Water Ski Show in Nile, Egypt!
(July 24, 2001, cairolive.com)
The Nile has probably seen some strange sights in its eternal millennia of existence, but today and yesterday, it may have witnessed acrobatic water-skiing for the first time in its history. As part of the recently begun Shopping and Tourism Festival, the Stars of Florida, one of the most famous acrobatic water-skiing troupes in the world, were brought in for several performances of their amazing aquatic stunts. The festival is an annual affair aimed at increasing tourism revenues, featuring both discounts on shopping, and concerts and special events, such as this one.
The Florida stars put on a good show, pulling out every trick in the book, including the famous human pyramid, which the announcer called the most frequently photographed water-skiing stunt of all time. They danced, jumped and pirouetted along the water, often at speeds over 50 kilometers per hour. Spectators were either seated in a grandstand especially built for the occasion on the Nile corniche in Zamalek, or just hanging around on 6 October and 15 May Bridges, or along the Nile corniche from the Maspero side. The event was free, but it cost a modest LE1 per person to get into the garden where the grandstand was set up.
Though a prominently placed full color ad in the paper alerted people to the happening, the turnout was fairly modest on the event’s first day on Monday. On Tuesday, there are also two shows, one at 10 am and the other at 5pm. Word should have gotten around by then, and the Tuesday afternoon show, at least, is sure to be more crowded. Even if you miss the spectacle in Cairo, there are also shows along the shore in Maamoura in Alexandria on the 26th and 27th, and at the Timsah Lake in Ismailiya on the 28th.
(photos and text by Tarek Atia)