Cairo to Cape Blog
15 - 19 November 2008
To Drive or Not to Drive
By far Cairo boasts 2 of the most dangerous activities in the World - no. 1 driving in Cairo and no.2 crossing the road! Apparently there are road rules...although we could never work them out. One thing that has to be said about drivers in Cairo, they know the exact width and length of their vehicle and although most vehicles have at least seven dents per side they manage to maneuver their way through traffic with relative ease - or so it seems. Drivers sit continuously on their horns, tooting at anything and everything and the noise continues all night. The pace is fast and furious, pedestrians are seen as a mere obstacle not worth slowing for and police a mere nuisance rudely interrupting the flow of traffic; stop lights, lane markers and turning arrows are simply for decoration! Anything goes...And goes fast!
While the group shopped, explored the Egyptian Museum and visited the Pyramids it was my job to secure our visas for Ethiopia and Sudan. I decided to start with Ethiopia for 2 reasons; no.1. easiest to obtain, and no.2 although the Sudanese told me it was not compulsory to show onward travel to secure a Sudanese visa; experience told me otherwise (and I was right!) - one form, a couple of photos and a few words about how great the roads now are in Ethiopia saw our passports placed on top of the pile. They were ready for collection the following morning at 8am.
One Embassy is not like Another
Sudan visas are very obtainable albeit the need to jump through a few hoops first. Nothing comes easy and although providing all the necessary paperwork, the Sudanese still found a couple of bits of paper requiring photocopying an additional 9 times. A constant smile and tales of previous visits to Sudan finally saw our applications accepted and on the pile to process.
The most wonderful thing about the Sudanese Embassy in Cairo is it does not look like an Embassy. Considering that even Sudanese Nationals need a travel permit to travel through their own country one would think the Embassy would resemble your typical Western highly secured area with metal detectors, body search rooms, bullet proof glass, registration books and more registration books, interrogation about what business you have at this Embassy and once all is satisfied you are issued with a plastic clip-on pass stating your reason - VISITOR or PASSPORT or VISA. The Sudanese have taken a very different approach, there is a sad looking flag out the front of the old, well-worn, un-maintained building, two open entrances taking you into the heart of the Embassy and hub of activity without books to fill, ID to show, no metal detectors, no searches, no passes to apply for. What you face when entering are about 70 people crammed into a small space with a few staff placed in semi-random places.
Sitting in the Embassy can provide hours of entertainment as virgin Sudanese Embassy users walk in; look for a few seconds and then walk out looking back at the building for any indication they are in the right place! Bewildered they wander back in to be swallowed in the chaos of pushing and shoving to get to the right desk.
Although unwritten, the system works relatively well. There is at least 1 person sitting at a desk in the middle of the room - he has all the visas, travel permit forms etc. Once forms are filled there is a guy who (for a fee) can photocopy relevant documentation, then to the window signed Passports (in English and Arabic). He has nothing to do with passports but rather checks and approves visa and travel permit applications; he will inevitably find something wrong with the application and send you off to sort or to his mate at the photocopier to make more copies. Once again join the queue for 30 minutes or so until reaching the front and once again the application is checked. If all is in order he scribbles over the application and hands it back. If you are lucky he says "Cashier" - most times he just waves you away from the window leaving unknowing travelers once again confused. At the cashiers all your papers are handed over, he too intently checks them before taking your money and writing out a lengthy receipt which is stapled to the application and handed back with a wave. Back to the Passport guy where it is placed on a pile and you are told to sit down and wait. And wait, and wait, and wait, and wait. Seldom is the visa ready that day, so it is polite to wait for about 1 hour before approaching the window again and asking if it is worth returning the following morning when the Embassy opens - inevitably the answer is yes.
All in all the visa process was relatively painless and quick - started Sunday morning and all was done by Tuesday lunch time.
Never too old for a Birthday Party
At heart we are all kids and nothing like a 60th birthday to bring the kid out; so for Linda's birthday we booked a table at a very nice restaurant, ordered the cake, collected a bunch of goodies and of course decorated the table with party hats and whistles. When I went to the restaurant earlier that afternoon to decorate the table the waiters and manager began to freak! Felfela is a very nice restaurant and the management thought party hats and whistles were not in line with the image they were trying to uphold. A quick word to the manager that it was "my old mothers 60th birthday" soon settled the nerves and I was allowed to continue. Hans particularly took to the whistle blowing and attempted a few tunes; Fred complained his whistle did not make enough noise! A great local Egyptian meal with bottles of wine and local Stella beer topped off with a superb birthday cake made for an enjoyable and hopefully memorable birthday celebration for Linda.
Click here for more information
