INTERVIEW WITH AN EGYPT EXPEDITION LEADER

Interviewer: What's your name and where are you from?

Ahmed: My name is Ahmed Abul Ella Ali. I’m 42 and was born and raised in Giza, near Cairo.

Interviewer: When did you catch the travel bug?

Ahmed: Because I could speak English at an early age, I started working in the travel business before I actually graduated from college. That’s how I became interested in travel.

Interviewer: How many languages do you speak?

Ahmed: I speak and guide in English and I’m fluent in Arabic, but I can also communicate in Spanish, German and French.

Interviewer: Tell us about your job. How often do you go out?

Ahmed: I was a full-time guide for many years, but lately I am more like a part-time guide, going out only about half of the year. I write about Egypt and I have published a few books. My specialty is leading study tours for institutions like Harvard University.

Interviewer: What is your favourite part of the job?

Ahmed: In Egyptology, every single day brings new developments, discoveries and research, which gives me new information and topics to talk about with my customers. It’s very exciting! This is one of the reasons I continue with my job.

Interviewer: What should people know about traveling to your destination?

Ahmed: During the trip, people will see two different sides of Egypt, what I call ‘unreal Egypt and real Egypt’. This means the desert versus the valley, the rich versus the poor, the ancient versus the modern

– it is the land of paradoxes! People should realize that they will see both sides of the country.