FROM scaling pyramids to snorkelling in the Red Sea, Egypt is one big adventure for Food Editor Kirsty Spence and her teen.
Blinking into the sun, I can’t believe my eyes as I spot a shimmering oasis ahead of us – it’s not something you expect to see in the middle of the Sahara desert.
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But then our driver Ahmed announces this particular spot is known for its mirages!
And it will prove to be just one of the wonders Egypt offers my 12-year-old daughter Ava and I on our most adventurous trip to date.
We’re staying on Egypt’s eastern coastline in Soma Bay, but are venturing inland on a desert Jeep safari, a thrilling ride soaring over dunes and drifting across sand, all expertly handled by Ahmed.
The trip includes a stop at a Bedouin village, where we watch families making bread and weaving beautiful rugs.
Camel rides are on offer, too.
The tour also includes a delicious traditional meal of chicken and vegetables, plus displays of belly dancing, fire spinning and tanoura – a traditional Sufi folk dance done in big, bold skirts, which is exhausting just to watch, especially in the 40°C heat.
A 3.5-hour desert safari costs from £52 (@Alex.safari.somabay).
Sea-ing Red
At our base, the five-star Kempinski Hotel Soma Bay, a 50-minute palm-lined drive from Hurghada airport, staff welcome guests like family.
The view of the Red Sea and desert mountains from its marble-clad foyer is jaw-dropping, and Ava can’t wait to jump in the pool, complete with Lazy River and inflatables.
Our twin room is spacious, with a balcony overlooking lush gardens, and for the weekly Chill & Grill we are whisked to the shore to feast on succulent lobster, barbecued meats and pineapple shawarma, beneath a starlit sky.
Add in a glass of Egyptian wine, £7.65, and it’s all I need to feel like a queen!
The hotel has three eateries, including Bamboo Shoot for sushi, and sundowners are served on beanbags every Wednesday on the 400m private beach, while singers serenade you.
Breakfast in The View restaurant is extravagant, with home-made jams, patisserie-standard cakes, an egg station and even Egyptian porridge – made from wheat berries, sweet milk and spice.
It’s the perfect fuel for some morning aerial yoga with Mary at the hotel, £10 for an hour – and just what my knotted shoulders need.
Water Find
The naturally preserved peninsula of Soma Bay has become a world-class destination for watersports, especially kitesurfing, windsurfing and diving, so we hop aboard local guide Ibrahim’s boat to see what all the fuss is about.
Soon enough, we are snorkelling above a crystal-clear carpet of the most beautiful coral, teeming with colourful fish.
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A one-hour boat trip with snorkelling kit included costs from £60 (@Happy_turtle_somabay).
Later, we watch fellow boats come and go from Sobar’s shady terrace in the marina, where we tuck into octopus shrimp salad with glass noodles and zesty lemon sauce, £10, washed down with delicious Sobar chillers – a mix of grapefruit, orange, mint and ginger, £2 (@sobarsomabay.com).
Pyramid Scheme
One morning, at the pretty painful time of half-past midnight, I coax Ava from her slumber to catch a minibus to Cairo.
While the ancient sites of Luxor are only a two-hour drive from the bay, we’ve opted for the big-ticket Pyramids of Giza as a day trip with Hurghadian Tours.
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Blinking into the darkness at each service-station stop, I’m reminded of days spent travelling in my 20s, before finally – seven hours later – we arrive in the capital to a warm welcome from our tour guide, Laila.
One iced coffee down, and we’re ready to see the treasures of the EMC, home to the world’s largest collection of Egyptian artefacts.
My tween’s ears prick up when it’s revealed how Cleopatra achieved her famous eyeliner flick, and the sarcophagi and mummies don’t disappoint (Egyptianmuseumcairo.eg).
We also find out how the papyrus plant is turned into paper, and Ava chooses a print, to which her name is added in hieroglyphics, £20.
After a short cruise on the Nile, which neither of us believes is really happening, we gain our first, unforgettable glimpse of the pyramids from our minibus.
Tickets to the Pyramids of Giza include hop-on-hop-off buses between the main structures – Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu, each built for a pharaoh.
We even get to climb one, giving us a sense of how ginormous the bricks are, and discover it took up to 40,000 labourers 37 years to build the biggest in 2500BC.
We finish with Sphinx selfies! Cairo day trips cost from £85, including lunch, museum and site entry (Hurghadiantours.com).
Spa-hara Desert
Luckily, just a five-minute buggy ride from the hotel is one of Egypt’s best spas – The Cascades Spa & Thalasso – providing the perfect place to recover from our long day exploring one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Here, a 750m-square hydrotherapy seawater pool promises to pummel every part of your body, in the best possible way.
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And it does, as we move around a series of zones, each with jets and currents to work on toning and treating specific parts of the body.
A 60-minute aqua tonic treatment costs £30 (Thecascadesspa.com).
As the sun sets, we relax under the straw parasols, with burrata salad and pizza, each £4.50, and frozen pina coladas, £6 (virgin for Ava, obvs), at Soma Bay’s super-chic Wyte Beach Club (@Wytesomabeachclub).
We admire the same incredible view of the Red Sea and desert mountains we were wowed by when we arrived, and toast our Egyptian adventure.
Ava’s geography teacher, Mr Jones, will be hearing every single jaw-dropping detail, I’ve no doubt…
