We continue our 16,000 mile flight from Edmonton, Canada to Perth, Australian. After leaving Crete, Elder G and I flew down to Cairo to refuel. We did not linger.
To give you a sense of how screwed up Cairo is, check out this behind-the-scenes video of a YouTuber trying to film a food review in Cairo. At every turn, he is met with extortion, equipment confiscation, demands for bribes, bullying by police, threats of arrest…
Cairo is especially dangerous for women visitors, whether alone, with family, or on tours. Do a quick google search and you’ll see what we mean.
Disappointing Wikipedia Entry
The WLBOTT research team was disappointed in the Wikipedia article about Cairo. It’s mostly a rah-rah Chamber of Commerce post. But we were able to glean some factoids:
Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate. It is home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world, and the Middle East. The Greater Cairo metropolitan area is one of the largest in the world by population with over 22 million people.
Here’s a bazaar and telling entry. Were the Wikipedia article writers proud of this fact?
Until the 20th century, Cairo had a sizeable Jewish community, but as of 2022 only three Jews were reported to be living in the city. A total of 12 synagogues in Cairo still exist.
Cairo also has many unregistered lead and copper smelters which heavily pollute the city. The results of this has been a permanent haze over the city with particulate matter in the air reaching over three times normal levels. It is estimated that 10,000 to 25,000 people a year in Cairo die due to air pollution-related diseases.
The city also suffers from a high level of land pollution. Cairo produces 10,000 tons of waste material each day, 4,000 tons of which are not collected or managed.
