It has been a long, wonderful day and we are now in the Cairo airport at 2:30 in the morning waiting for our 4:30 flight to Amsterdam and then home to the US. My goodness the time has passed so quickly! We slept in this morning until 9am. Which usually for me doesn't feel like a long time but here in Egypt the sun seems to rise so early and the heat descends on the city so you feel like it is the afternoon before 10am. Wawa was up as well and making pancakes in the kitchen. We had a picturesque breakfast on the terrace and made plans for the day.
We hailed a cab and then the metro to downtown. They took us to the American University of Cairo and to the new bookstore. You have to show your ID before you can even enter the building and go through a security scanner. But once you step thorugh the doors you feel like you are back in the states in the AC and clean shop with peaceful music in the background. We shopped around and then Wawa had to study for finals so Kristen took us to the island in the Nile and to a wonderful fair trade shop. She was telling us that there is a whole city of people within the city of Cairo that live in the dump. They sort and recycle the trash in order to make housewares, decor, jewelry, and other trinkets. They take every piece of material and reuse it which is amazing to me.
To find the shop you definitely have to know where you are looking. It is on the second floor of a nondescript building on the island. We had to knock on the door and the shopkeeper opened it for us to reveal a bundle of treasures inside. No one would know passing by. We ended up spending 2 hours and over $200 dollars in gifts for family and friends and a few special items for ourselves: decor for the house, nice linen shirts/skirts/galabayas, jewelry, scarfs, and wooden carvings. It was so nice to shop in peace without having to haggle with the vendors and the AC allowed us to escape the suffocating heat outside. The company was also fair trade so they paid the artists and craftsmen a fair price for their work.
Kelly and Rhenee were excellent to work with on planning our trip. The logistics all worked smoothly and everyone was friendly and on time. Our accommodations were very good, particularly the incredible Patagonia Camp in Torres del Paine! Our guides on every excursion were outstanding and made the hikes memorable! Overall we had a wonderful trip with incredible memories!
Scott Gibson
1 day ago
Adventure Life is definitely a first-class safari tour company, and our representative was Franny Friesz. First of all, she responded immediately after we contacted Adventure Life. We told Franny that we had never been on a safari, and she was more than eager to offer a mountain of information about the trip. She informed us fully about all the ups, downs, and all arounds! She even prepared a number of packages for us to review -- even after we made changes to the areas we wanted to explore. Friendly, helpful, professional, and extremely knowledgeable -- these words describe Franny, and what a wonderful trip she prepared! We couldn't have asked for better service than Franny of Adventure Life. We HIGHLY recommend her and her outstanding company! Bon Voyage!
Prima Burke
2 days ago
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.
Jennifer Howard Schroeder
3 days ago
Kevin got right on our request and had us booked within the week