Misri sirudi tena

Yup, we've all sung the song, but have you really been to Egypt? Well, employer sent a group of us to our sister company in Cairo for a few days of knowledge transfer. It's not enough to judge a country or people, but here are a few insights from a week's visit.

Cairo

Imagine Thika Road ploughing right through Githurai or Umoja. That pretty much describes Cairo in a Nairobi perspective. The roads are expansive (single lanes only in down town, rest are multi carriage ways with interchanges), lakini juu ngata ni 30 bob, jam is crazy. Actually, there's been an oil shortage (imagine) over the last 4 days, so long queues at petrol stations.

Due to desert conditions, city is not so clean. Limited housing means lots of highrises within the city, but the outskirts are more scenic, with tonnes of new housing developments transforming the desert landscape. The people are friendly but will do anything to get loot from a tourist.

Smart Village

The equivalent of our soon to be Konza City, Smart Village is a beautiful business park where the major players (international & local) in the ICT sector have set up base. This was the venue of our meetings, and I was very impressed by the setup. All buildings must have white walls and blue glass, but beyond that designs are varied. The Village is on the outskirts of Cairo, and if this is what Konza is about, hope I won't have retired by the time it becomes a reality.

Pyramids

I got to finally see what all the hullabaloo about a pile of rocks in a certain design is about. Breathtaking is the only way to describe the pyramids, whether up close or from a distance. We were fleeced for some very expensive horse ride around the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx but since it's a once in a lifetime experience, will not complain. Hey, Misri sirudi tena :-)