{"id":63971,"date":"2026-01-15T16:17:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T22:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=63971"},"modified":"2026-01-20T04:29:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T10:29:49","slug":"dreamtime-cairo-cai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=63971","title":{"rendered":"Dreamtime \/ Cairo (CAI)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?page_id=64103\">Circumnavigation series<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=64068\">Next in the series<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Heraklion \u2192 Cairo (CAI): ~360 miles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We continue our 16,000 mile flight from Edmonton, Canada to Perth, Australian. After leaving Crete, <strong>Elder G<\/strong> and <strong>I<\/strong> flew down to Cairo to refuel. We did not linger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/cdc869irg34vccoaocbaq\/N550CG-Nanaimo-To-Australia_me.jpg?rlkey=2hncszkkx6m9r4bbkcuteefx6&amp;st=36adbsyf&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/cdc869irg34vccoaocbaq\/N550CG-Nanaimo-To-Australia_me.jpg?rlkey=2hncszkkx6m9r4bbkcuteefx6&amp;st=36adbsyf&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/ib7hs0a6c75ulz660pyrx\/N550CG-Nanaimo-To-Australia_03.jpg?rlkey=u77xwx67a2zkwb5f084x61lqj&amp;st=el56kq7l&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/ib7hs0a6c75ulz660pyrx\/N550CG-Nanaimo-To-Australia_03.jpg?rlkey=u77xwx67a2zkwb5f084x61lqj&amp;st=el56kq7l&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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\u2026<br>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"899\" height=\"505\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8LzuZrkEY18\" title=\"Egypt Travel Nightmare!! Why I\u2019ll Never Go Back!!\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<br>\nCairo is especially dangerous for women visitors, whether alone, with family, or on tours. Do a quick google search and you&#8217;ll see what we mean.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/smecitm9qt6wkpx11kdjf\/irl_2026_01_15_0008.png?rlkey=vzlco1cqrrk7zxnor4ex8tein&amp;st=nzfm8xts&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/smecitm9qt6wkpx11kdjf\/irl_2026_01_15_0008.png?rlkey=vzlco1cqrrk7zxnor4ex8tein&amp;st=nzfm8xts&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/tgj6o0lhybbx1nfds3pql\/worst-foreign-city-for-women-tourists-Google-Search.png?rlkey=2zg8u205s1kxpofpx1n5mk2xp&amp;st=k65dq0s6&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/tgj6o0lhybbx1nfds3pql\/worst-foreign-city-for-women-tourists-Google-Search.png?rlkey=2zg8u205s1kxpofpx1n5mk2xp&amp;st=k65dq0s6&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/eobkrgnux0353v8bmz358\/irl_2026_01_15_0005.png?rlkey=2gr9v3xp3wromlfdi7eznzrte&amp;st=iuul74yv&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/eobkrgnux0353v8bmz358\/irl_2026_01_15_0005.png?rlkey=2gr9v3xp3wromlfdi7eznzrte&amp;st=iuul74yv&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/39sy1ddoo0o28by32plk9\/irl_2026_01_15_0006.png?rlkey=ii724355qcw8mfajqnthnp1gh&amp;st=tohjzdpz&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/39sy1ddoo0o28by32plk9\/irl_2026_01_15_0006.png?rlkey=ii724355qcw8mfajqnthnp1gh&amp;st=tohjzdpz&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/n1jc3pawwhkc1za8i72q4\/irl_2026_01_15_0007.png?rlkey=uc61pluertljonm29uoifopcc&amp;st=ftqurnxj&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/n1jc3pawwhkc1za8i72q4\/irl_2026_01_15_0007.png?rlkey=uc61pluertljonm29uoifopcc&amp;st=ftqurnxj&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Disappointing Wikipedia Entry<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>WLBOTT <\/strong>research team was disappointed in the Wikipedia article about Cairo. It&#8217;s mostly a rah-rah Chamber of Commerce post. But we were able to glean some factoids:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cairo <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n<cite><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cairo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s a bazaar and telling entry. Were the Wikipedia article writers <em>proud<\/em> of this fact?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Until the 20th century, Cairo had a sizeable Jewish community, but as of 2022 <strong>only three Jews<\/strong> were reported to be living in the city. A total of 12 synagogues in Cairo still exist.<\/p>\n<cite><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cairo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a metropolitan area of 22 million people, there are only 3 Jews?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cairo is home to a significant concentration of the country&#8217;s high-net-worth individuals, including roughly 7,200 millionaires and 30 billionaires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of 2005, Egypt has the largest non-oil based GDP in the Arab world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/q8hkk5tgx08rizpte5yqy\/irl_2026_01_15_0015.png?rlkey=6fy3n9tmgosleoepnzm8897me&amp;st=iom9s6u6&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/q8hkk5tgx08rizpte5yqy\/irl_2026_01_15_0015.png?rlkey=6fy3n9tmgosleoepnzm8897me&amp;st=iom9s6u6&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:492px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<cite><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cairo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The city also suffers from a high level of land pollution. Cairo produces <strong>10,000 tons of waste material each day, 4,000 tons of which are not collected or managed.<\/strong><\/p>\n<cite><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cairo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[<em>Where do these 4,000 tons per day end up?<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Less than an inch of rain per year&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/ff3xijixl1g89w8r7oya1\/irl_2026_01_15_0016.png?rlkey=d15wnlubb1paswx1ym7dg39cy&amp;st=reas9c2r&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/ff3xijixl1g89w8r7oya1\/irl_2026_01_15_0016.png?rlkey=d15wnlubb1paswx1ym7dg39cy&amp;st=reas9c2r&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Our Experience in Cairo &#8211; Elder G Takes No Crap<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis world is complicated, ancient, flawed, and beautiful.<br>And women do not need to shrink inside it.\u201d &#8211; <strong>Elder G<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Customs Declaration<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/byvij1j0sy2g36dgyuroi\/20260115_0450_Image-Generation_simple_compose_01kf0mchz4fhcs6ht9en00bdp6.jpg?rlkey=tqmnzwqm8j91apsaxx12xz75s&amp;st=q5gdonxc&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/byvij1j0sy2g36dgyuroi\/20260115_0450_Image-Generation_simple_compose_01kf0mchz4fhcs6ht9en00bdp6.jpg?rlkey=tqmnzwqm8j91apsaxx12xz75s&amp;st=q5gdonxc&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dress Code Respect<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/9dw5qj7qei9tgfcznwke7\/Gemini_Generated_Image_gf2xk7gf2xk7gf2x.jpg?rlkey=bhokgxrvm6jjyxuto23wem9ix&amp;st=17dcbxpf&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/9dw5qj7qei9tgfcznwke7\/Gemini_Generated_Image_gf2xk7gf2xk7gf2x.jpg?rlkey=bhokgxrvm6jjyxuto23wem9ix&amp;st=17dcbxpf&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Elder G Requires Her Personal Space Be Respected<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/2n8e79jzy18at5iccbfsr\/20260115_0526_Living-Boundary_simple_compose_01kf0peksnfn8r2z1s1ywxfw8f.jpg?rlkey=ca393m0624ji8m5m51dncjoew&amp;st=c1kubh1h&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/2n8e79jzy18at5iccbfsr\/20260115_0526_Living-Boundary_simple_compose_01kf0peksnfn8r2z1s1ywxfw8f.jpg?rlkey=ca393m0624ji8m5m51dncjoew&amp;st=c1kubh1h&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caf\u00e9 CAI &#8211; Just Coffee, Thanks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/4nirdrt25uvr16mf5riwr\/sovereignty_0001.jpg?rlkey=0btgku7tvld8rnwnqya9lnwfl&amp;st=gkpul9lq&amp;raw=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/4nirdrt25uvr16mf5riwr\/sovereignty_0001.jpg?rlkey=0btgku7tvld8rnwnqya9lnwfl&amp;st=gkpul9lq&amp;raw=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Circumnavigation series \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Next in the series Heraklion \u2192 Cairo (CAI): ~360 miles 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, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[91,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-egypt","category-wlbott-corporate"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63971"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64162,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63971\/revisions\/64162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}