Tips For Egypt

Traveling to Egypt is nothing like going to Japan for our family.  Since we live on the West Coast, Tokyo is a relatively short 10hr nonstop flight to Narita, usually landing in the mid afternoon.  Customs and immigration is a breeze – plus you never have to wait for your bags at Narita!  It does take awhile to get to downtown Tokyo but we have a nice evening ahead of us…check into our accommodations, shower and eat a great Japanese meal.

I’ve mentioned this before in my previous post, but getting to Egypt is a long haul from the West Coast.  Our usual route is through Amsterdam and getting to Amsterdam is already a long flight from San Francisco.  If you don’t break your journey in Amsterdam, you are looking at 7-8 hr layover and then a night flight to Cairo, landing at an ungodly hour.  The process at the Cairo airport isn’t quite the easy peasy experience at Narita.  The immigration officers may give you a hard time for no apparent reason.  Once you leave customs and immigration, you are greeted with mayhem – the porters.  And remember, you are bleary eyed and tired.  The porters all come at you wanting to help with your luggage and looking for baksheesh – useful word to know – that’s tip in Arabic.  In Japan, everyone tries to do their best and there is no tipping!!  Egyptians are usually friendly and nice but are not known for being meticulous and conscientious.  I understand the difference in culture but the experience is still jarring.  The best thing to do, make sure you have lots of change.  No one seems to want to part with the small notes, so when you get a chance, get a lot of small notes.  You will need it everywhere and lots of it.

The two most important factors to consider when traveling with young children, as you all know – safety and health.  We cart the girls’ car seats to Egypt.  It’s a pain to haul the large unwieldy seats but you have no choice.  Driving is terribly dangerous in Cairo. 

We only drank bottled water and also used bottled water for brushing teeth.  Our younger daughter had a little issue with diarrhea during our entire first trip to Egypt.  The culprits were milk and ice cream.  At the hotels we stayed at, milk was served in large jugs or from metal servers found in many hotel buffets.  We found that when she had milk in Cairo from individual cartons made by Juhayna she did not have as much of a problem.

The girls only ate fruit that was peeled or washed by us.  I ate fruit salad from the buffet and I was fine but the same cannot be said for peeled vegetables and salads at buffets.

As a precaution, we requested antibiotic prescription from our pediatrician before we left the US.  We took it in powder form so it would last longer.  You should also carry the usual assortment of over the counter medicine with you.

Sturdy closed toe shoes are best for walking around Cairo.  The sidewalks are uneven and dirty.  Flip flops, unless you are at the beach, are definitely not a good choice.  Hats are a must!!

We also took a lot of snacks with us.  I am not sure if you need to if your children are older than our girls who were 2-5 years old at the time of their travels to Egypt.  We always take peanut butter with us.  We like our PB from Trader Joe’s and don’t leave home without it.  There are plenty of supermarkets in Egypt where you can find almost anything you need.

We opted not to give the girls typhoid shots.  The girls did have hepatitis A shots as part of their regular vaccination schedule.  For further information for vaccine requirements for travel to Egypt check out the CDC website.