Egypt and Israel holiday
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
This trip uses a variety of local transport including train, bus, and felucca-supporting local transport providers. Use of the train and felucca, in particular, prevent the carbon emissions of another vehicle on the road.
Upon booking this trip (as with all our trips) clients receive detailed pre-departure information which includes advice on responsible travel. This information is re-emphasised by the Tour Leader at the start of the trip-clients, for example, are advised about respecting local customs particularly in terms of dress and behaviour, water conservation, litter disposal and animal welfare. The latter is a salient feature of this trip as we use carefully selected donkeys and horse-drawn carriages for local sightseeing – again directly supporting local communities.
Community
Our aim on this trip is to put as much of the trip costs directly back into the local host communities as possible. In Egypt all the hotels and restaurants we use are small two or three star locally run Egyptian establishments. We use local guides, reps and operators at all of the places of interest we visit. In Luxor, for example, our local rep Tayeb, sources the donkeys for the trip to the Valley of the Kings from his own family and neighbours and has been doing so for the past seven years. This allows village families to gain extra income beyond their subsistence farming.
In Aswan the two day felucca trip is owned and run by Ahmed Fauzi and his extended family –we have been supporting their tiny felucca business from its start. They have recently managed to expand to 3 small sail boats which completely supports their large extended village family.
In Aswan there is an option to spend an evening with a Nubian family-dining with them and learning about their culture. We arrange this directly with the family and the income provided helps support the wider family.
In Israel, we use an Israeli operator and guides throughout. Our option to visit Jerusalem and the West Bank is run by a Palestinian operator. The planning of this trip involved introducing the Israeli and Palestinian operators to one another and will hopefully forge links for future working relationships
In Jerusalem, there is an option to visit Bethlehem and the West Bank, spending a night in the home of a Palestinian family. This is a great opportunity to socialise with a local family and gain a better understanding of their culture and outlook and give you a unique opportunity to experience firsthand how Palestinian people have been impacted by the Israeli settlements in the area.
We support two charities in Egypt. In Cairo we have donated computers, teaching materials and provide regular financial assistance to the Sudanese Community Development Program-a school for Sudanese refugee children. We have also helped the school set up a Sponsor-a-Child scheme, and arranged a letter exchange between the Sudanese children and a school local to our UK office. This promotes opportunities for inter-cultural understanding and provides the Sudanese children with great encouragement. We can arrange pre or post-tour visits to the school, and many of our clients regularly donate clothes and shoes to the Sudanese Refugees via our collection system at our Cairo Hotel. In 2008, we funded installation of an air conditioning system in the schools computer room as this room was unusable in the heat of summer.
In Luxor we sponsor the Sunshine Project International, a home for abandoned and orphaned children. Apart from a regular financial commitment we have also donated bedding and play equipment to the school and even delivered a sandpit from the UK. Luckily there was no need to deliver any sand! Clients on the Egypt trip are given the opportunity to visit the home in Luxor and regularly donate baby toiletries and toys directly there themselves.
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