News from Cairo by Member Polly Knoll

     I was in Cairo from November 21 to December 5, 2010, photographing a group of fine Arabian horses, so was there before the major riots. There was great deal of police presence, and all of the hotels had screening security.  This did not seem alarming when one considered all of the antiquities in the area that no one wanted disturbed.  Police armed with rifles stood across from the Embassies, but Cairo is the capital of Egypt. While I was in Cairo, there were two riots—one during the election of Parliament, and the other about the confusion of building a Coptic recreation center. We were instructed not to go near the area of the riots.

     There was one very good thing: all of the mares at the EAO were in fine condition. They were so very thin when I was there in 1977, 1980 and 1984.

     Denise Hearst of “Arabian Horse World” WAS in Cairo before the major upheaval, and during, and had difficulty getting out of the country. However, she is now safely back in California with many more tales to write about!

     Pat Canfield, formerly from Pennsylvania, an Egyptologist, moved to Cairo a number of years ago, and lives on the outskirts. Dr. Nasr Marei made several calls to check on her welfare, and another friend offered to take her to his farm. Pat was able to get to Dani Barbari’s farm several times to check on her and the horses. She had the famous *Morafic stallion, Bilal 1, and most of her horses are related to him. She is now 92, and I had the opportunity to visit her during this trip, and we visited while she vaccinated a number of wandering adopted dogs. She’s amazing!

    The economy of Egypt is so dependent on tourism. Every day, buses stopped at the hotel where I was staying and picked up people going on tours…people from all countries. I saw so many Japanese. But no more. We can only pray that Egypt will be stabilized soon…as this is such an important factor in all of the Mideast economy.