camel ride

[#1cruiseaholic]

Going for the first time on Costa Atlantica in October. Has anyone taken the camel ride excursion in Egypt? Don't know if we will ever be back and wanted to know what you guys thought of it.

[Thrifty]

I haven't ridden a camel in Egypt, but I have in Turkey and China and I recommend it as a novelty. However, I have been to Egypt with Costa and the Egyptians we met in Cairo were apologetic about the hustlers at Giza. If circumstances permit and you want to especially please your camel, take a small melon with you. They will eat slices rind and all with great relish and you may get a camel kiss in return. I have never actually kissed or been kissed by a camel, but a young one once rested its head on my shoulder and her breath was not noticeably bad. Photographers are usually there and a picture of you being kissed by a camel might be something that would dazzle your friends when you get home.

[QM2 Cruiser]

Are there any camels in Tunisia? or is Tunisia too far north for camels? It would be awesome to get a picture standing next to one. The itinerary we are going on calls in Tunis...

[Thrifty]

Since a more knowledgeable person didn't answer, I'll risk a supposition that there are camels in Tunisia, but they may be further south than you could conveniently reach from a cruise ship. (At least that's the way we found it in Morrocco.) However, its entirely possible that some entreprenurial arab is aware of cruise ship potential and will be available. Try "googling" the name of your port stop and "camel ride" and/or post a message on the Lonely Planet Thorntree on the Tunisia Branch. You'll probably get an answer in a day or two.

[delphine30]

be careful from the person who are in charge on the camels in Guizeh (Near Cairo). because you can take a picture of the animal but sometimes, our guide says to us that people climb on the camel and after the man with the camel want some very expensive price to climb down. if you want to climb on the animal, be sure it's include in the excursion or trade with the person before. but it's great moment!!

[slim24usus]

The Costa guide (Fortuna- April 07) wasn't kidding. The vendors at Giza are a real pain in the butt! We travel a lot so it was not like we have never seen it before but MAN these guys at Giza took being a pain to a new level. As for ANYTHING in Egypt get the price ahead! One guy actually grabbed money out of my hand after taking my picture with is camel. He tried to grab the whole pile I pulled out, about 80 Euro. He only got a 5 and that was all I gave him. He wanted 20 Euro to take my picture with my camera standing next to his camel.

 

In case your guide does not mention it, one trick the camels guys use is to tell you that you can get up on their camel "for free... free mista" then they try to charge you some outrageous amount to get the camel to kneel so you can get off the camel.

 

Two of our friends took the combined Jeep-Camel- country club lunch ride in Giza. The Camel ride was about 50 yards up the hill. The Jeep ride was about 50 yards down the hill! They were not happy!

 

In Cairo and the shops the Egyptian people were great but at the pyramids they were awful! Pushy, pushy, pushy. Oh yeah, wait until you see how many authentic scarabs they try to put in your hand "for free" but they are "ancient and valuable" . Made of painted plaster, yesterday!

 

One trick my wife uses when the vendors bother her with something she is not interested in is to switch languages. She went from English, German , French and Spanish saying no but these guys responded in each language! We did admire that!

 

And yes, people on our excusion were robbed of money, passports etc. by pickpockets. BE CAREFUL!

 

To be fair, more people were pickpocketed in Rome than Giza!

[delphine30]

yeah, you're right. I have take my picture of the Camel far as possible with the Zoom. instead of, I knew that the guy would have some money in exchange of the picture..