“You could hear gunshots from our hotel room on Friday,” said Freda Hird Monday, after fleeing the political protesters who flooded Cairo’s streets over the last week. "We were watching CNN from our hotel room and could hear them outside."
“We didn’t feel threatened,” said Freda, “the Egyptians were more worried about themselves than they were with tourists.”
Initially scheduled to leave Cairo on Saturday morning, state-instilled curfews prohibited them from making their 6:45 a.m. flight. The hectic airport terminal saw their flight eventually leave at 7 p.m. Saturday, where they flew to London before connecting back to Canada.
“We were lucky, because it only just started when we got our flights,” she said, “it’s gotten worse since we left.”
“We don’t know how good we have it here (in Canada).”
Freda said she and her husband Dan had a wonderful trip, except for the last few “hairy” days. All of the 52 people on their tour were affected someway, said Freda. Only six were Canadian.
“It was wonderful – I wanted to see the ruins and the pyramids,” Freda said of their trip, which took them down the Nile and into Cairo.
There are believed to be 6,500 Canadians in Egypt, as plans were set in motion to evacuate as many as 800 on Monday.
During riots in Cairo, the death toll has climbed to more than 125 people, as Egyptians continue to call for democratic and economic reforms, as well as the removal of Mubarak.
