Unexpected – Why does nobody bring their kite anymore on a kite safari?

In the constant quest to have as many kites as possible, I thought I finally had too many — 86 according to my last count this winter, plus some that I brought from Europe, bringing the total to around 100.

I thought: «Finally, I’m good. I maybe even have too many kites. But who cares, I love cleaning them.» I was wrong. I still love cleaning them, but 100 is not enough.

It turns out that most kiters don’t bring their gear anymore on kite safaris in Egypt, and if I have, for example, a busy week (like Easter next week, with more than 50 kiters across 2 yachts), when everyone needs gear, I’m in trouble — I need kites for everyone, covering 15 to 25 knots of wind. It’s a lot of kites.

Let’s try to figure out why people don’t bring their kites on my trips.

HOW EXPENSIVE IS TOO EXPENSIVE?

Kites are expensive, and if you want to be an independent rider, you need to have 2–3 kites, a board, and a harness. We are easily talking over €2000 (more if you buy everything new).

I do understand if you are a student (as a student myself, I didn’t have any kites), but if you can ride, you should own your gear. Unless…

TRAVELLING WITH KITE GEAR IS NOT CHEAP (AND MESSY)

Airlines are not 100% ready to handle kite gear. Every airline has different prices for sports luggage (most of the time kitesurfing equipment is not even mentioned, so you have to choose windsurfing equipment — who even travels with windsurfing gear anymore?). Sometimes you even need to call the airline to add your sports luggage. The whole process seems complicated…

And if you finally decide to bring your kite gear, it’s not cheap. I rent a full kite setup with board and harness for €300 — airlines can easily charge more than €100 each way to fly to Egypt. It seems illogical to carry all that stuff from your home to the airport and back just to save €100, right?

This means you really need to be motivated to bring your gear to Egypt. You probably love your kites so much that you want to travel with them. But looks like most people don’t love their kites so much…

SO WHAT’S NEXT FOR ME?

Buy more kites. Be ready for whatever happens. If something breaks, fix it ASAP.

If you have any other ideas on why most people don’t come with their own kites, please let me know — I’m genuinely curious.