How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Sonnypest264
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2014 5:02 am

How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by Sonnypest264 »

Hi Guys

Egypt has always been a place high on my list to experience as both a teacher and traveler, however with a family I am concerned about the safety issue of living in Cairo and moving around the country to explore. Can anyone with current knowledge (hopefully being there now) help out?
Thanks
expatscot
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Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:26 am

Re: How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by expatscot »

I'm there just now, with my family (we're both teachers.) Most of the violence / terrorism in Egypt is in North Sinai, although it does on occasion spread out to other cities. When it does, it tends to be targetted at Government institutions (ie police, army, etc) rather than tourists or foreign residents.

In general it's pretty safe; like any city, there are places you don't go and places you do. Most teachers / expats live in either Maadi or Rehab, with some in Zamalek (and 6th October too if they are at BISC.) Rehab is a gated community, and during the 2011 revolution they simply shut the gates and unless you could prove you lived there you didn't get in.

With travelling round the country most of the areas you'd want to visit - Aswan, Abu Simbel, Luxor, etc - are safe too - check the FCO or State Department website for current guidance. Some parts of Sinai are technically out of bounds, but many teachers I know have visited there without incident (or even the sniff of one.)

One thing to be aware of though - there are rumours of protests next weekend - they could be nothing, because the rumours have been going around for some time.
Sonnypest264
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2014 5:02 am

Re: How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by Sonnypest264 »

Thanks a lot @expatscot for the information, it's great to hear from someone who is in the midst of things.

Can I ask how you feel about Cairo itself as a place to live and bring up kids? I expect it is typical of a big city but you mention the expat areas, are they slightly less chaotic? Is it easy to get out of the city at weekends to go places, especially the coast?

Cheers
expatscot
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Re: How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by expatscot »

Cairo is very much a "love it or hate it" kind of city. The expat areas are less chaotic (Maadi is unexpectedly calm in places) and I find that better, but others find them a bit sterile, especially Rehab - it's a bit like Egyptian suburbia. There are a lot of unfinished buildings here, partly because of the culture of building as you need to, and also because of the Sharia guidance on borrowing so people pay for work as they can afford it.

As far as your kids go, it really depends on their age - from what I've seen, younger kids seem to settle better because they're less independent, but my teenage daughter found it difficult to adjust as it's just not possible for her to go places on her own.

Getting out and to the coast is easy - Alexandria is about 3 hours by a (very cheap) train ride, and from there you can get to Marsa Matruh and the El Alamein area, Hurghada is either an hour's flight (expensive) or 5 hours by car - about £300 for a 14 seater bus - and there are always deals on really good hotels there. Sharm El Sheikh is an hour and a bit by air, about 6 by car, and you can either stay there or head up the coast to Dahab. Again, hotels in Sharm are cheap just now for obvious reasons. The closest resort is Ain Sukhna on the Red Sea, which is only an hour away and you can get there in an hour by car (and cheaply too.)
counselme
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 9:03 pm

Re: How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by counselme »

I am thinking of moving to Alexandria. Has anyone lived there and what do you think about the evening life there. What about the corniche-sea wall? Is it a nice place to work after school and how long is it? What is the food like in Alexandria? Are there fresh vegetable fruit markets? I am not a . person, so I am not interested in clubs I just want to be able to go out and socialize at a pub. Are there clubs or organization or events for expats? How do expats connect? Do people go to the Red Sea on the weekend, or is it to difficult or long? Has anyone ventured to Siwa? What weekend excursions would you suggest. Thanks :)
expatscot
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Re: How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by expatscot »

One thing to consider since I last posted - the Egyptian Pound has halved in value since it floated on Thursday, going from around 10-11LE to £1 to 18-19LE to £1. While for now, if you're earning in sterling it makes things much cheaper, it will make it more difficult for schools as it's now going to cost them twice as much to pay you as before. Watch for more schools switching to a higher % payment in LE rather than £ or $, which is a pain as the Egyptian Government has made it virtually impossible to change from LE to either of them within Egypt and banks / exchange places outside Egypt have stopped accepting them.
PsyGuy
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Location: Northern Europe

Inquiry

Post by PsyGuy »

@expatscot

Sounds like Venezuela, is it stabilizing at that rate, or is it going to fall more in the upcoming year?
expatscot
Posts: 307
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:26 am

Re: How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by expatscot »

It seems to be stabilising in the last couple of days at around 19LE to £1, but it's expected to come back down to around 16-17LE over time (possibly quite a long time.) Makes it great for buying stuff just now, but once prices start to head up (taxi fares already have after petrol prices increased) then it won't be so pleasant. They seem to have finally started to get sugar back on some shelves though.

Protests are still expected on the 11th, with opposition parties calling for a general strike on the 10th.
PsyGuy
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Inquiry

Post by PsyGuy »

@expatscot

Any insight how this will effect recruiting in December?
Nomad68
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Re: How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by Nomad68 »

I am working with Egyptian teachers who would not dream of going back. I think it still too risky, considering what is happening in the far north of the country/Libyan border, and the whole situation ongoing in Libya. Salaries, packages and standard of living in Egypt (Cairo) are pretty grim.
expatscot
Posts: 307
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:26 am

Re: How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by expatscot »

Nomad68 wrote:
> I am working with Egyptian teachers who would not dream of going back. I
> think it still too risky, considering what is happening in the far north of
> the country/Libyan border, and the whole situation ongoing in Libya.
> Salaries, packages and standard of living in Egypt (Cairo) are pretty grim.

Hmmm - it's about 500 miles from Cairo to the Libyan border, and TBH that's not where the real problems are in Egypt. Frankly it's a big enough place that you just don't go there if you don't have to. Packages for Egyptians in Egyptian schools are pretty grim and their standard of living might not be great, but for expats they are generally fine - the salaries are lower than, say, Dubai or China, but the prices are cheap and a teaching couple can save one salary if they choose to. Egyptians on the whole - particularly middle-class Egyptians - are generally pretty down on their country and even though it has redeeming features really can't understand why people want to come here even to holiday!

PsyGuy - probably too early to tell yet (in the sense of what the economy's doing). From what I'm hearing and seeing on the likes of Search there do seem to be a lot of vacancies coming up, even in the likes of CAC. That said, I'd still say that if you get one of the decent schools then it's still generally a good place for a first IT job.
PsyGuy
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Discussion

Post by PsyGuy »

@expatscot

I see the same vacancies, my concern is if the situation is going to deteriorate significantly such that those contracts minted in January, are going to be worth about the same or much less come August?
Nomad68
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Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:50 pm
Location: East of nowhere you want to be

Re: How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by Nomad68 »

@expatscot:
The Egyptian colleagues I work with say they would not return to Egypt not because of the poor salaries (although that must be a factor) but also because of instability, conservatism/radicalism, and a feeling for some that IS/ISIS and like-minded elements are present within the country. The Libyan border may be 500 miles away but so what if that bordering country is in such chaos and terrorist elements are mobile within your own borders. Egypt is a grim posting, with generally weak packages for the area and the political/security issues are worrying. Historic/cultural attractions to one side, Cairo would not feature on my list of places to work.
WorldTraveller
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2016 9:58 pm

Re: How safe is Egypt at the moment?

Post by WorldTraveller »

counselme wrote:
> I am thinking of moving to Alexandria. Has anyone lived there and what do
> you think about the evening life there. What about the corniche-sea wall?
> Is it a nice place to work after school and how long is it? What is the
> food like in Alexandria? Are there fresh vegetable fruit markets? I am not
> a . person, so I am not interested in clubs I just want to be able to go
> out and socialize at a pub. Are there clubs or organization or events for
> expats? How do expats connect? Do people go to the Red Sea on the weekend,
> or is it to difficult or long? Has anyone ventured to Siwa? What weekend
> excursions would you suggest. Thanks :)

I was Head of School in Alex for 4 years throughout the troubles. It was a lot safer than Cairo. I lived there with my family with two young girls and my wife. There are things to do, many restaurants along the front, a good shopping centre with M&S and Ruby Tuesday's. Food is good and is the fresh fruit markets. There are not many clubs, a few drinking holes. Siwa is good but a long bus ride. Places to visit, North Coast, Red Sea Ports.
PsyGuy
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Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@WorldTraveller

Sounds like the only advantages are ways of getting out.
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