My Mini-Adventure in Cairo

Cairo traffic

I was in Cairo, just months before Arab Spring arrived.  It was September 2010, and I was there to deliver an afternoon workshop.  I had never been to Africa, and this was my one chance so far.

The airport was spacious enough, but it reminded me of the one in Riyadh, relatively oldish and uncrowded.  I went outside for a taxi, and over the next hour I was stunned at how difficult it was to find one.  I walked back-and-forth the long arrival driveway, then went down cement staircases to a parking lot.  Which I had to do two or three times.  I asked a handful of people, but their English wasn't so good.  So whatever direction they gave me was a toss salad of vagary and confusion.

I don't even remember how I finally secured one.

The ride to the hotel was a mini-adventure, too.  It was about 45 minute away.  More so than I had seen in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, way too many pedestrians were crossing busy and fast avenues.  They looked rather nonchalant about it, too.  I spent most of the ride tense and nervous that the driver would hit one of them or that we'd witness such an accident with another driver.  How a people fail to, or refuse to, adapt to the pace and dangers of modern day life.

I was in Cairo just for a day trip.  The workshop went rather well, of course.  I'm good at what I do, and I prepare well for it.  Nearly all of the managers were from Egyptian companies, and I was pleased to make their acquaintance that afternoon.  They said that timeliness was a cultural issue in Egypt, and traffic was often a good excuse.  

Hmm, I thought, Cairo and Dubai must be kissing cousins.