Skateboarding in Cairo

Article by: Baxter Jackson, August 2007

Grinding round Cairo is a bit like skating the streets of 70s California - curious (and vocal) audience guaranteed.

On my daily skate to the Sakanat metro stop, I feel very far from California.

When I skate through Ma'adi, one of the greenest and most affluent suburbs in the city, jaws drop. Like Dogtown's ‘Z-Boys' - the Santa Monica skate crew who took boards to the streets and revolutionised skating culture - I get a good dose of incredulous looks as I thunder down the road.

On my daily skate to the Sakanat metro stop, I feel very far from California. Instead of bleached-blonde beach girls I see women whose dark eyes are lined with black kohl and whose veiled hair is modestly pinned in place. Instead of the ubiquitous baseball hat and board shorts (a unisex uniform in California) I see turbans and galabayyas (a floor-length gown worn by both men and women).

In overcrowded Cairo, the competition for space is fierce. Rattletrap Fiats, bicycles, scooters and rickety Peugeot taxis battle noisily for their share of the road. Dilapidated minibuses scramble around the city's arteries, unrepentantly belching noxious black smoke. They whiz about the roundabouts, where Egyptian families often picnic on the circular patches of grass. Two lanes often end up accommodating five cars abreast. Passing on either side and driving down the middle of the road is perfectly acceptable and triple-parking in downtown is the norm. Skateboarding in Cairo is definitely an extreme sport.

Some Cairenes smile at my skateboarding acrobatics...others get scared and shoo me away.

Picnickers and passengers turn puzzled faces as I skate by. With petrol this cheap, why would anyone be pushing himself around? Some Cairenes smile at my skateboarding acrobatics, give me the thumbs up or even yell, 'Meya, meya!' (literally meaning '100! 100!', but translating as something close to 'Awesome!') as they sip their shai (tea) or puff on their sheesha (water pipes) in the city's endless cafes. Others get scared and shoo me away, or warn me that I can't 'play' there anymore. One time, after I ground my way across some grimy marble stairs at the Sakanat metro station, a stout, matronly woman in a veil waddled up to me, wagged her finger and yelled (in English, no less), 'This is Metro, not club!'

Despite the occasional scolding, there's something exhilarating about freewheeling your way through all this mayhem. Here's some of the best places to get on board.

Cairo's Top Five Sk8 Spots

Tahrir (Liberation) Square

Grind the pink granite benches and sail across the silky-smooth surfaces in front of the Mogama (a Kafka-esque, bureaucratic behemoth of a building across from the American University). A crowd of curious (and vocal) onlookers is guaranteed.

Hilton International

Ollie the stairs, pop nose-slides and wall ride the opulent marble just behind this landmark hotel along the banks of the Nile. Watch out for the security forces here - they can sometimes be less than amiable.

El Ma'adi

Homesick for the anonymity of the West? With the highest number of expat skaters in Cairo, resigned acceptance from the locals and the only mini-ramp in town, Ma'adi feels about as close to the West as you can get this side of the Nile. For the exact whereabouts of the mini-ramp, check out Sk8boarding in Cairo on lonelyplanet.tv.

The American Embassy

Paranoia has worked in our favour here. There's a five-block radius closed off to traffic; local businesses suffer but skateboarders can session here without the ubiquitous fear of being mown down by a Peugeot.

Kasr El Nil Bridge

Skate across this 1930s bridge from downtown into Zamalek (Cairo's version of New York's East Village) and partake of a Cairene ritual: the Evening Promenade.

Tap into the Cairene and Alexandria skate communities at SkateIMPACT

Have your say on skateboarding in strange places on the Thorn Tree