I'm very interested in astronomy so this seemed like a great idea for a trip as I've always wanted to see the Milky Way. Pick up communication was great, and the tour ran smoothly. I think our driver played a key role in ensuring we had a great time - in short, he was CRAZY 😁. Mahmoud drove like a lunatic over the dunes, whilst Eminem blared out the jeep's speakers, and we caught plenty of air, landing with a jolt. Great fun! 😊The other jeeps drove in a straight line, missing the bumps 😴. He also fixed our head gear so bring a large scarf/sarong and he'll wrap you up to look the part. The desert and mountains were spectacular in terms of colour as the setting sun hit them so take pics of the landscape.
The Beduin were as friendly as ever, welcoming us with tea, and cooked us a great meal of chicken, kebab, and salad.
You must bring decent shoes like trainers, if you want to climb up to see the sunset and in the winter months a warm jacket is essential as it gets cold in the desert. Also, bring some loo roll and ensure you have a light for visiting the loo as there is no electricity....hand wipes/gel are also a good idea.
As for the stars, the guide was great with lots of info and he shared photos with us via WhatsApp afterwards. They were 4 telescopes set up - 2 at jupiter and 2 at the moon - I would have liked more gazing time tbh but the guys were pretty quick at packing up. Avoid a full moon if you can as it makes star gazing tricky. I'm pleased to say I finally saw the Milky Way and could see the brown gas swirls of Jupiter! If you can, download one of the many free star map apps before your visit so you can navigate the constellations.
All in all, a great experience and definitely worth doing. I dropped it a star as I could not pay via TripAdvisor whilst in Egypt, so had to get my daughter to do it for me from the UK, plus I felt I didn't always know what the itinerary was, so wasn't sure what I should be doing or what was happening next etc. Thoroughly recommend however.
