INTRODUCTION

It has always been Michael’s dream to visit Egypt and see the Pyramids and I’ve always wanted to visit Israel.  We’ve traveled extensively by cruising and it’s been a while since Princess cruised to the Middle East.  Being older, our lack of adventure has waned and traveling to this part of the world on our own just didn’t seem feasible.  Until…..

On our Princess World Cruise in 2019, we met a lovely and well-traveled couple, Rene and Holmes, with whom we had lunch one day.  Hearing about all their travels, once again, sparked the urge to visit Egypt and Israel and they encouraged us to do so.  Things had quieted down in Egypt since the Arab Spring in the early 2010s.  Sadly, Holmes passed away a few months after the end of the World Cruise.  We have stayed in touch with Rene and are forever thankful to her and Holmes for planting the seed to pursue our dreams. 

Upon returning from the World Cruise, I spoke to my niece and the world’s best travel agent, Carolyn Orf (carolyn@tempotravelgroup.com), and asked her to look into the options available to us.  She suggested a “Small Group Journey” (limited to 18 persons) with Abercrombie & Kent (A&K).  Having traveled with hundreds of passengers on a cruise ship around the world twice, the idea of just 16 other people sounded very appealing to us and so we booked the adventure for March of 2020. 

Well, we all know what happened in 2020.  We remember specifically Carolyn calling us while we were taking a walk and telling us that countries were starting to close up.  If I recall, Israel closed first but Egypt was still open a few days before our departure date.  We did not want to travel half way around the world just to visit Egypt and, at the time, for us, it was all or nothing.  Carolyn didn't want us to cancel because we would lose some of our money but suggested we wait another 24 hours to see what happens.  Well, she, of course, was right.  Based on what was happening around the world, A&K had no choice but to cancel the trip.    

Once again, everything was booked for 2021, because no one (or, at least, we) could've imagined the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”) virus, which causes COVID-19, would continue into 2021.  Well, as everyone knows, it did.  But, that didn’t deter us.  Although our 2021 plans were cancelled, Carolyn, along with A&K, once again booked us for February 4-March 1, 2022. 

It was touch and go for a while because just a couple of weeks before take-off, Israel was still closed to all tourists.  This time, however, we were willing to go to Egypt and/or Jordan whether or not Israel was open. 

Luckily for us, everything was open, and we were ready to go.  We’d like to thank Carolyn for all her incredible work in making this trip happen for us.  We can’t say enough about A&K -- from the moment we stepped off the plane in Egypt on February 5th to the moment we passed through security in Israel on March 1st, A&K personnel were with us.  While not inexpensive, A&K is worth every penny - not only in the quality of guides they provide, but the peace of mind we enjoyed throughout our travels knowing someone was there to help us navigate through all the paperwork, testing requirements, checkpoints and security within Egypt, Jordan and Israel, as well as our return trip to the United States.

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