Walk Like an Egyptian

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If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that we’ve made it to Egypt. If you’ve ever considered traveling to Egypt, or even if you haven’t, now is the time to travel there. First of all, the weather is ideal this time of year with highs in the upper 70’s during the day and low’s around the upper 50’s in evenings and early mornings. We keep remarking how great it feels outside and not breaking a sweat while touring outside is my kind of travel!

Second, there isn’t anyone here. Before the Arab Spring, Egypt received 14.7 million travelers a year. With the turmoil of the country in recent years, that number has dropped to 11.5 annually. My parents were here in 2006 and while in the Egyptian Museum, they commented that there was hardly anyone there and when they were there last, they couldn’t even move in parts of the museum because it was so crowded. Yesterday, we practically had the museum to ourselves. The logical question I know you are asking right now is, “Is it safe?” My answer to that is a resounding yes. But if you are still concerned, there are a couple of things that might assuage your fears and they are as follows:

  1. Travel with Ker & Downey. They take care of their clients! On arrival in Cairo, you are greeted by staff and driven by small buggy to the VIP lounge where you can enjoy drinks and snacks while customs and immigration procedures are cleared on your behalf. You don’t have to stand in line, you don’t have to go through customs, and you don’t have to even wait for your luggage. Your representative collects it for you all while you are sipping on water or a soda. This service is standard for our clients.

VIP Lounge

  1. Trust your driver and guide. They know the city and they aren’t going to lead you into danger. On our first day in Cairo, there was a small riot. We did not know about this riot until the evening when we got to our hotel and were watching the news after drinks and dessert. We all looked at each other like, “Huh?” Then we realized that the smoke we saw off in the distance was probably a small fire caused by the rioting and the helicopter we remembered seeing was hauling water to pour over the fire. But not once during the day did we feel in any type of danger. The guides usher you past street vendors and can deflect a lot of the peddling and the drivers pull as close to the sites as possible so you are not ever in danger.
  1. If you are still worried, just skip travel to Cairo. I would say this is a last resort. It would be a shame to miss the pyramids, citadel, and Egyptian Museum, but if Cairo isn’t a place you care to travel to right now, then keep on flying to Luxor and start your Egyptian journey there.

Muhhamad Ali Mosque

There’s much more to come from our travels so get ready. We’ve already seen so much and we’ve got so much more to see!