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Egypt travel advice Booking flights and arranging travel can be confusing, but the Operation Wallacea team are here to help. There are a number of starting points which Operation Wallacea would recommend based on the experience of the past few years.
Updated 31 August 2011
Start and finish times The expeditions to St Katherine and Nuweiba start at 1200hrs on Sunday in St Katherine and finish at 0800hrs on Saturday in Nuweiba. The students who are spending two weeks in the Sinai desert will start their expeditions in St Katherine and finish in Nuweiba. The cheapest way to travel is to organise a return flight to Sharm el Sheikh that arrives either before 0800hrs on the Sunday of your start date or on the Saturday (see below for accommodation if you arrive early) and that leaves Sharm after 1400hrs on the Saturday of your end date.
Booking international flights
From the UK/Ireland Once you have booked your flights please email your flight itineraries to your local Opwall office. From North America Canadian volunteers can contact Victor Travel by calling toll free to 1-866-699-0199 or emailing opwall@cwtvictortravel.ca and they will send you a flight quote. Feel free to shop around online (e.g. www.expedia.ca) or visit your local travel agent for a quote as well.
For US volunteers check out http://www.statravel.com/opwall , email opwall@statravel.com or call STA Travel on (877) 777-8717 for some cheap flight deals. However there is no exclusive deal with STA Travel, so you are best advised to shop around for well priced flights. If you find any good deals tell us about them! You can do this by contacting the US office on (973) 920-0487. Don’t forget to post good flight deals on the Op Wall US Facebook Group.
From Australia Australian volunteers can contact STA in Australia via email at opwall@statravel.com.au or call STA Travel on +61 1300 675435.
From South Africa South African volunteers can contact the South African STA team on +27 (11) 341 6900 or email opwall@statravel.co.za. Once you have booked your flights please email your flight itineraries to your local Opwall office. Accommodation outside expedition dates If you require accommodation before the expedition start date, or after the expedition finishes, you will need to contact the Nature and Science Foundation, and provide your international flight details with arrival and departure times (date, time, flight number), and number of accommodation nights required. You can do this by e-mailing k.s.zalat@gmail.com. If you are arriving the day before the expedition starts they will arrange for you to be met at the airport and will also arrange accommodation for you in Fox camp. The cost is $100 and includes food, accommodation and the transfer from the airport to Fox Camp plus return journey to Sharm at the end of the expedition..
We have purchased Medical and Repatriation cover to a value of £1 million each on behalf of all our volunteers and staff to ensure they are correctly covered. The cost of this is met by us and provided to you free of charge within the overall cost of your expedition. If you want to obtain additional insurance (eg loss of baggage, flight cancellation) then you would need to take out an additional insurance policy either when you purchase your flights or from another insurance provider.
Visas UK, EU, US and Canadian nationals need a tourist visa but you can get one on arrival at the airport in either Sharm or Cairo before going through passport control, which will cost approx $15. Note if you enter Egypt at Sharm they will stamp your passport without a visa, but this stamp only allows you to travel for a maximum of 2 weeks. You must therefore enter the country on a visa (which can be bought at the airport on arrival) which also allows you to stay for 1 month and can be extended if necessary up to 3 months. If you enter Egypt from Israel at Taba, a visa obtained at the border will allow you to travel to both Nuweiba and St Katherine for a maximum period of 1 month. Additional visa information can be obtained through several sites on the web, including www.visaconnection.com.
Passport Your passport must have at least 6 months left (counting from your proposed departure date from Egypt) before the expiry date, otherwise you will be refused entry. It is worthwhile carrying a photocopy of your passport with you because if it is lost you will have a much easier time getting a replacement. Also in Egypt it is required that you carry an ID card or passport with you at all times, but photocopies of passports are accepted.
Money You will need enough spending money to cover personal on-site expenditure i.e. phone calls, soft drinks, dive equipment hire etc. The unit of currency is the Egyptian Pound (LE) comprising 100 Piastres (PT) . In August 2011 the exchange rate was approximately £1 to 9.4 Egyptian pounds. Depending upon your location (and how much you want to spend on extra dive training, at the bar etc), this could range from the Egyptian pounds equivalent of 5 to 80 pounds sterling per week. Using an ATM card with Visa or Cirrus logo is the easiest and most cost effective way of getting local currency and this can be done on arrival in Sharm el Sheikh. However, you will need some small denomination notes (5 LE, 10 LE, 20 LE) and as the ATMs only dispense 100 LE and 200 LE notes it may be wise to obtain some before arrival in Egypt.
The expedition costs cover all the accommodation and food costs from the start to the end of the official expedition, transfers between sites, on-site dive training and participation in any of the research projects or training courses.
The costs paid to Operation
Wallacea do not include:
Dive equipment hire (see marine kit list for charges) Purchase of PADI Open Water Crew Pack with PIC (£55 or £52 for purchases of ten or more, if bought through us) - this can be ordered here.
Spending money Please also consider arranging a contingency fund to cover any emergencies, and check with your bank that your card will work in Egypt if you plan on using it.
Cultural Advice
When
you are in the desert, at the St Katherine research centre or in
Nuweiba you will be living in traditional Arab communities.
It is
important to respect the cultural traditions of the area by dressing
appropriately,
not giving public displays of affection to the opposite sex, not drinking
alcohol, and not using drugs of any kind. This may sound a bit hard-line, but as a guest in this country it is imperative to have only positive input.
The impression we give will last a long time. A few things to remember when in the desert or at the St Katherine site
The dress code at Nuweiba is a little more relaxed. However, girls should wear swimsuits rather than bikinis. There may be the chance to visit Nuweiba town at some point while you are there, and this town is also quite traditional. There is no alcohol available at the Fox Camp or the Nuweiba Camp. Miscellaneous The electrical power is 220V and 2 pin European style plugs are used. There is power available for charging batteries at the Fox Camp, Nuweiba Camp, and in for limited periods (when the generator is on) in Nuweiba. However, there will be no electric power during the desert survey treks. a
There are handwashing facilities for clothes at Nuweiba Camp and a washing machine (which you pay for) at Fox Camp, but clothes washing is not possible on the desert treks because all water has to be conserved.
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