From Cairo, Egypt to Perth / Fremantle, Australia - June, 2010

I had been recommended this company by Cytech, who often use Waguih Guindy's services to ship their motorcycles back to South Africa after their Trans-Africa tours. I had done my homework on shipping agents in Egypt, and Escale Travel (Waguih Guindy) was the only slightly positive response I got - there dont seem to be any reliable agents in Egypt. Unfortunately, Escale Travel turned out to be just as useless as the rest of the shipping agents / companies in Egypt. Their quote was more than double the price of other quotes I received (most of the other quotes were around the US$1000 mark), but I went ahead with using them as I thought that at least I would be able to relax knowing that my bike was to be well handled. Mr. Guindy also assured me that the cost included all costs, including port chargeson both ends. NOT SO!

I arrived in Cairo on 10 June, one week prior to the ship leaving on 17 June. Mr Guindy said that he would send someone to the hotel to measure the motorbike, so that they could start constructing the crate. I waited for three days and no-one arrived. Eventually I took the motorbike his premises. I also dismantled the motorbike so that it was fit for crating. Following promises my Mr Guindy that he would make sure that the motorcycle was crated and shipped by 17 June, I then left for a five day holiday to the Red Sea. Mr Guindy also promised to email me the photos of the crating process for me to approve. I received no emails.

On my return to Cairo I contacted Mr Guindy only to find that the bike had not yet even been crated, nevermind transported to Alexandria for shipment. It had also missed the ship to Fremantle!!! As I had not yet paid any monies, I spoke to Mr. Guindy about holding back 20% of the payment until I had received confirmation that the motorcycle had been shipped and once i had received the signed carnet. He refused and said that if that was the case his company would not ship the motorbike. My flight was set to leave Egypt on 26 June, so I was forced to pay the full amount, and just hope and pray that my bike would eventually be shipped.

(The Egyptian customs will only sign the carnet on confirmation that the ship has left the port, so I was reluctantly forced to leave the carnet with Mr. Guindy to get signed post shipment - he promised to post it to me in Australia once all the necessary export signatures had been signed)

After my departure from Egypt, I tried to contact Mr. Guindy a number of times. He very seldom answered his telephone and never answered his emails! I was very worried. Eventually I managed to get hold of him. He confirmed that the bike had only been shipped three weeks after my departure. I asked him if he had managed to post my signed carnet - he said that he had.

Following my bikes arrival in Perth/Fremantle, I had still not received the signed carnet. When i queried this with Mr. Guindy, I found out that he hadnt even bothered to send it as registered mail, but had sent it through the basic Egyptian postal service. The package (carnet + motorcycle keys) had gone missing!!!

To top it all off, I also received a whopping bill of $600 for the Australian Port charges, which Mr. Guindy had said that he would cover, but obviously didnt!!

When I had flown (airfreight) my bike from Perth to Johannesburg, it had only cost $2500. The cost to ship it back from Cairo was more than the cost to fly it to Africa - and i had to wait almost two months for it to arrive - so dont believe that shipping is always the cheaper option.

Be careful of ALL Egyptian shipping agents! ... and especially Escale Travel (Mr. Waguih Guindy)