Tours of Compassion:
The “NEW” Egypt After the Revolution

Nothing you will see in Egypt has changed. The treasures left behind by the Ancient civilizations remain as they have for thousands of years. The energy is as powerful and transformational, and the hospitality to guests is as loving and passionate as always. In fact, the only place where you will see and feel the change is in the eyes and hearts of the Egyptian People…  This is where their change took place, and with their new pride and freedom, the new free Egyptian People are using the freedoms that they saw in visitors the West, to model their own new democracy…and welcoming us now, more than ever, to explore, experience, and share as never before.

Highlight will be our visit to The El-Geroos Elgoodod, which means “New Plantation.”  It’s a Christian orphanage that serves girls aged 6-14, who either come from families who are too poor to provide them with food, clothing and shelter or are foundlings from the streets in Cairo.

They live in a well-built four story house in a poorer section of Cairo.  The ground floor contains play areas, the second floor includes the kitchen, living room and dining room, and the upper floors are the bedrooms.   The girls attend school, and are taken to shop for shoes and clothing at times lime Christmas and Easter.  They usually stay until they marry, with the prospective husbands being interviewed and reviewed by the school officials and chaplain.  In some cases, when the young
woman graduates and gets a job, she returns to live with her family, now that she can contribute
to the household.

The girls are very warm and welcoming to visitors and fascinated by visitors from other countries.  They are eager to learn about foreign countries and customs and to learn some English.   They are very grateful for any small gifts that the visitors may bring, but mostly they are eager to make new friends and to learn. Included will be the Magic Dream Pillow project for the younger children

Your Journey Includes:

• Roundtrip air transportation  to Cairo
• Cairo/Luxor – Aswan/Cairo flights
• Roundtrip airport/hotel transfers, including luggage handling
• Accommodations in First Class hotels
• Hotel service charges and taxes
• Daly breakfast
• Other meals as per itinerary
• Sightseeing as per itinenary
• All sightseeing entrance fees

Special Added Features

• 4 Day/ 3-night Nile Cruise
• Guided by an expert Egyptologist
• Tour of the Sphinx and Great Pyramid, Perfume Factory & Cairo
• Welcome to Egypt dinner.
• Farewell Dinner  and entertainment evening

Volunteer Projects in Egypt  include

• Work with the El-Geroos Elgoodod, which means “New Plantation.”  It’s a Christian orphanage that serves girls aged 6-14, who either come from families who are too poor to provide them with food, clothing and shelter or are foundlings from the streets in Cairo.
• There will be Gift-Giving to children of poverty.  They have very little and are genuinely appreciative of even the smallest presents:  pens, pencils, crayons, markers, storybooks or educational toys, etc. are great motivators for the kids.
• Participate in renovating and refurbishing school equipment, painting a classroom/tables and/or chairs in the local school.
• The “Dream Project” pairs you with a young child and together discuss their dreams for this art project. We have found it to be a valuable opportunity in teaching children the value of dreaming: how important it is to have dreams, to wish for things, to have goals in life…..and how visualizing ones dreams in this way and keeping them near you while you sleep helps your dreams come true.

Day 1, Sunday: Depart USA
Depart from New York’s JFK Airport on our overnight flight to Cairo.

Day 2, Monday: Arrive Cairo (D)
Morning arrival at Cairo International Airport, where you meet our local tour representative to obtain our Egypt Tourist Visa, clear Immigration and help at Baggage Claim & Customs and transfer by private air-conditioned motor coach to our hotel in the heart of the city. We are really here in this ancient land of mystery!  Welcome to Egypt dinner this evening..

Day 3, Tuesday: In Cairo – Visit the Pyramids & Sphinx. Tour to Sakkara (B/L)
After a buffet breakfast, there’s a tour to experience the timeless Sphinx and the magnificent Pyramids of the Giza Plateau, some of the oldest, enigmatic and ageless wonders of the ancient world. Take in the wonder, and  absorb the beauty. Later in the morning, visit a local perfume factory near the Sphinx to learn about the ancient Egyptian art of aromatherapy and choose some essential oils.  After lunch at a local restaurant, it’s off to Sakkara, part of the great necropolis of ancient Memphis, to visit the Step Pyramid of Zoser, believed by archaeologists to be the oldest known of Egypt’s 97 pyramids. Traditional Egyptologists state that about 2630 B.C. Imhotep, architect to King Zoser, masterminded the Step Pyramid at Sakkara for his burial. Explore the historical aspects of this ancient site, as well as the metaphysical ones at the area where sound healing took place in ancient times. Return to Cairo where we have the evening on our own.

Day 4, Wednesday:  In Cairo –  The Egyptian Museum and Old Cairo (B/L)
We start our day with a visit the world-famous Cairo Museum, whose collection of relics dating back to 4,000 BC includes the priceless treasures of King Tut-Ankh-Amon. We’ll see the intricate workmanship and the tiniest details of the contents of the luggage packed to accompany him to the next world. Then we continue to tour Old Cairo, including the Church of St. Sergius and Ben Ezra Synagogue near the spot where pharaoh’s soldiers found the infant Moses.  After lunch at a local restaurant we climb the hill to the east to Saladin’s Citadel with its Alabaster Mosque of Mohammad Ali. Return to our hotel and dinner on our own at one of the many wonderful local restaurants.

Day 5, Thursday: In Cairo –  Volunteer Program (B/L)
After breakfast,  we will work with the El-Geroos Elgoodod, which means “New Plantation”.  It’s a Christian orphanage that serves girls aged 6-14, who either come from families who are too poor to provide them with food, clothing and shelter or are foundlings from the streets in Cairo. The “Dream Project” pairs you with the younger children and together discuss the student’s dreams for this art project. Dinner on your own this evening.

Day 6, Friday: In Cairo –  Volunteer Program (B/L)
After breakfast, you will continue your volunteer work.

Day 7, Saturday: To Luxor – Board Cruise Ship and sightseeing of Valley of the Kings & Karnak Temple (B/L/D)
Transfer to the airport for our flight to Luxor. You will be met and then cross the Nile to  the West Bank. In The Valley of the Kings we visit sites that depict ancient daily life and esoteric teachings about the afterlife.  The next stop is Queen Hatshepsut’s magnificent Temple to Amun at Der el Bahari.  Take a few minutes in one of the out-of-the-way areas to connect with the energies of one of the most famous of all the female Pharaohs who assumed the male role of “King”.  There will also be a brief photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon, (the remains of two huge statues of Amenhotep III, and his beloved consort, Tiye, the mother of the famous Akhenaten). Then to our cruise ship for lunch. After lunch, we depart for Karnak Temple to view this magnificent structure. Once connected to Luxor Temple, two miles away by a long avenue of Sphinxes, Karnak, it is the largest columned temple in the world, and was dedicated to Amun-Ra, the Power of Creation and his wife Mut.  View the numerous temple areas built by various Pharaohs over time, including gigantic obelisks which were beacons to the pilgrims who made their way here in ancient times. We also view the wonderful Luxor Temple before returning to our cruise ship for dinner.

Day 8, Sunday: A day of cruising the Nile – Luxor-Esna-Edfu  (B/L/D)
A relaxing day cruising the Nile.  Lunch and dinner onboard as we sail for Edfu.  Make sure the camera is ready as we cross the Nile Lock, a fascinating experience.  Evening arrival in Edfu as we watch a magnificent sunset.

Day 9, Monday: Onboard Nile Cruise Ship Edfu – Temple of Kom Ombo – Aswan (B/L/D)
After an early breakfast we board horse-drawn carriages to Edfu Temple, dedicated to the god  Horus, known as Hor or Heru to the ancients, the principle of the realized male, the Higher Self. This was a great teaching temple and an ancient university.  Return to ship for lunch.  Leisure time in afternoon to enjoy sailing, swimming, sunbathing or just relaxing.  In the evening, there’s a visit to the Temple of Kom Ombo, the only ancient temple dedicated to Horus and Sobek (the crocodile-headed Neter of Digestion & Assimilation). Return to the cruise ship for dinner on board and sail to Aswan, one of the world’s most beautiful resort towns, noted for its peace and quiet. Located on the First Cataract of the Nile and gateway to Nubia, with its colorful bazaar, laid-back atmosphere, warm and welcoming people and a lovely promenade along the Nile, Aswan is a favorite city in Egypt for many visitors. Overnight in Aswan on our Nile Cruise Ship.

Day 10, Tuesday: Morning Aswan Tour – Optional Abu Simbel –  Return flight to Cairo  (B/D)
Early in the morning, there is an optional tour to Abu Simbel.  After arriving on your short flight, we will be taken to the two temples at Abu Simbel are dedicated to Ramses II and his beloved wife Nefertari. The image of the main temple façade is dominated by four enormous seated statues of the Pharaoh, each over 67 feet high. Its immense power and majesty are impossible to depict visually. After the tour, return flight to Aswan for the morning tour.

For those not taking the Abu Simbel tour, it’s a morning to relax and explore Aswan. Then we start the with a morning boat ride to the relocated Temple of Philae, the delicate, elegant, quintessential temple of Isis.  This graceful antiquity was meticulously moved stone by stone from its ancient site (now submerged) to its new higher island home in the middle of the lake.  Today it gives us – modern man of modern machines and incredible technical knowledge – great insight into what the ancient and intelligent peoples of the world could do with only simple technology and a will to create at their disposal.  We also will see the Aswan Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk before disembarking our cruise ship and leave for the airport and the flight back to Cairo. Transfer to our hotel.  This evening, our Farewell to Egypt dinner.

Day 11, Wednesday: Back to the USA  (B)
Transfer to the Cairo Airport for your flight to JFK.

NOTE: This is a sample itinerary for group tour leaders.

It is one of our “Tours of Compassion” itineraries for teachers, religious leaders, organization heads, authors, speakers and other leaders who are thinking about putting together a spiritual travel package and offering it to their group.

For more information about how to form a group and travel free, please visit: https://bodymindspiritjourneys.com/form-a-group-and-travel-free