We certainly picked an interesting time to visit Egypt and an even better time to leave. The scenes flooding out of Cairo are interesting to us in part because the focal point of the protests are taking place very close to where we stayed, but mostly because one of our lasting memories of Cairo was how safe we felt and how friendly everybody was.
The TVs at the Cairo airport were showing scenes from the streets of Tunis while we were waiting for our flight to Kenya, an eerie foreshadowing of events to come. The uprising there made me think about our tour guide Michael. Michael was very smart, gentle, and soft-spoken, but his demeanor changed when the topic of the government was brought up. He firmly believed that the last election was fraudulent. His frustration was palpable: the government was more concerned about spreading Islam and staying in power than it was about building the country. We asked once about all of the children who were selling trinkets at the tourist stops.
“Is school compulsory?â€
“Yes it is, but…the government, they don’t care. They don’t do anything about it.â€
I hope Egypt comes out of the turmoil healthier, stronger, and with the government they deserve. I hope that Cairo is able to recover and continue to be the dynamic, safe, friendly city that we experienced. And I hope Michael and all of the friends we made there are safe.
On a different note…I’m writing this post on the patio of our room in the middle of Tsavo East national park. Less than 100m away is a watering hole with elephants drinking and having a much-deserved afternoon bath to escape the heat. This safari business is pretty sweet.