r/solareclipse

I couldn’t not share!

After returning home from Spain where I experienced an awesome total eclipse, I’ve lost count of the times people have told me they were unimpressed by the eclipse. Every unimpressed viewer of course had witnessed a partial eclipse. I’ve tried comparing in terms of a house-cat and a full grown wild tiger. A total is a beast by comparison. I don’t think it’s hitting home sadly. I guess seeing is believing and that’s all I can say.

I’m planning a trip to Egypt for the August 2027 eclipse, but after issues with multiple Airbnb hosts, I’m starting to wonder if I should cut my losses and go somewhere else.

Back in February, I booked three Airbnbs in Luxor for 4 nights. I intentionally booked multiple places because it was so far in advance and I wanted some protection against cancellations. Two were around $200 total and one was about $1,500.

In May, one of the $200 hosts messaged me saying he was selling the apartment and told me to cancel. I suspected the eclipse pricing may have been the real issue, so I offered to pay more if that was the concern. He never responded.

That left me with two reservations.

Two weeks ago, EgyptAir opened bookings and I needed to shift the trip one day earlier. Before buying the flights, I contacted both remaining hosts and both agreed to the date change.

For the remaining $200 Airbnb, I brought up the pricing myself because I wanted the host to be fairly compensated given the eclipse demand. I offered to increase the price to $1,500 for the 4 nights, which she happily accepted.

The other host, whose reservation was already $1,500, said he hadn’t realized how high demand would be when he originally accepted my booking. He told me he wished he had charged more, but would honor the original price “out of respect” for me.

Then three days ago he changed his mind and demanded $3,000 per night - $12,000 for four nights.

I refused, not only because he specifically agreed to honor the original price, but because quite frankly my group cannot afford that.

So now I’m effectively relying on one Airbnb. The remaining host has been responsive and seems genuine, but she also seems somewhat inexperienced with Airbnb, and after already having problems with 2 of my 3 reservations, I’m getting nervous.

The financial risk is also starting to bother me. So far I’ve only booked the Cairo – Luxor round-trip flights, which were about $800 per person and are non-refundable. I have not booked our flights to Cairo yet, which could be another roughly $1,400 per person.

So right now I can still walk away from Egypt and take the loss on the $800/person domestic airfare. What worries me is fully committing, spending another $1,400/person getting to Cairo, and then having the remaining Airbnb host eventually realize how much people are willing to pay and cancel, demand more money, or leave us scrambling once we get to Luxor.

Hotels would make me much more comfortable, but they seem either sold out or comically expensive for the eclipse.

I’m honestly considering taking the loss on the Luxor airfare and pivoting to Jeddah, Morocco, or southern Spain. Egypt is definitely my first choice, but I’m starting to worry the eclipse is going to make it open season for taking advantage of tourists (in a country that is unfortunately already known for this on a regular basis).

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

I often see on here and elsewhere that the difference between totality and a 99% eclipse is “night and day”.

Having now seen a total eclipse at a fairly regular height above the horizon, and one at sunset, I can genuinely say IMO the difference in the experience is as great as the difference between total and deep partial.

If anyone gets the chance to view one at sunset, I thoroughly recommend it, and would go out of my way to try and be pretty much as late in the path as possible.

I’m planning on going to Tangier for the eclipse next year. My question for people who have experienced a total eclipse - what is the best way to view in your opinion? By this I mean we could go to the main beach or cap spartel where there will likely be crowds (and perhaps seeing this with a crowd could create an amazing community experience), or is this the kind of awe inspiring moment thats better experienced in solitude? Like a balcony or a more remote location with loved ones?

For people who have seen multiple eclipses, hows does the experience of the first one compare to the rest?

I witnessed my first eclipse in Spain this year, and would never have imagined it looks/ feels so beautiful. No words can describe it. I wonder if it’s because it was my first one, or if people get the same feeling every time.