Guest Book

Our family's November 2017 Group tour with Mara just ended, and here I sit at the classy piano bar at the Ramses Hilton in Cairo reflecting on one of the most extraordinary adventures our family has taken... the full Egypt tour with Mara House.

I would highly recommend this trip to anyone that wants a meaningful and comprehensive experience of this diverse and amazing country!

From an historical perspective, we delved into ancient, Pharonic Egypt in unexpected ways... visits to the 'mainstream' sites like Giza were complemented with visits to lessor known and often even more extraordinary sites like Abydos, Dendara, and sites of nobles tombs and workers tombs that provided a spectrum of insight into ancient Egyptian civilization from the mundane and essential to the mysterious and divine. On many occasions our small group had sites entirely to ourselves... that's due entirely to Mara House planning using their knowledge of local environments from Cairo all the way to Aswan.

This tour also included historical views of the Greek/Roman period in Egypt as well as 'Coptic Egypt' and the impact of 1400 years of Islamic evolution, all the while giving us an experiential grounding in contemporary Egyptian life today. It is impossible to imagine a better way to experience... in a single trip... the enormity of Egyptian history and culture than the experience Mara House provided.

The guides and Egyptologists that accompanied us brought it all to life with astounding depth and clarity. Our tour guide general manager, Ahmed, managed the complex logistics of this nearly two-week trip with precision that left our group with little to do but be educated, be mystified, and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

A word about Egypt: not once on this entire trip did we ever feel 'not safe.' The Egyptian people are brilliant... cheerful, friendly and positive... and uniformly welcoming and warm and eager to share a hello... it is really a joy to meet and interact in Egypt. The street hawkers can be a little annoying at times, but that goes with the territory in most heavily touristed sites around the world. Egypt has been through a lot in the last decade and is really receptive and accessible to tourists and cross-cultural exchange... if you're thinking of coming to Egypt this is a great time... and if you want a fabulous tour, Mara House has it all.

Thank you Mara, Ahmed and team for sharing your love of Egypt with us... it was a trip of a lifetime and sincerely: may we meet again!