Visit to UPS , lunch at the Burj Al Arab and Safari (May 28)
Today was by far the best day of the trip so far. We had a nonstop day. We woke up bright and early and went to the UPS distribution center here in Dubai. We followed that with a wonderful lunch at the Burj Al Arab hotel and ended the day on a jam-packed desert safari.
It is amazing how UPS operates here in Dubai. Looking at Dubai’s great infrastructure you would think that their postal service and delivery services would be flawless. This is why I was shocked to find out that there are no addresses here and that they are just now starting to give street names. At UPS we found out that they use phone numbers to deliver packages. Aside from them not having any addresses to delver to, we noticed that the warehouse is the hottest place in Dubai. Okay, maybe not the hottest but it has to be in the top 10. There was no air conditioning in there at all. I don’t see how the workers do it.
After leaving UPS we headed straight over to the Burj Al Arab. The Burj is said to be the worlds only 7 star hotel. While I found out that it is technically a 5 star hotel, because 7 star hotels don’t exists, it is deserving of a 7 star rating. Everything about the hotel is spectacular. The fleet of exquisite cars in front of the hotel sets the mood. The entrance features the worlds tallest atrium lobby. With over 8,000 square meters of 22-kart gold leaf we couldn’t help but stand there looking up with our mouths open. Once we made our way down to the restaurant, we were taken back by the breathtaking view of the sea. The food was great as expecting. All types of food from Korean, Chinese, Japanese, American. They had it all. Fruits that I have never heard of or seen before. The dessert section took most of my attention. From from fresh ice cream, pastries, fondue, cakes. I believe I gained 10 pounds at the restaurant. If I had to guess what Heaven looked like I would guess the Burj.
Leaving the Burj, we came back to our hotel for a quick change of clothes before heading off to the safari. We were expecting to be riding dune buggies but 5 Toyota SUVs met us at the hotel. After the safari everyone was glad we weren’t in dune buggies. It was great. We literally turned off the road right into the dessert and went straight for the dunes. For 30 or 40 minutes we rode the dunes. It is amazing that we didn’t flip over. They took us to a campground, were they had various activities setup for us: camel riding, sand surfing, hookah smoking, henna tattoos, and a belly dancer. It was great. Everyone had a great time. We had so much fun because everyone participated in everything. It was great to experience activities and customs unique to this culture.
Meeting with Egyptian Entrepreneur (May 22)
Today was the day we met with our entrepreneur. Mohamed El Kalla started his own consulting company. Kalla became an entrepreneur at the age of 17 when he started a small advertising company. Blue advertising sold creative ideas to other small agencies. After a few years, Kalla decided to work for UNDP (United Nations Development Program). Kalla was a fulltime advisor at the UNDP in the area of investment and development for Cairo. While working at the UNDP he started another business, a consulting company. The business has taken off so well for him that 4 months ago he quit working fulltime at the UNDP and became a part-time advisor. His consulting company now employs 5 people and has contracts with 6 of the biggest companies in the Egyptian market including Vodafone, the leading mobile company in Egypt. We discussed Kalla’s future plans for his business. He wants to work with the top 20 clients in the Egyptian business service sector. After accomplishing that, he wants to grow to become the regional giant in the field. Over the next 5 years he will be looking for an international partner to take his company public. Due to his recent success he has received several offers, but by growing the company more he can get a much better price for his company. He said, “ I want to reach volume and sell later.” He mentioned a few of his business methods for growing a successful business: building brand name, use word of mouth and production as primary advertising, and target specific clientele. One thing that Kalla said about being a young entrepreneur is that it is hard to balance work/home life. He admitted to giving more time to his business than he does at home. He said it is specifically hard during the start up phase. He mentioned himself being lucky because his family understands and is committed to his success. Kalla is an example of opportunity entrepreneurship. He could have a great career working for a large company but he chose to start his own business. And has done very well at becoming one of the top up-and-coming young entrepreneurs in Egypt.
After leaving Mr. Kalla we went out on a journey. All we wanted to do was get across the Nile River to a restaurant that we could see from the World Trade Center. What an experience. We asked the taxi driver if he spoke English and if he knew where “Nile City” was…..of course he said yes. He should have answered no to both. It took us nearly 45 minutes to get close to the place. We ended up walking from down the street. We had to just stop the taxi and get out before we got even more lost. But you should have seen our faces when we arrived at Chili’s restaurant. Those steaks and chicken hit the spot.
Click here to view the complete interview
Traffic Lanes and Lights, I Will Use Them Next Time (May 20, 2008)
Driving around Egypt you can’t help but notice the weird driving ways. In a city with 18 million people you expect traffic. However, it seems like the people in Cairo do not try to help the traffic but rather make it worse. It seems as though the people have no regards for the lanes and lights. I have never seen anything quite like the driving here in Egypt. It appears that the lanes and lights when they exist are optional. The cars drive so close and make their own rules and laws that it is amazing we have not seen several accidents. The people here do use their horns a lot. While riding around the city, it seems that if you want to cut someone off all you have to do is honk the horn. We do have horrible traffic back in Atlanta, but that is because there are so many people in a relatively small place going in nearly the same 4 directions.
Atlanta drivers always get a bad wrap for driving too fast and a bit reckless, but it is nothing compared to Cairo. I have not seen a turn signal used yet. It is pretty much a free-for-all, sort of a holds bard-driving course. Where who ever get their first wins. The parking is another issue. Being in such an overpopulated city, parallel parking is the norm. However, I hesitate to call this parallel parking. The cars are parked so close together that nobody can leave. They are literally bumper-to-bumper. The cars actually touch. I cannot imagine this happening in the states. If someone slightly bumps you back at home, you stop, jump out, and a confrontation ensues. Here it seems as though it’s common for cars to touch you and you to touch cars. The traffic here in Cairo has to hinder entrepreneurs and the business industry as a whole. How can you count on shipments and pickups when the traffic is so unpredictable? In Atlanta you can have a shipment or pickup scheduled for a certain time and for the most part it will happen around the same time. Here that is very unlikely. The entire transportation system needs drastic change, which will undoubtedly help business.
Jacob In The Store (May19, 2008)
So on the way back from breakfast, I decided to stop bye the store in the hotel. In the store were all kinds of things from handmade scarves and authentic sculptures to stuffed camels any kid would enjoy. While we were looking around the store manager approached us and began to engage in conversation. After we told him we were American, he responded, “I love Americans.” That’s no big deal, however the next thing out of his mouth was, “ I love Jesus Christ too.” He went on to tell us, “My name is Jacob, like from the Bible.” This was a little surprising to me. Here we are in a country that is 90% Muslim and the very first native that we really had a conversation with was Christian. I was not expecting this. After discussing religion for a few minutes, his love of Senator Oboma, and his dislike for a certain important current American political leader, we began discussing the items, store, and his life in more detail.
He began showing us the difference between the handmade items and those that are mass-produced. I really got the sense that he really did like us. It seemed as thought he did not want to take advantage of us. I thought this was nice. I hope I am not being naive. He told us that if we thought of anything that we as tourists might want to see in the store to let him know. This was my first glimpse into entrepreneurship in Egypt. I cant wait to see what the other entrepreneurs are like.
