Cooling Off

It's been hot lately and after trailing these stupid sheep around all day while they trim the foliage along the canals. So what's a guy to do? Let them eat their heads off, I'm going into the water.

Palm and Pyramids

A dirt road into the distance, the pyramids of Abu Sir on the horizon just past the green fields, and a lone date palm standing sentry by a canal. Egypt's countryside.

Water Work

Just a few metres from a busy road traveled by tourists visiting the Sakkara Pyramids a canal flows behind houses and apartment buildings to carry irrigation water along the farmlands and eventually out to the desert for reclamation projects. In the canals there live fish of various sizes, frogs and toad pollywogs, birds of all types and a newcomer to the area, crayfish. An enterprising fish farmer thought he was buying fresh water shrimp but when he saw his purchase, he dumped them into the river. Since then, about 15 years ago, they have multiplied like rabbits with a lovely side effect. The crayfish are especially fond of snails and have been devouring the snails that have carried bilharizia with the result that this parasitic organism has decreased 95% in parts of the canal and river system. But the crayfish are tough on the nets that the farmers set out for perch, so one of the men working in a boat is fixing his nets, while the others by the bridge are fishing water hyacinths and the ubiquitous plastic bottles out of the water.

Hiding Place

I was up until 2 am last night reading Twitter for the news of the protests and the late break in at the Israeli embassy. The embassy is just across the road from Orman Gardens and the Giza Zoo, so fires, bullets and tear gas are quite concerning in the area. There were only a couple of people in the embassy when the protesters broke in and they were promptly turned over to the military. Contrary to Israeli statements there were no Egyptian commandos involved...Jeez. A lot of people were injured especially by over exposure to tear gas, not the least of them were soldiers who kept getting tear gas blown back at them when the security forces fires canisters. So this morning, I'd really like to be sitting in this little boat sipping some ice tea and maybe trying to catch a few of the perch that hang out in the canal. Someplace quiet and far, far away of the confusion that is Cairo right now.

If Ever There Was A Bridge For Trolls

Houses along the Mariouteya front on the road, but a drainage canal runs behind them. This family made themselves a bridge across the canal but I don't know if I could ever walk across it. Aside from the distinct possibility of a troll living under it waiting for one of the family goats, I'd be terrified of falling into the canal.

Wet Pleasure

On a sunny holiday afternoon we were riding along a trail in the countryside when we ran into a group of boys who were playing in the canal. I wouldn't voluntarily go swimming there, but then I'm not a roughly nine year old boy....a group not notoriously picky when it comes to fun. If I were their mother they'd all be taking a nice dose of parasite medicine pretty regularly too. But it was a perfect child moment.

On The Phone in The Ferry

We were driving down the Mariouteya on the way to a man who sells those wonderful rag rugs. I like them for covering chairs and cushions. On our way I noticed a small iron ferry boat and made a mental note to try to get a photograph of it. On our way back I spotted it again and we stopped. Sometimes there is quite a way between bridges out here and these homemade ferry boats are important. The woman in the boat was chatting on her mobile phone.

Canal Boat

A farmer and his son attend to fishing nets in a quiet canal. There are plenty of Nile perch in the canals. I'm not sure I'd want to eat them with the levels of runoff...but I haven't seen anyone die from them.

Leaning

I've probably ridden past this palm a million times and admired the curve over the canal. Today the light and the reflection were just right.

Fishin'

This young man took me back to my childhood in a flash. The joys of dangling a hook and line into a body of water, no matter how faint the possibilities of catching a fish, had to be some of the greatest in the world.

Past and Present

One of the things that I love about Cairo is the juxtapositions that can be seen almost everywhere. This is a Roman wall to a harbour that was on a canal that existed in Roman times running from the Nile to the Red Sea. This side of the harbour wall exists as you see while the other was used to support the Church of St. George, also known as the Hanging Church. Note the subway stop in the background.

Wooden Bridge

The farmers here make pretty much everything they need themselves. In this case it was a bridge to get to the other side of the canal. Sometimes they are made from palm logs, sometimes concrete, sometimes from random scraps of wood.

AAA Can't Take The Call

I do like photos of our eccentric driving practices, but this is a bit different. While out riding the other day we noticed a group of men standing staring at a canal and a water buffalo bull. There were long silences and then vigorous conversation. As we passed we saw that a cart had gone into the canal and the men were trying to haul it out with the bull. At least no one was hurt.

Filling The Lake

Centuries ago the lake at Dahshur was filled every summer during the inundation. When the Nile stopped flooding in the 70's it became necessary to fill the lake with the Nile water with a canal. This is the channel that feeds the lake now.

Too Much Water

No one seems to actually know what's going on near the Mariouteya canal, but fields, roads and gardens are being flooded by overflow from the irrigation canal. I've seen houses where the agricultural water is lapping at the front door. Here in the fields you can look at what seems to be a pond and then realise that some poor farmer isn't able to raise the food that he needs to be planting for his family or his animals. And the damage isn't just done while the water is standing. Afterwards higher levels of salt affect the land, while the water has killed all the plants right down to the roots.

Country Roads

A canalside trail in the countryside with a farmer resting by the canal, a young boy walking a water buffalo, and a mosque in the distance. A typical peaceful scene. Wonderful for horseback riding.

A Row Boat

Resting in the middle of the canal, it must be moored to something but what isn't apparent, nor is it clear how the owner might get out to it. It's made of rough wood and the "paddles" are usually just two pieces of timber. It might be used for fishing, crossing the canal, or for cleaning blockages of plants from the canals.

Your Canal Is Burning

I remember as a child reading that a river in Chicago had caught fire. The image stuck in my mind quite firmly and as I was driving into town near the army base at Beni Yusuf, I saw to my astonishment that the debri on the canal was burning. A man standing over the fire on the bridge was watching it burn and I suspect that he set the fire but he moved off rather quickly. Good thing too, because most of what was burning was plastic and the fumes would have been pretty toxic.

Countryside Traffic Jam

Riding on the canal-side trails in Giza is wonderfully educational. On this occasion there were three of us on horseback who found ourselves behind a trio of camels being led out to a grove of palms in the fields where they would be loaded with trimmed palm branches to be carried out to the villages where the branches would be processed into palm boxes or furniture, fiber ropes, and woven mats. The camels didn't seem any too happy with the equine tailgaters.

Real Palms Mirrored

On a drive to the lakebed at Dahshur we stopped by an irrigation canal to admire a scene of sunset, pyramids, desert, and water.