LEAVING AFRICA AFTER THE AMERICAN EMBASSY BOMBINGS IN 1998

August 7 marked the twenty-first anniversary of the embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. On that same day, I flew from Johannesburg to Cairo, Egypt. I was flying on EgyptAir because I wanted to visit the Egyptian pyramids in Cairo before returning to the United States. It was unusual when we landed in Cape Town an hour after takeoff and had to deplane. Airport personnel removed every piece of luggage from the plane. Soldiers instructed us to walk about 100 yards from the aircraft and identify each bag and suitcase. After this exercise, we were allowed to board the plane. In retrospect, it was apparent that the African countries were on high alert that something was about to happen.

Violent crimes in Johannesburg and a toxic atmosphere had marred my stay in South Africa. The country was in turmoil after many years of apartheid and a historical change in the government. Mandela had been the President for four years when I arrived a year earlier. There were high hopes for the black South Africans that Mandela would lift them out of abject poverty. Instead, the people paying the most taxes to support the country's infrastructure were leaving in droves. The draining of the country's revenue from taxes left very little for social programs, resulting in anger, disappointment, and more poverty for most South African citizens. When friends gathered, the discussion was about robberies, burglaries, and murders and where they intended to emigrate. The choices were always either Australia or Great Britain. No one ever mentioned moving to the United States. When a carload of young men crashed through my neighbor's gate and murdered them in a home invasion, I decided I had enough of living in fear. I sorely missed my friends and family and wanted to feel safe again.

Traveling alone wasn't anything that concerned me, as I had made several unaccompanied trips to Europe and Africa. After a year in South Africa, experiencing different cultures and wildlife, I was beckoned to the pyramids on my way back to the USA.

As we landed in Cairo, the sight of soldiers guarding every parked plane again took me aback. Automatic weapons were abundant. Once we reached the terminal, hundreds of military personnel patrolled every part of the building. Unbeknownst to me, Osama Bin Laden planned a revenge attack on American embassies in Africa the same day I would be in Cairo. When I checked into the hotel, the concierge arranged for a tour guide to take me to the pyramids.   While waiting for him to arrive, I watched the TV in the lobby and saw an American flag in taters, burning buildings, and people fleeing. When the tour guide appeared, I asked him to translate. He told me about the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Even though I felt somewhat vulnerable about being an American woman alone in an African country, I was on a mission. I remember what my Egyptian friend with EgyptAir in South Africa told me. "You look like my aunt," he shared. Telling myself that I blended into the Egyptian population comforted me as I viewed the pyramid-shaped tombs containing ancient Egyptian royalty from a horse-drawn carriage.

Lawrence Wright published a book in 2006 entitled The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. According to Wright, Bin Laden discussed targeting the American embassies in Africa because of our "invasion" of Somalia and the American plan to partition Sudan. Wright concluded that bin Laden's goal was to lure the United States into Afghanistan. Bin Laden likely chose the August 7 date because it was the eighth anniversary of the United States' arrival into Saudi Arabia in preparation for the Persian Gulf War.

After my eventful tour of Cairo, I boarded a plane for the United States and breathed a sigh of relief after leaving the African continent. When we landed in Miami, I rushed outside and kissed the ground of my beloved country. Home, at last.