Some who have been following my blog posts and social media accounts will know that I took my 9-year-old grandson to Egypt with me on my Nov group trip. I did so because he is a very smart and engaged boy with a huge interest in Egypt and history in general – in fact everything! However, I was not prepared for his tenacity, which was a really pleasant surprise. He lasted the full 16 days without losing his enthusiasm, interest, and hunger for more sites, more experiences, and more information. He stuck like glue to my guides and absorbed every story and every piece of information they shared. Not only that, he retained and is able to repeat it back – a true guide in the making.
On the way back to Ireland, he casually said, “Nan, we need to make a trip for kids! Oh, and, by the way, I’m gonna be your business partner..”
His remark took root in my brain, and we have been working together on the itinerary, which I will be publishing here soon. We are both aware that not every child will have the same level of interest or perhaps tenacity. With that in mind, the plan is to design a program that will allow the more interested parents in the group to see everything, as far as possible, while at some sites taking the children to areas in the same place that are of more interest and some that will have activities specially for them. The following are just 3 examples of how our new family/children tour will be focused as much, if not more, on the children than the adults.
- The GEM – the Grand Egyptian Museum, where a family could easily spend a full day, has specific areas to hold the interest of children, one of my favourite is a 3 sided exhibition of a tomb where the walls digitally fill in with pictures going from blank to fully restored – along with a little animation of the activities they portray, videos etc. The designers did a very good job on this because those displays are not shut off in a side room but are laid out all over the museum
- The Pharonic Village where one can see enactments of ancient egyptian life – this is something not normally included in tours.
- Papyrus making and stone carvings – these activities are not normally part of my tours as they are really tools for selling products and my guests are usually more interested in the sites than in buying. However, these would be captivating for children.
So, if you have children and grandchildren aged 5 upwards that you would like to take on a magical, memorable adventure with us (planning on bringing some more of my own on the trips) keep in touch for full details. We are thinking that it would be a good idea to limit the groups to about 7 families. Families approx 2 adults and 2 children but that is not binding, just to give you an idea of the group size.