Egypt yes is very dangerous for women, there's an estimate that 99% of women in Egypt have been sexually harassed before. The same goes for much of North Africa and the Middle East. There are a load of hagglers in the touristy parts of Paris too. There's a very common scam there that African gangs there do, one of them puts a bracelet on your wrist and then the rest close in and demand that you pay for it, or claim that you stole it and need to pay to make up for it. Crazy stuff
The East African islands such as Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles are very nice places to go to. I went to Mauritius (where my father was born) a decade or so ago and it's gorgeous. The population is mixed, crime rate is quite low and the economy is the highest in all of Africa
They do that in Africa too. Sometimes they will dangle key chains in front of you and carve your name into it, then you feel obliged to pay for it. They will start with a high price but you can talk it down. That's how they roll there, for everything. It's like buying a car, the person selling it to you will try to get the highest price but you can counter-offer. They never will claim you stole it, but I dunno, they can get aggressive and annoying, but I was never scared of them (just annoyed). Sometimes they will try to guilt you into buying from them claiming they gotta feed their kids but these guys make a killing off tourists. I met a guy originally from Canada while in Namibia, he studied tourism/hospitality at school, and that was what he does for a living, but in Canada, many people in the tourism field have to draw unemployment in the winter and that is only 60% of the income you make while working, which can be hard. At least in Namibia he had steady year-round work since they don't have a set "tourist season" like other parts of the world, hence the move.
I think that's pretty commonplace in many parts of Africa, that is how people buy stuff.
I did not feel unsafe at all in South Africa or Namibia. I was nervous at first in South Africa because I heard stories about the crime, but then once I got out and about and meeting people, I was fine. People there are very friendly and helpful.
Just don't give money to beggars in Africa, other people there don't like that since they think it fosters a culture of dependency... but I dunno, I bought a pregnant lady some food, which would be looked down upon by many Africans, but like, she was freaking pregnant, she has to eat for two. As a woman, I cannot just walk past a homeless woman, especially if she's pregnant, and not help her, not in North America, not in Africa. I'm sorry, I just can't. In Canada, homeless women are especially vulnerable to getting raped or murdered, and I can imagine it's similar in Africa or elsewhere.
