The Wildlife

This is the section my mum shouldn't read or she'll never come to visit!! Thankfully I don’t seem to have a cockroach issue in this apartment- not seen one at all (touch wood!), so its probably been sprayed at some point since most places get them at this time of year….. however the ants are a constant companion- party since I am not as good at cleaning up after me as I should be, and I eat all round the apartment, not just in the kitchen, and partly because they are able to hide so well- never had the chance to watch the way ants work before- they live in the electricity sockets!! I have sat here on a few nights typing away and watching the ants climbing up my DSL line from the wall right up onto the laptop where I have to say they meet a grizzly end! (Oh- and I brought some spray too- that defiantly helps!!!
For a few days I had a wee gecko living in my dining room too- so sweet- hours of fun watching it run from one wall to another changing colour as it went! Then there are the birds which roost above my balcony and wake me in the morning with their cooing- nice, unless you want to hang your washing out! Since I live above the Gazira club I watch the horses down below- a fine sight. Another benefit of living on the 20th floor is watching birds soar below you- I have spent many moments enviously watching them!!
Then there is the insects-mosquitoes everywhere- but thankfully they don’t like the taste of my blood too much so its only my guests that get it- (don’t worry- those of you coming over- I've invested in some plug in stuff that seems to work!!!) one of the horrible animal related things which goes on, esp. in Zamalek, is the shooting at night of stray dogs. Horrible the first time you hear it! Lots of cats everywhere (thankfully to keep the rats at bay- they are horrible looking things here- huge back ends and long tails- thankfully only seen them once, which I guess is surprising since I live on the Nile front). Anyway- the cats all look like perfect Egyptian cats- long thin knowing faces- almost as though they were around in the time of the pharaohs!

Haven't had much to do with camels so far (expect sharing a camel ride with my friend Christine when she came out to stay- sore inner thighs for days after that one!!) and you do see donkeys and horses fairly often along the streets (once you get out of the city centre anyway) where they stand patiently all day with crates of watermelon, or oranges or whatever happens to be in season at the time. Of course- you also see the cows, sheep, chicken and rabbits all standing at a roadside blissfully unaware of what is to come. Can handle most of it except the wee bunny rabbits (probably since I had one as a pet as a child!) There is supposed to be a very cute pic of a camel here now- but it wont attach for some reason- being stubborn- I guess I should be grateful its not spitting!!!