Fancyellow Reviews

What a fantastic time - thank you Fancyellow

I do not know where to start with this review as Omar and his team at Fancyellow were consistently outstanding I approached Fancyellow reasonably last-minute having already booked flights and accommodation for Algiers as the Consulate informed me that I would need to be on an official tour Having read the reviews online I contacted Omar about joining a trip and he replied very quickly Having ascertained our needs he put together a suggested itinerary of a day s touring in Algiers a day to see Tipaza and the Royal Mausoleum of Mauritania and a day-trip to Constantine He also arranged transfers to and from the airport either side of this Communication in the lead-up to the trip was consistent and helpful and it was delightful to meet Omar at Algiers airport as he collected the two of us in person He drove us to our hotel giving us details of the following days and facts about Algeria and assisted us with changing our Euros into Dinar He then left us to settle into our hotel for the evening The next morning we were met by our first guide Zaki an Algiers local who wasted no time in whisking us to the Metro for the start of our tour It was so helpful having a local person to take us around Algiers especially in the Casbah which is a veritable maze of streets stairs and doors Zaki was very jolly and knowledgeable and let us go at our own pace stopping to take photos and indeed stopping us taking photos at the appropriate times when police and army were present The price of the tour included all refreshments and Zaki took us to a lovely cafe for morning tea and then to a traditional restaurant for lunch where we had chakhchoukha a local dish with an Algerian type of pasta In the afternoon we had been scheduled to visit the Jardin d Essai but since we had done this by ourselves the previous afternoon Zaki amended the tour to take us to the Mus e de Beaux Arts This was a fantastic addition to our tour It houses both Algerian art works and a collection of works left behind by the French following independence Through the drawings and paintings and Zaki s interpretations we felt that we started to understand more the context of modern Algeria and its history especially in relation to the French occupation Our last activity with Zaki was a cable-car trip up to the Martyrs Memorial Museum At the museum Zaki led us around the exhibitions and it was again a real privilege to have a local person s view on the material and the history which it portrays After a final coffee with Zaki it was the end of the day and we parted with an evening restaurant recommendation in hand The next day was our trip to Tipaza and the Mausoleum driven by Omar and with our guide for the day Bilal I can honestly say that I have rarely had so much fun with tour guides as we had on that day Both Bilal and Omar made us feel really at ease and we had a wonderful time Tipaza is breathtaking Although it may not be the largest or best-preserved Roman ruins in Algeria the situation next to the sea is beautiful Being one of the smaller ruins it was not overwhelmed with crowds and we felt that we were able to explore at our leisure Bilal guided us giving information along the way and an impromptu performance in the theatre Lunch was another lovely local meal Even as a vegetarian I was well catered and really enjoyed my spicy chickpea soup The Mausoleum which is not accessible by public transport at all was out-of-this-world I felt that I was given a glimpse into something non-Western Especially in Britain it feels like education about the ancient world stops with the Greeks and the Roman maybe the Egyptians and so it was fascinating to see ancient ruins from another time and another culture along with the historical facts narrated by Bilal We ended the day back at the hotel again with another restaurant recommendation That evening we went by ourselves to visit the Notre Dame d Afrique cathedral The cable car was broken so we walked up and back in the evening Several people expressed concerns for our safety before we went but we honestly never felt unsafe walking around Algiers In fact if you are obviously not from there I m tall and blond people will go out of their way to be helpful and offer directions when you get lost The next day continued our amazing trip Omar had arranged flights to leave Algiers in the morning and come back in the evening On landing in Constantine we were met by our driver and then joined by our guide Wided Wided is currently researching her PhD in North African ancient monuments so we could not have had a better guide Constantine is perched on top of a valley and offers so many sites From the bridges and the river to the outstanding Ottoman palace I find it incredible that the Ottoman palace is not famous worldwide It is a big complex with excellently preserved paintwork and tiling and gives a real flavour of Algeria under the Ottoman rule Despite the rain Wided skillfully guided us to lunch where we enjoyed more enormous helpings of Algerian cuisine Everywhere we went in Constantine it felt like people knew Wided and as a result we received excellent treatment The museum after lunch again surpassed all expectations with a wealth of Ottoman Punic and Roman artifacts Being alone in the museum with Wided and the exhibits again felt like a huge privilege and her knowledge of what we were viewing really enhanced the visit Our final activity of the day was a trip to the Amir Abdelkader Mosque This could not have been a better way to round off our trip to Algeria Wided guided us thoughtfully around the men s section and even introduced us to the Imam who was so welcoming that he even gave us a personal tour of the women s section and opened up the courtyard for us The construction and artistic style of the mosque is cavernous and overwhelming but also intricate and contemplative After this and a coffee Wided made sure that we arrived back at the airport safely The next day with heavy hearts we were collected at the hotel and driven to the airport I cannot recommend Fancyellow tours highly enough From the skilled knowledgeable guides to the planning by Omar we never felt unsure and things seemed to happen with a magical smoothness - the hallmark of a well-organised tour I was impressed with the level of autonomy given to the guides by Omar as it helped each of them tailor the day to our wishes The price also seemed very reasonable Everyone was so friendly to us both guides and Algerians and I am very excited to return to Algeria in the future to explore the southern regions of this huge and enticing country And of course I shall be using Fancyellow