My family has the opportunity to go to Cairo next weekend (Sept 4 - 7) and we're looking for a good, realiable, English speaking guide to take us to the Giza pyramid area and some other sites downtown. Does anyone have a lead on a person or company I can contact?
Also, I know it's Ramadan and I've heard some of scary stories about being in Cairo at that time (hot, hungry, crabby people and very bad traffic.) Does anyone have more positive feedback?
Thanks in advance!
Lori, I presume that you will be staying at a hotel in Cairo so you could ask your hotel to book you an English speaking guide. That's how we got our great guide, Mohammed (of course, his name was Mohammed) when we were staying at the Cairo Marriott.
We were there during Ramadan and I marvelled that not a single person who served us anywhere in Egypt or with whom we came in contact showed any of the effects of their fasting. Not one bit of crankiness did we experience. As for the traffic, it was and always is horrendous, Ramadam notwithstanding.
I was in Egypt for 2 weeks during 2005 Ramadan, about 4 days of which were in Cairo. Museums and other sights close early to allow Muslum employees to return home in time to break the fast with their families at sundown. Once the fast breaks, people fill the streets much in the fashion of the Italian passeggiata. Some businesses even set up dinners for those whose jobs don't allow them to get home. I found the Egyptian people to be very nice and don't recall encountering any crabby people. Hot and very bad traffic aren't unique to Ramadan, they're just a part of everyday life in busy Cairo. Also, remember that 30% of Egyptians are Coptic Christians who don't participate in the fast.
