trip date: June 2019

  Review collected by Encounters Travel
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  Ashley Santiago

  · December 30th, 2019
  Great experience with the hot air balloon ride being the best part of the trip
  

  Encounters Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for taking the time to get back to us with your tour feedback. We are happy you enjoyed your Egypt holiday with Mahmoud. The hot air balloon in Luxor is definitely one for the books! We hope that you'll join us again in the future!
  Trip date: June 2019

  Review collected by Encounters Travel
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  Arman Chowdhury

  · December 30th, 2019
  Mahmoud was a great tour guide that is very friendly and knowledgable. He made the trip more enjoyable.
  

  Encounters Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for taking the time to get back to us with your tour feedback. We are happy you enjoyed your Egypt holiday with Mahmoud. We hope that you'll join us again in the future!
  Trip date: June 2019

  Review collected by Encounters Travel
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  Angela Santiago

  · December 30th, 2019
  Mahmoud, our tour guide, was extremely helpful and knowledgable and made the tour fun and enjoyable.
  

  Encounters Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for taking the time to get back to us with your tour feedback. We are happy you enjoyed your Egypt holiday with Mahmoud. We hope that you'll join us again in the future!
  Trip date: June 2019

  Review collected by Encounters Travel
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  Augel Santiago

  · December 30th, 2019
  Mahmoud is an excellent tour guide and person with great attention to detail. My experience with Encounters Travel was beyond excellent.
  

  Encounters Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for taking the time to get back to us with your tour feedback. We are happy you enjoyed your Egypt holiday with Mahmoud. We hope that you'll join us again in the future!
  Trip date: June 2019

  Review collected by Encounters Travel
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  Caroline Daly

  · December 30th, 2019
  There was too much free time and no suggestions of what we could do during the that time.
  

  Encounters Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for taking the time to get back to us with your tour feedback about your Nubian Adventure holiday. We hope that you'll join us again in the future!
  Trip date: June 2019

  Review collected by Encounters Travel
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  Jory Spadea

  · December 30th, 2019
  Really enjoyed the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings.
  

  Encounters Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for taking the time to get back to us with your tour feedback. We are happy you enjoyed your Egypt holiday and we hope that you'll join us again in the future!
  Trip date: June 2019

  Review collected by Encounters Travel
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  Aleena Pudick

  · December 30th, 2019
  This trip was amazing. Best ever.
  

  Encounters Travel commented on this review

  Thanks for taking the time to get back to us with your tour feedback. We are happy you enjoyed your Egypt holiday and we hope that you'll join us again in the future!
  Trip date: June 2019

  Review collected by Encounters Travel