Farida Adventures

I was travelling to Cairo regularly with the costume business and each time would find different things to do and see.  Maggie Caffrey and I went for a week together, cramming in as many dance related things as possible.  Whilst there we met up with a group from Sweden led by a dancer who had worked in Cairo.  'You could do that', said Maggie and the seed was planted!

I took my first 'guinea pig' group in October 2000.  We stayed on Zamalek.  A nice hotel but out of the centre of Cairo.  You had to get taxis everywhere and never got the 'feel' of real Cairo life.  I took Dan with me on a reccy trip.  (Want to know more about Dan and the Farida crew, click here).  We tried a range of hotels.  In one, I used the bathroom first then Dan.  He was looking a bit shell shocked.  'I don't believe it', he said, 'Filth, squalor and Clinique!'  Needless to say I am not using this hotel.  We found one that suited us both.  Dan liked the bathrooms.  I loved the rooms, most with balconies looking onto bustling street scenes of downtown Cairo.  http://www.btinternet.com/~faridacostumes/farida_crew.htm

The first trip went well enough for me to consider more.  The stress factor is pretty high - nothing stays the same in Cairo for longer than 2 minutes so you constantly have to re-arrange things.  For me, it was a godsend when Yasmina, British dancer based in Cairo, agreed to get involved.  Click here for more about Yasmina.  She is now our Farida representative in Cairo.

More recently, I spent 3 months in Cairo, learning Arabic, making more contacts and discovering more things to do.  I had time to build on friendships, in particular with Mohamed and Nibal.  Mohamed is the son of Egyptian dancer, Nadia Hamdi, Nibal his wife.  They have one son, Salah el Din.  Nibal gave me cooking lessons and took me round the mosques and Islamic Cairo.  She now helps with the groups as well, giving people an insight into Egyptian life and sharing her love of the culture and history.  Click here for more on Nibal.

As the costume business expanded, I spent more time in Istanbul.  Completely different designs.  I was unprepared for the impact Istanbul had on me.  A beautiful city, much more relaxed than Cairo and a fantastic place to spend time.  Anne booked herself, me and Christine in a hotel which turned out to be ideal.  We had a fabulous week, exploring the sights and finding places to see dancers.  Here was another good place to bring groups.  Costumier, Bella, is always welcoming and pleased to see us.  Her designs are fabulous.  I have also found other costumiers worth visiting.  British friend, Ann, who lives on the Asiatic side, took our last group over to the Princess Islands.  No motor vehicles, only horse drawn carriages and bicycles. 

This is a much more relaxed week than the Cairo holiday.  Lots of sightseeing, costume shopping and some dance shows.  Shopping for ordinary clothes is also really cheap with some fabulous shops in the newer, Taksim area.