North Africa and Near East Adventure

Private Tour of Tunis , Egypt and Jordan a la Indiana Jones
we have even included all the tips
A 20 day grand Tour

Skip Sinai and fly between Cairo and Amman ?

Indiana Jones himself couldn't squeeze more adventure into such a journey : In Tunisia : We'll take you through Carthage,Dougga , Thuburbo Majus desert oases, curious troglodyte dwellings, Islamic splendors, a Roman amphitheater, a medieval synagogue, and unspoiled beaches. You'll appreciate the breathtaking beauty of a land that has drawn wanderers over the centuries.
In Egypt : Tour Cairo , Sakkara , Memphis, Dahshour and the Pyramids, a cruise on the Nile, the fabled temples and tombs of Luxor and Thebes, diving in the Red Sea, the mountains of Sinai, and a trek to the mysterious ruins of Petra in Jordan.

DAY 1 - Amman - Weekly-Year Round- Thursday
Arrive Amman . Visa fee is included for a limited number of nationalities such as : USA, EU, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Mexico , Australia, NZ etc. Upon arrival, our local rep. will escort you to your hotel.

DAY 2 - Amman -Petra- Friday (BLD)
Private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur.
After breakfast we head south for Petra, where your local private guide awaits you .
We'll spend the entire day at Petra, the stunning desert city hewn by the Nabateans from solid cliffs of pink and violet sandstone. Petra was known in the bible as Sela, and rediscovered only in 1812. You'll feel like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark as you penetrate into the city through a narrow sandstone gorge, the Siq, and wander among the Temple of the Winged Lion, tombs, Roman theater, and the imposing Treasury. Lunch is included enroute.

In the evening we will call on you for a unique experience :
Dine as a local : The Petra Kitchen is a delightful way to round out your Jordan travel experiences. Like any home kitchen, The Petra Kitchen is a relaxed, informal atmosphere where you’ll gather to prepare an evening meal, working alongside local women under the supervision of our chef.

Each evening meal includes soup, cold and hot mezza ( appetizers ) and salads, and a main course—all typical Jordanian dishes. You will have get an inside glimpse of the secrets behind the famous regional cuisine of the Levant.

The Petra Kitchen offers an evening of learning, fun and a very special dining experience, with each dish gaining the special flavor of a reward well-earned. Great care has been taken to make The Petra Kitchen a truly Jordanian experience—right down to the furnishings, all crafted in Jordan, the tableware, all produced by the Iraq al Amir Women’s Co-operative, and the aprons and table linens, all hand-embroidered by the Jordan River Foundation.

Tour experience tonight includes the cuisine course, meal and all non-alcoholic beverages as well as take-home recipes for all dishes prepared that evening.

DAY 3 - WADI RUM DESERT / AMMAN - Saturday (BLD)
Visit the Wadi Rum Desert (with a short ride in a 4 Wheel Drive vehicle) and its awesome moonlike landscape, where the film “Lawrence of Arabia” was shot. On to Amman on the Desert Highway. Lunch is served enroute at a local restaurant. Dinner with folk show is included in Amman.

DAY 4 - Amman - CAIRO - Sunday
Fly to Cairo : air fare is included in our rate in economy class , with tax of course . In Cairo : Our Egypt-based local rep. greets you in bustling Cairo airport and escorts you to your hotel . The Egyptian visa may be issued for a limited number of nationalities such as : for American, Australian , NZ, EU , Canadian, Mexican and Japanese citizens. Passports must be valid for at least 6 month upon arrival). Please pay the visa fee $ 15 upon arrival in cash. After exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel .

At your hotel, complimentary coffee or tea ( please advise your preference), one bottle of water for each guest, and a platter of Egyptian sweets will await you at your room.

DAY 5 - CAIRO- Dahshour, Memphis, Sakkara - Home Hosted Dinner - Monday (cBLD)
A morning tour takes us to the time capsule treasure of Dahshour, the newly-opened pyramid field south of Cairo: DAHSOUR - we'll motor to the edge of Cairo, to Dahshour, the newly-opened pyramid field south of Cairo. We visit the great pyramid of Senfru, father of Cheops, and other structure:

The "Discovery" of Dahshour:
For almost half a century, the great field of huge pyramids near the desert village of Dahshour, 25 miles south of Cairo, has been off limits to the public. Confined within the perimeter of a military base were many pyramids, including the great 4500-year-old pyramid built by Senfru, father of Cheops. Senfru's pyramid, the largest in Egypt until his son built Giza's Great Pyramid, is rhomboidal in shape: it tapers more distinctly on its upper half. All the pyramids were coated in thick plaster at one time. Most have lost these protective, decorative sheaths, but Senfru's--miraculously--is still in place.

After lunch at a local restaurant : The afternoon is for Memphis and Sakkara, including the Step Pyramid of Zoser & Nobles tombs/Mastabas.
In the evening, we return to the Pyramids for an awe-inspiring sound-and-light show.

Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals, you may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family ( T shirt , small souvenirs of your home town):
This evening we'll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread . . . right into the homes of some of the people of Cairo l! You'll be invited to a family dinner, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you'll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they're sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you'll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, you may enjoy dinner in a quiet restaurant with your travel companions, by letting us know your preferences.

DAY 6 - CAIRO and Giza Pyramids Tuesday (BLD)
Your exploration of the ancient world begins today! First stop is the Egyptian Museum, with its treasures of the ancient pharaohs: mummies, statuary, precious stones and metals. We'll also stop at the Citadel of Saladin and the Alabaster Mosque. Then it's on to Giza and the mysteries of the Pyramids and Sphinx, before touring the museum of the Royal Barge of Cheops The museum is built over the rectangular pit that housed the Royal Barge for thousands of years , the wooden boat was readied for the king's daily journey with the sun god, Ra . Discovered in 1954, in a completely dismantled state, the 43-metre (140-foot) cedar boat is a rare window on the Royal boats used by the kings of Ancient Egypt.

We are glad to include the entrance fee to get inside the Great Pyramid , if interested , please read this first : The King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid was not meant to be visited:
Getting to it is challenging, and once you enter, it is very difficult to turn back. The stone passage is only wide enough for one person. You must be in good physical condition, able to climb several flights of stairs, bend double, crouch and duck-walk for short distances. The King's Chamber itself is the world's most claustrophobic place, with dim light and heavy, hot, oxygen-poor air. There is no ventilation. If you are at all sensitive to claustrophobia or confinement, or if you have any sort of respiratory condition, for your own safety and the safety of others, you must not enter the pyramid because it is impossible to remove a person or to bring aid to them quickly

Dinner at La Bodega restaurant in Zamalek

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DAY 7 - ASWAN- Nile Cruise Wednesday (BLD)
After breakfast , fly to Aswan ( economy class tax included ) , where we settle you into your cabin on your Nile steamer. Complimentary welcome fruit basket. We'll visit the world famous Nubian Museum, the enormous dams at Aswan, then board a launch on Lake Nasser to visit the Temples of Philae, rescued from rising waters. In the evening your guide will call on you for a horse-drawn carriage ride throughout Aswan souks and water front .

DAY 8 - KOM OMBO - Nile Cruise Thursday (BLD)
We cruise northward down the Nile today, at a stately pace, disembarking for a visit to Kom Ombo, the twin temple dedicated to the crocodile river god, Sobek. We'll also see Haroeris, the solar disk.

DAY 9 - EDFU and LUXOR- Nile Cruise - Friday (BLD)
Horse-drawn carriages or vans meet us at riverside to take us through Edfu to the Temple of Horus, best-preserved in all of Egypt. Then we'll continue beside the Nile to take in an array of ancient splendors: the Valley of the Kings; the imposing tomb-temple of Queen Hatshepsut ; and, back in Luxor, the Great Temple of Amon at Karnak.

DAY 10 - Cairo - Saturday (BLD)
Now that you've seen the best of the Egypt of the Pharaohs, our guides escort you to the airport. You'll fly over the Nile Valley, back to Cairo and the J. W. Marriott or the Grand Hyatt , or similar hotel.

DAY 11 - DEPARTURE FOR TUNISIA - Sunday (B)
Our staff escorts you to the airport , air fare is included in our rate Cairo / Tunis, in economy class , tax included . TUNIS . This is a private tour - Private vehicle, private chauffeur
Our local staff will meet you upon arrival at Tunis Carthage International Airport. You'll be assisted with the formalities, and escorted to the fine Hotel El Hana International. There will be time to relax and recuperate from your journey, and enjoy the excellent facilities. If you wish, you can adventure into the center of Tunis to start your exploration of the winding alleys of the souk, filled with treasures of beaten brass and basketry and carpets, and merchants who will welcome you with traditional mint tea.

DAY 12 - THUBURBO MAJUS & DOUGGA - Private vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
After breakfast at the hotel, we start our full day to Thuburbo Majus:
This town of Libyan and then Punic origin sided with Carthage and thus had to pay a tribute to Rome . Thuburbo Maius reached its apogee in the 2nd c with 10,000 inhabitants and and impressive array of of monuments: the forum, built in 161-2, the capitol (168) and a number of temples (Temple of peace, Temple of Mercury, Temple of B'a alat, Temple of Caelestis, Temple of Saturn) of which one later became a basilica, we'll tour as well the market, Roman bath and the amphitheater. We'll enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before proceeding to Dougga: A Numidian city, mentioned in the 4th century B.C. by Diodorus the Sicilian as Tocai, tukka was from the 2nd to 1st century B.C. one of the residences of the Massyle Kings (MASSINISSA, MICIPSA,JUGURTHA). In Roman times the municipal land was split into two parts; the Numidian city, and a pagus (rural area) under the authority of Carthage, Whole again, thugga was a municipium in 205 and honorary colonia in 261. With some 5,000 residents, thugga had a municipal bourgeoisie which endowed her with a number of rich monuments. The monuments are incredibly well preserved, allowing us to imagine the infrastructure this small Proconsular town possessed: 12 temples, 3 of which were transformed into churches in the 4th Century , 3 Roman baths, numerous fountains, aqueducts and more. Thugga slowly lost its glory, though it still enjoyed brief periods of revival in the 3rd, the 4th and 6th centuries (Byzantine fortress) .Though it was never deserted, archaeological research required the removal of its residents to a new Dougga lying below classical thugga. Return early evening to our hotel in Tunis in time for dinner.

DAY 13 - CHARTAGE, SIDI BOU SAID (200 Kilometers) - Private vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
we'll marvel at the ruins of Carthage, a true metropolis of the ancient world, as evidenced by its theater, circus, baths, port installations, and extensive urban plan. We'll lunch at a fine local restaurant, then speed forward in time to the middle ages, as we visit the picture-perfect Moorish village of Sidi Bou Said. With its whitewashed walls and narrow lane ways, it's the perfect setting as we stop for traditional mint tea. Back in Tunis, we'll stop at the Bardo Museum, to view the most extensive Roman mosaics in the world. We'll then head for the Medina, the old quarter of the city, with its warrens of shops filled with wares ranging from humdrum to exotic.

DAY 14 - HAMMAMET, SOUSSE, EL DJEM, SFAX , GABES, DJERBA -Private vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
After breakfast, we'll set off to explore! Hammamet, a cosmopolitan port where sun-worshippers from all over happily coexist with fishermen and traditional ways. We'll stop at the port of El Kantaoui, and then proceed back into time to venerable Sousse, once the Phoenician City called Hadrumatum. We'll stroll through the medina, the old quarter, cooled by sea breezes, and visit the museum as well as the Ribat, a stronghold of the warriors of Islam. Continuing to Sousse, once the Phoenician city of Hadrumatum, we walk through the medina (old city), cooled by breezes off the harbor, and visit the Roman catacombs and. Our next stop is El Jem, which boasts a Roman coliseum very similar to the famous one in Rome. Our busy day continues with a drive to the coastal city of Gabes, a Roman outpost of old and a traditional market center where, for centuries, goods from across the sea and across the desert have changed hands. We'll visit the oasis, where palm groves and gardens flourish. We'll then cross to Djerba, an island where Ulysses once encountered the legendary Lotus-Eaters.

DAY 15 - GABES, DJERBA (250 Kilometers) -Private vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
Today we explore the old quarters, including the synagogue of Hara Sghira, Hara Kebira with its modern Jewish community, and Guellala, with its craft stalls, and to see the waterfront and fishing fleet, and the lively town of Houmt Souk. After a lunch stop, we'll cross back to the mainland.

DAY 16 - MATMATA, KEBILI, DOUZ - ( 300 Kilometers) -Private vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
Our route takes us through terrain of increasingly sparse grasses and shrubs, into the desert to Matmata. We'll stop to look in on a community of miniature underground houses, where the earliest settlers sheltered from the extremes of the desert above -- as do the Berbers of today. We'll enjoy a full day of desert adventure, we'll visit the village of Kebili, largest of a cluster of oases, islands of life in a harsh landscape, then proceed to Douz, fabled as the Gateway to the Sahara. There, a special treats waits, the opportunity to sample a caravan trek! This close encounter with a camel is entirely at your option!

DAY 17 - TOZEUR - (280 Kilometers) - Private vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
We set off across the Chott El Djerid, a great dry salt lake, for Tozeur. Here, we'll wonder at the ancient irrigation works .We'll learn more about oases today . Despite the dryness of its surface, great aquifers underlie the Sahara. Where they spill their riches out in springs, they create the green havens of Tunisia's oases. We'll see a dramatic example, as we explore the irrigated fields around Tozeur and motor overland to the great mountain oases of Chebika and Tamerza ( in 4 wheel drive) . We'll return to Tozeur late afternoon, after which you're free until dinner. You can choose to enjoy the unique desert resort comforts at your hotel. Or, you might decide to wander the streets of Tozeur, look in on daily life, admire the classic North African houses built around patios on terraces above a river fed by springs, and shop for baskets and capes of camel hair.

DAY 18 - TOZEUR, GAFSA, SBEITLA, KAIROUAN, TUNIS - Private vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
We'll delve more into Tunisia's rich and varied past today, as we motor overland through pleasant, rolling coastal lands. At Gafsa, we'll see the Roman pools of Capsa, the ancient crossroads between desert oases and the cultivated coastal lands. We'll wonder at the Roman ruins of Suffetula, as well as the great mosque. Later in the day, we'll reach Kairouan, an ancient, holy, and vibrant city noted for its historic mosques and centers of learning. We'll lunch at the five-star Hotel La Kasbah. Kairouan also is noted for its souk, and the crafting of carpets and leather goods. Of course, there will be time to check out these wares, before we depart to Tunis, or Hammamat where a night's rest and dinner await us once again at the Hotel El Hana.

DAY 19 -At Leisure- (B)
Full day at leisure or relax on the beach .

DAY 20 - DEPARTURE -(B)
After breakfast, our local personnel will escort you to the international airport, where you'll start your homeward journey .Private vehicle, private chauffeur

RATES per person in USD

Easter ( two weeks) , Christmas, New Year's Dec 20 - Jan 5 : 15 % supplement will apply.

Click here for the : DRESS CODE - What to Pack - Clothing on Board the Nile Cruise

Prices include:

• Air fare between Amman Cairo and Tunis, as well as within Egypt , all in economy class, tax
  
• Lonely Planet guidebook to Tunisia , Jordan and Egypt .
  
• Jordanian visa fee (valid for Canadians , American, Australian, NZ, EU & Japanese citizens. Passports must be valid for at least 6 month upon arrival). For these nationalities , there is no visa requirement for Tunisia

• All transfers in Egypt and Jordan, always on a private basis, private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur.
  
• Domestic air fare within Egypt, as well as air fare between Egypt and Jordan , all in economy class , tax included .
  
• Complimentary welcome fruit basket on board the Nile Cruise.
  
• Bottled water ( one per person) delivered daily to your cabin, while on board your Nile cruise .
  
• Tea / coffee with every meal on board the Nile Cruise.
  
• Air-conditioned hotel accommodations with tax and service charges .
  
• Nile Cruise with all meals and shore excursions, cabins are always outside with large panoramic windows.
  
• Hotel accommodation as per itinerary with tax, breakfast daily as per itinerary
  
• Sightseeing with professional guide and entrance fees as indicated .
  
• Private Egyptologist while touring in Cairo , private guide in Jordan escorting you all the way .
  
• Meals as indicated, with pre-set menu (B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner) .
  
  
• Jordanian departure tax.
  
• Gratuities to your guides, drivers, crew on board your cruise, as well as all the porters.

 Not included:

• Personal expenses and beverages .

• Additional meals, drinks and services
• Trip interruption and cancellation insurance .
• International airfare from/to your home country