Nile Blue Tours

I have several orthopedic problems and use a rolling walker to assist with ambulation. I have difficulty walking long distances; my walker has a seat that I can use, if needed.

On an October-November ’07 Princess cruise, my husband, Tom, and I arranged a private tour in Cairo with Hazem Abbas at Nile Blue Tours (El Saha Building B, Second Floor, Elzhor area, Port Said, Egypt; phone 00 20 66 3646955, fax 3654755, www.nile bluetours.com). I give this company my highest recommendation.

The cost for our 2-day tour was $275 each. This included lunch both days, one night at Lé Meridien Pyramids, all transportation, and entry to the exhibits at the Egyptian Museum except for the mummy room and solar boat.

Mr. Abbas’ wife, Ghada, was our escort. We also had a driver, Khalid, and an Egyptologist, Amr, who joined us after we reached Cairo.

We were provided with a 6-person van. Nile Blue did not have a lift-equipped van, but if that had been needed they said they would have attempted to rent one if given sufficient notice. As I am capable of transferring, this was not a problem for me.

We visited the step pyramids of Sakkara, a papyrus shop, the pyramids and Sphinx at Giza and a perfume factory.

We had lunch at Caviar (5 Mohamed Hassanin Haikal St., Nasr City, Greater Cairo; phone 02 267 20037), where we found the appetizers excellent, including chickpeas, fava beans, eggplant, and sesame paste with pita bread.

We had dinner at the hotel, watched a wedding celebration and were picked up again for a trip back to the pyramids for the sound-and-light show, which we enjoyed.

The next day we joined Amr for an extensive tour of the Egyptian Museum. This museum is well worth visiting but a challenge for anyone with mobility problems. Luckily, Amr knows many of the people who work there and we were allowed to use the freight elevator to the second floor. This elevator is not open to the general public.

The museum, built in 1902, was not air-conditioned throughout, although there was air-conditioning in select areas. We were very glad to have made this visit in November, as in the summer this museum would have been extremely hot.

The museum was crowded, but we were fortunate to have our own guide, as we could always hear his explanations. This museum has so many wonderful exhibits, it is hard to pick just a few to rave about.

After this tour we took a ride down the Nile and then began the long drive back to meet the ship in Alexandria.

We found Nile Blue Tours an excellent organization and well organized to assist travelers with mobility problems.

KATHRYN H. TISDALE

Hickory, NC