When I got the program for my press trip to Egypt and saw that we'd be going quad biking in Hurghada, my reaction was hesitant. “A quad safari in Hurghada? AWESOMEBALLS!” meets “A quad tour in Hurghada? You mean I'll have to drive a quad in the desert???”.
You can read about my experience doing a quad tour in Hurghada below but if you're short on time, you can find information about a similar tour to the one I did and book it here.
Quad biking in Hurghada
Of course, my excitement won and when we drove up to the Hurghada Quad Safari Park that first morning in Egypt, I was all ready to rumble. First things first though: I needed to get wrapped in.
Yes, wrapped in.
Because the desert is sandy (no, really?) you have to protect yourself when quad biking and so the tour guide helped us wrap a scarf around our head (it's amazing how many techniques there are for binding a scarf!), gave us protective glasses and adorned us with a helmet.
I've never looked so fly. Check out my desert face wrap:
If you're wondering what to wear quad biking, that isn't all, though. You also need to make sure yoyou'reotect your legs as the sand will fly up and against your legs while your riding the quad.
Then off we went to our quad bike to get some instructions on how to drive these monsters. A switch to turn them on, a button to get the engine going and a thumb gas pedal.
A what?
A thumb gas pedal. As in, you had to hold something in with your thumb the entire time to move forward. If you wanted to go quicker you had to push it harder, if you wanted to slow down you had to release the pressure. No dirty jokes here.
We'd been warned that this thumb gas pedal would be tough, and it was. After half an hour my thumb was super stiff from pressing it the entire time and we hadn't even gone that fast!
But let's keep things chronological here. We were getting instructions. After the instructions we all mounted our quads and before we took off there was the obligatory posing for the photo.
We first did a couple of rounds to get the hang of it and were soon divided into two groups: the fast ones and the not so fast ones. Yes, I was in group two. Not because I didn't go fast enough but because I kept too much distance between myself and the person riding in front of me. I didn't mind, though. These machines were heavy and I found it hard to make big turns with it as I really had to use all of my arm strength (which isn't a lot).
We would drive 25 km to a Bedouin camp where we would drink tea and rest a bit before turning back. That drive was pretty okay as everyone was still learning and the guy leading us changed speeds regularly.
Still, I was happy when we arrived at the camp and I could get off for a while. My arms were pretty tired and I felt shaken, not stirred because of the bumpy ride. I really think you have an advantage riding a quad if you're a little bigger, as it's easier to stay in the saddle.
At the Bedouin camp we got to rest in the shade, drink some tea and mount a camel. I didn't mount one though. I found it a bit sad how people of my group were put on the animals, taken for a two-minute ride and then dropped off again. I wish I could've asked the bumped ones how they felt about giving rides.
I felt even more awkward when our guide approached me and told me I could take pictures of the Bedouin kids playing and the women taking care of the camels. There were some great photo opportunities there, but I didn't feel comfortable taking photos at all. As if taking those photos would reduce those people to less than people.
Does that make sense?
So I snapped a few and then returned to the shade for a few minutes before we had to start our journey back. This time our caravan leader really put his thumb to it though. We drove a constant 50 km/hour and I felt like I would be thrown off of my quad a couple of times. One time I didn't even have enough strength to fully take a turn and so I drove straight on, out of the line we were driving in.
Woops!
Luckily I managed to rejoin the group quickly and got back to the “Safari Park” in one piece.
I was exhausted, but it was SO much fun! The only thing I regretted a bit is that, when driving and following a group, you don't really have the opportunity to admire the view. And the view is amazing. I know because I did check it a few times, but when I did I immediately dropped speed and had to catch up again.
So if you're looking for things to do in Hurghada, Egypt, I'd definitely recommend quad biking in the desert!
Beautiful, isn't it?
Want to do your own Hurghada quad tour?
If you want to go quad biking in Hurghada as well, these tours come recommended:
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I was offered this tour by Thomas Cook. Know that I'll always write honestly about comped experiences like this one.
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Pam @Skinny chick travelling says
I have to admit, lately I’m thinking about – is it really something that should be done in general? I read a lot of articles about how actually all that tourism with quads and jeeps going in the dessert isn’t dessert friendly longterm. :/
Sofie says
You know Pam, you make a good point and I’m ashamed to say that I hadn’t really considered that. I think there are a lot of touristic activities that flirt with threatening the environment, or simply do it. You’re probably right that riding a quad is one of them.
However, if you reason that way there are so many things that we shouldn’t do anymore. And maybe we shouldn’t do them anymore: boat trips, taking a plane, doing a scooter tour or a helicopter flight, going water skiing behind a boat …
It’s not an easy discussion, but definitely one worth having. Either way I think that if we feel something should not be done anymore, we should also have to look for an ecological replacement. After all so many people depend on touristic activities like that quad biking tour I took.
Pam @Skinny chick travelling says
I didn’t mean that we shouldn’t do anything. I just feel that quad riding the dessert or tiger park in Thailand and similar things are not natural and shouldn’t be done just for our amusement…it’s nature, it’s wildlife, we are not better then that, we do not know better then nature, it will get back at us cause we can’t fight against we though we sometimes think we do…just a thought no hard feelings :)
Sofie says
I know you didn’t mean that:) What I wanted to say is that I think that there our tons of things that we do for our amusement that aren’t good for nature and that you can go really far in shooting those things off (or really far in not caring about them). It’s a difficult balance to maintain, but everyone should decide for themselves where that balance lies for them.
I hope that makes sense :D
Also no hard feelings! I love it when comments like yours make me think harder about the things I do on my travels.
Sand In My Suitcase says
It looks like you had fun on this quad bike tour (like ATV’s right?). But you probably had sand blowing past your face as you were blasting across the desert – that part, we wouldn’t like :-).
Sofie says
A very stripped and one-person version of an ATV :-)
The sand didn’t bother me: they wrapped our heads in scarves and gave us protective glasses and a helmet. The only downside to that was that my face didn’t bronze ;-)
Kurt Deman says
Hey Sofie!
This brings back memories ;). Mooi geschreven en inderdaad … Zelfs een Playstationduim helpt niet echt :). Veel succes nog met de blog – en vooral – je verdere reisplannen! Ik probeer regelmatig eens te piepen!
Groetjes,
Kurt
Sofie says
Hey Kurt,
Zo leuk dat je eens bent langsgekomen! Was fijn je te ontmoeten, en als je schrijvers nodig hebt, weet je me te vinden:)
Rory Cummins says
Great post Sofie… I’d have never thought there would be the opportunity to go 4 wheeling through the desert of Egypt! I”ll be adding this to my list of things to do when I can eventually make it there! I’m sure it was a memorable experience…
Sofie says
Thanks Rory! It was definitely a memorable experience and the fact that I got to share it with a cool group of people only added to that:)