Camel Safaris in Israel and Egypt

Often when something goes wrong, people wind up having their most memorable travel experiences, such as the time many years ago I wound up hitching a ride on a camel.

I was with a small group traveling by Jeep through the Sinai Desert when we had mechanical problems. We ended up at the roadside while our guide prepared to go back to town for help. Out of nowhere, several Bedouins appeared and gazed down at us from their perches atop their camels.

Fortunately, our guide knew a couple of them. He quickly made arrangements for us to get “a lift” to their small homestead, where we relaxed, drank tea and played with their children until our vehicle was repaired.

Today’s budget travelers don’t have to leave these types of exotic experiences to chance. This winter, the travel bureau of Israel’s youth hostel association is offering a variety of economical packages and do-it-yourself holidays for Israel and Egypt that include transportation by public bus, rental car, Jeep and camel.

The eight-day “Camel Safari” holiday includes dormitory accommodations and breakfasts at the Tel Avi and Elat youth hostels, plus bus transportation to Elat and five nights’ traveling and camping in the desert. Camels, guides, meals, camping equipment and the use of a sleeping bag are included in the $400 price.

For youths who like the idea of camping in the Sinai and snorkeling along its coast, but prefer wheeled transportation, a good alternative to the Camel Safari would be the seven-day, $380 “In the Footsteps of Moses” package, which begins in Tel Aviv and also includes a stop in Elat.

Those who would like to relax by the Red Sea can sign up for 8- or 11-day do-it-yourself holiday packages that include seven nights in the Elat Youth Hostel. Breakfast and dinner, a Jeep safari with lunch, and a Red Sea cruise with lunch is part of the $240 eight-day package. The 11-day trip, which costs $315, includes a night with breakfast at the Tel Aviv Youth Hostel, coach transportation to Elat and two nights at the end of the tour--with breakfast and dinner--at the Jerusalem Youth Hostel.

Independent travelers without fixed plans can opt for a series of “Israel on the Youth Hostel Trail” packages that include vouchers valid for youth hostel accommodations (in rooms with two to eight beds), plus unlimited bus transportation, maps and a pass to Israel’s national parks. The seven-day trip costs $220; 14 days, $420; 21 days, $585, and 28 days, $760.

Those who would like to visit Egypt get two options. Twelve-day, $395 holidays start in Tel Aviv and include bus transportation to Cairo, three nights in Cairo with breakfast in a tourist hotel and return transportation to Jerusalem, plus seven nights in youth hostels in Israel and three days of guided touring in Israel.

Nine-day “Land of the Pharaohs” packages for $530 begin in Tel Aviv and include bus transportation to Cairo, sightseeing in the Cairo area, first-class train transportation to Luxor, a bus to Aswan, and accommodations with breakfast in tourist-class hotels. Return is to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

Also available are packages that combine youth hostel or guest-house accommodations with a rental car. Participants must be at least 21 and are charged an extra $5 per day insurance surcharge if they are between 21 and 23.

For more details on these and other packages, contact the Youth Travel Bureau, Israel Youth Hostel Assn., 3 Dorot Rishonim St., P.O. Box 1075, Jerusalem 91009, telephone 011-972-2-252706.