Meet your tour guides
Introducing your hosts and guides Samia Fouad and Robert Twigger
Samia Fouad
Samia Fouad is a journalist who was born and raised in Cairo, attending the Mere de Dieu school as well as the American University in Cairo. She also attended the University of Southern California and Bonn University Germany. She has worked as a news journalist in Arabic TV and Radio for many major organisations, as well as having been head of the English language section of the German Press Agency in Cairo.
Samia is an insider and expert on all things Cairene and Egyptian. It is her insights, contacts and expertise which make Cool Cairo such an amazing and enlightening experience in connecting to the many strands of the culture, a culture that many find hard to penetrate or hardly even suspect exists…She is an amateur painter and has exhibited alongside many top Egyptian artists at the Caravan art exhibition. Her insider contacts in the creative world of Egypt are what led us to design Cool Cairo as a tour.
Robert Twigger
Robert Twigger is a writer, explorer and raconteur who has been sharing his love and interest in Egypt through books, talks and tours since 2005. He was born in the UK and educated at Oxford University where he won the Newdigate poetry prize; former winners include Oscar Wilde and John Ruskin. He then lived for three years in Japan, the subject of his first book Angry White Pyjamas which won the coveted Somerset Maugham award; previous winners include Doris Lessing, John Le Carre and Zadie Smith. After writing several more books he moved to Cairo with his wife Samia. They lived here permanently until 2011 and then on and off until the present day. As well as writing and journalism he has presented documentaries including the National Geographic film Big Snake. He is the author of Red Nile, the bestselling cultural history of Egypt’s River Nile as well as the Egyptian desert exploration book Lost Oasis. In total he has published 15 books translated into 16 languages, Robert has led desert tours and was the first person to walk with camels from Dakhla to Siwa oasis, over the great sand sea, a distance of over 600km. He has written the official Egyptian Tourist Authority guides to Alexandria and the Western Desert. In addition he has taught creative writing at Moniach Mhor writing centre and the Wigtown School of Writing. This experience helped inspire the 1001 Nights tour – writing and living the magic stories of Cairo. There is more about him on wikipedia
“ I loved the setting, and the group meals and activities created a strong sense of community. It was well thought out, and I've left feeling empowered and inspired. What you have created here is wonderful.”
- Lucy-Jane Carter
“The wealth of knowledge Rob provided was incredible and inspiring. I enjoyed every moment, meeting amazing people and making great memories. I look forward to the next one!”
-Henry Mozley
All photos on the site are either by acclaimed photographer Stephen Timpe or by Robert Twigger or Richard Mohun.
GET THE RIGHT GEAR!
Preliminary Info for the 15th Jan 2027 Desert trip
1. Walking gear
I started off my desert walking career in Timberland boots, then I moved to walking boots and then trainers and finally I realised sandals were the best for me. In any case sandals are very good camp footwear and you will need a change from your walking gear.
Boots get sweaty and sand always finds a way in. Blisters often result. In a warm climate (not hot- day time temperatures will be in low-mid 20s and down to 10 C at night maybe less) walking in the sun your feet will expand in possibly too tight boots. Again add sweat and sand and blisters are more likeley than yomping over a cold peat moor in Scotland. So if you choose walking boots then make sure they are at least a size too big and that you can scale down to one pair of thin socks when your feet swell.
Trainers also work- but use sand gaiters as otherwise they will fill with sand causing blisters and discomfort after a while.
Sandals are what the natives wear for good reason. Sand comes in but it tips out too. Your feet don’t sweat. I walked 600 desert km in clarks sandals with zero blisters. But these were hard soled, with heals and not that flexible. My new sandals will be flexible soled and have a zero drop- kind of like open toed trainers.
Feel free to ask me about any of these choices. I have taken people in Blundstones and also army style desert boots- both got blisters but not very badly. Better to wear boots you have broken in and are used to than new gear that is untested. But bring two pairs of shoes that can be used for walking- either trainers and boots, trainers and sandals, or boots and sandals etc.
2. Hydration
First off I HATE canelback style hydration systems for the desert! They get dirty and are hard to clean. They are a pain to fill up and worst of all they encourage sipping in the heat of daytime walking rather than hydrating during cool periods- before and after the main exertion. Bedouin don’t sip- they drink quite large amounts early in the morning or in the evening. The body registers this water for hydration and not for cooling. So we don’t sweat it out taking valuable salts with it. Drinking hot tea during the day shifts the ‘set point’ for sweating too and generally helps with keeping hydrated.
That said there will be more than enough to drink (we carry huge reserves). The preferred style is to walk with a supplied 1.5litre water bottle in a coolbag we supply that you can sling over your shoulder. If you have a preferred other style of water bottle that’s fine too. The cool bag and bottle can be left out the night before and will retain their coolness for most of the day’s walk. I always add some orange taste powder (which we will have a lot of) as plain water can get hard to drink all the time. From time to time I also add salt if I think I getting low.
3. Clothing
Long trouser and long sleeved shirts with collars reduce sun burn and water loss. And if you have to sit in the sun they reduce discomfort. You can get super lightweight linen, cotton or quickdry style. We will give everyone a bedouin style headscarf but bring a hat too. Sunglasses. At night a fleece and Jacket. Long underwear are good for evenings too if your trousers are thin.
4. Weather
It is PERFECT walking weather at this time. Daytime: usually sunny, 20-25C. Night: 15-5C.
5. Tents and sleeping bags and sleeping mats
Bring a sleeping bag you are comfortable with. Bring one that goes down to 0C or even minus 5C. The contrast with the day can make the night seem colder. We have blankets too so don’t worry if you think your bag isn’t warm enough. We supply all tents and mattresses but if you have a lightweight tent, one or two man, you love to use, it is no problem to bring that too. Same with mattresses, if you have a thermarest or something you like you can bring that too, though the sand is so soft you can often get away with no mattress at all. Let us know though if you are bringing tents.
