Most tourist hotels and cruise ships will serve buffet breakfast, typically consisting of cereals, bread, fruit, and hot dishes such as eggs, falafel, sausages etc. Many will also cook omelettes for you with a variety of different fillings, such as cheese, peppers and mushrooms. Smaller hotels, such as the one we stayed at in Minya will tend to stick more to the continental type breakfast of bread, cheese, cold meats etc. If you are on a wheat free diet then you may wish to bring some wheat free bread or rice cakes with you as these are not normally available, and are difficult to find even in the few supermarkets around Cairo. They do however sell Japanese Rice Crackers.
As expected, most dishes do seem to be meat based, predominantly chicken. As a Muslim country, pork is rarely if ever served. Vegetables and rice are however both plentiful and delicious.
My main concern though is of course the availability of good quality vegetarian food. Egypt has a large and delicious array of fresh fruit and vegetables, so you will have no problem there. The main area of concern if anything is finding sufficient protein, as Egypt has no tofu or meat substitutes, and even nuts are rare as they are so expensive. Eggs and beans are however plentiful and delicious, although take care to ensure that any eggs you do eat are cooked thoroughly. Because of this, most of your protein you do eat will probably be obtained at breakfast. This is not the best time of day to be doing this, and can lead to lethargy as the body attempts to break the food down, but unfortunately cannot always be avoided. To counteract the lack of protein and ensure you have adequate amounts of it throughout the day, I would strongly advise any vegetarian or vegan travellers to bring with them a range of concentrated protein foods, such as seeds and nuts. Vegans will find Egypt very difficult though, due to the over reliance on eggs and dairy products.
If anything, I found the further south you go, the better the food seemed to get. The cruise ships in particular were excellent, as most meals were served buffet style, so I could choose what I wanted to eat. In hotels and local restaurants however, the choice was somewhat more limited. In the north for some reason, the consensus seemed to be that vegetarians eat nothing but rice and aubergine, which although delicious, does tend to get a bit tiresome. I suppose it is a change though from the ever present vegetable lasagne (for those of us that eat wheat that is!). I had a veggie burger twice, which on each occasion seemed to consist of more potato than anything else. One further word of warning should be made regarding soups. With the exception of those labelled 'cream of' they tend to be made almost exclusively with chicken stock. The Egyptians also seem to have very little concept of slaughter by products such as gelatine. If in doubt always ask. Your tour guide or group leader should be able to help.
Some useful Arabic phrases for vegetarian travellers to Egypt can be found here.
With regard to drinks, the most essential item is of course adequate supplies of bottled water. Western style tea and coffee are usually served at breakfast, but other than that, if you drink these beverages during the day I would advise you to bring your own supplies. Egyptian coffee tends to be very much like Turkish, served in small cups, strong and sweet. Egyptian tea is also an acquired taste, served hot and black with mint rather than milk. A hibiscus tea is also available which I found sweet and delicious with a unique flavour similar to some of the Rosehip teas available at home. If you bring your own tea (of coffee) bags and ask for hot water and milk at restaurants, I usually found I was not charged but this may not always be the case. I did not see hot chocolate on the menu of any of the restaurants that we visited, but as this is a cold weather drink you are unlikely to want it anyway.
Photography
Egypt is undoubtedly one of the most photogenic countries I have visited in terms of not just the monuments themselves, but also in terms of human interest. You should be aware though, that if you choose to take photographs of the native Egyptians in market places or whatever, then they may well demand a fee for their trouble. In these situations a small, unobtrusive compact camera can be a real boon.
As far as photographing the monuments are concerned, the wider angle lens you can get your hands on the better. For temples such as Karnak, a 19 mm or similar will probably be all you need. Zoom lens are of course invaluable for the increased versatility they offer, but if you have the money, and are able to carry them, fixed focal lengths usually offer far superior quality. I myself took 2 lenses with me, a fixed 19 mm, and a 24 - 50 mm zoom, both of which were used liberally. In addition to this, I also had a small Yashica compact, with a longer 38 - 105 zoom, which proved invaluable for photographing markets and street scenes, and also on the cruise ship for photographing the Nile. I cannot envisage anyone needing anything longer than this, but this depends of course on your own particular interests.
Whichever type of photography you do, there are three things that are absolutely essential for a successful trip. Firstly spare batteries, secondly adequate cleaning equipment to protect your valuable equipment from sand and grit, and thirdly a good set of polarising filters. These have the effect of absorbing stray UV light and intensifying the blue skies.
As far as film is concerned, although Kodak and Fuji are available for very reasonable prices at many of the tourist sites, it would be a pity to spoil your trip worrying about such things. It will again depend on what type of camera and photography you do, but as a guide during my 16 day trip I used 20 rolls. On the other hand, I met one character who claimed to have used 58! Something between those 2 figures then would seem to be a sensible solution. If you buy them from Jessops who have branches nationwide, it is worth knowing that you get 10 percent discount on 10 or more rolls. The same also seems to apply to processing, which can be more expensive than buying the films themselves!
As with any destination, a few common sense rules apply with regard to photographing military installations such as bridges and airports. In a word, don't! Use of zoom lenses is prohibited at the Aswan Dam. When I visited it was too hazy to see much anyway.
