“When you sit on the balcony, it’s like paradise
It’s another busy, smoggy day in Agouza and the noisy torrent of cars, taxis and buses is reaching its fever pitch.
Rush hour is kicking into high gear and the road warriors aren’t holding back. Horns blare, engines roar and the smell of petrol is so strong you can taste it.
Not that longtime Cairo resident Ikhlas Helmy, who lives on an awama on the Nile just north of the July 26th Bridge, seems to mind.
Hidden behind a thick, leafy gate and sheltered by lush trees, her floating home on the Nile is a little piece of heaven in the middle of an urban wasteland.
“I’m free here, she tells me, sitting in her opulent living room, which is lined with oil renderings and classical portraits of a bygone era.
She pauses and glances out her front balcony. The din of traffic is but a dim hum and the sound of rippling water fills the silence. On the west side of her boat, lush trees sprout fledgling bananas and date trees grow green and thick alongside flower bushes.
“There’s good weather, a good view . it’s very nice, she says. “When you sit on the balcony, it’s like paradise.
According to Helmy, who grew up on a houseboat five decades ago, Cairo used to have about 300 houseboats. Today, that number is just over 30, she says.
“In the old times, there were many, but we’ve lost them, she says as the boat sways gently and a large chandelier in her living lists slightly to one side.
While Helmy grew up on a houseboat, she lived most of her adult life on dry land.
But when her husband passed away a few years ago, she decided to return to the river.
She drew up some designs and took them to a specialized builder, who constructed her houseboat over an eight-month period. The price tag: about LE 1 million.
“My flat in Zamalek is very big and very nice, but I don’t like it, she says. “It felt like a prison.
That feeling of isolation is exactly what Jack Tomlinson, a music instructor at Cairo’s International School, experienced at his old flat. Located way out in the suburbs and gated communities of 6th of October City, the young Briton decided he wanted to move closer to the city centre, and when a friend tipped him off about a rental vacancy on the Nile, he packed his bags and came down to the banks.
“It was too boring out there, he tells me, noting that his new pad is a great place to hold a low-key shaker for his pals – not that his parties stay low-key for long.
“Everybody seems to find out about the parties and turn up, he laughs.
Sure, the view is great, the location is tops and the breeze is an oasis of cool in the summer, but what about bugs? Polluted river water?
Says Tomlinson, “It takes a bit of getting used to, especially after a few drinks. I wonder if it’s me or if it’s the boat that’s rocking.
Plus, in the summertime, when the river is running fast and furious, Tomlinson spots the occasional cow or donkey carcass float by.
Still, the location is worth it, he says.
“It’s nice in the summer. You get a breeze and you can sit out on the balcony and watch the world go by.
