# Moving to New Cairo



## verlyn13

Hello all,

I am about to accept an offer from the American University in Cairo, and thus I'll be moving from the U.S. to New Cairo with my family (wife, almost 2 year-old son, newborn daughter) in August. We lived in rural South Africa for two years and have spent considerable time in "developing" countries so we have some experience with life outside the US.

Perhaps someone here can help with a couple questions.

-Shipping
What is the best way to bring our essential items with us? We don't want to bring very much. Our most difficult things will be some custom built computer equipment (it looks small and unassuming) and artwork. The artwork is done by family and is very special to us. Any reliable, and if possible, affordable shipping companies that you have used to ship from the U.S. to Cairo?

-Family Stuff
My wife will be tied down at home (AUC faculty housing) with the kids a lot while I am working this coming year. What kind of family activities are accessible in New Cairo for young mothers and children? It has been hard to find this kind of information browsing the internet. I'm sure the University will have some information for us, but everything in New Cairo looks brand new and deserted from the pictures I've seen...

Thanks in advance for any helpful information.


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## canuck2010

For a small shipment, a courier service such as DHL or Fedex offer air freight rates, but it's not the cheapest. It may be cheaper to bring the stuff in as excess luggage.


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## Expat mom

Hi Verlyn13.
I'm sitting with the same dilemma. We are moving from SA to Cairo in a month and I have a 20 month old daughter. I found the Cairo kid website to be very helpful on finding play centres and nursery schools to go and have a look at.
We will either be in new Cairo or Heliopolis.. All depending on the nursery I decide on.
I intend to meet as many moms as possible to set up play dates. When we moved from Kenya to SA I found that to be the best way to go about it. Maybe once you are there and settled, on this site, invite moms with toddlers in your area for a get together.
Good luck..


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## Milouk84

I think new cairo is about 10 or more years old now. There are a couple of Big malls. Cairo festival city ( ikea is in there) and Downtown, both are kid friendly. It's not "new" at all now, it can sometimes take you like an hour to finish the 90 street. There are 2 clubs that you can use, even if you're not a resident there, katameya heights club and Arabella country club (10,000 LE per year for a family of 4 for Arabella). If you're looking for parks, then forget about it. The only one is about 45 minutes away if traffic is good. But you'll find an event every now and then in fish grotto in zamalek. I'd love to say that in a better way but egypt is not a kid friendly country. But there's a huge number of daycares where kids can get active. Most international schools will hold a family day too, any one can join (NCBIS for example).


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