A few thoughts on my 'kidnap'

Yesterday's blog post about my brief kidnapping attracted a lot of attention. Most reactions were good, but I also got a lot of flack for supposedly being 'irresponsible' and 'naive', which I don't think is fair. 


As I posted as a reply to one of the comments on the original post, I don't think there would have been a much safer way to go about it. 

What I learned today (8): reporting can be dangerous

So, I got into a bit of a gnarly situation, trying to do some reporting...

The big news last night was that protesters had broken into (and later supposedly tried to burn down) the headquarters of Ahmed Shafiq, one of the two presidential candidates competing in the run-off for the Egyptian elections.

I had kept myself updated on the situation throughout the evening via Twitter, and had briefly attempted to take some photos of a small protest in Tahrir with a friend.

On my way home, I start thinking.

Picture post (10): Day two of the presidential elections in Egypt

Presidential elections in Egypt, day 2, a set on Flickr.

On the second day of the presidential elections in Egypt we went to a polling station in Muqattam, also known as Garbage City, and one on Zamalek.

Picture post (9): At the polling stations

Presidential elections Egypt 2012, a set on Flickr.

We visited a few polling stations in Imbaba today. People appeared very happy to be voting and in general the atmosphere seemed a lot more relaxed than during the parliamentary elections a few months ago.

Election day!

Banners for Amr Moussa (above) and Mohammed Morsi, on Sharia Tahrir in Doqqi.

Today and tomorrow, the 23rd and the 24th of May, Egyptians get to choose their first democratically elected president.

What I saw today (16): staircase

Most apartment buildings in Cairo come with their own outdoor staircase, to dump your trash bags (and other stuff you no longer need) on for the garbageman.

Picture post (8): Al Azhar park

View from Al Azhar park, a photo by Ester Meerman on Flickr.

Had a nice relaxing afternoon in Al Azhar park this weekend, with friends, food and a nice sunset.