Got lucky!

Since I have been here, a group of Kites (Is that the right term?) have daily circulated, not so high, above the Qurna Mountain and also in Luxor.

The last few times I have crossed on the ferryboat, I have noticed one, swooping/hanging around, the back of the moored up cruise boats. The reason being, that is where the kitchens are and they are waiting for a snackette that the chefs throw to them, or they may even spot a mouse/rat on the banks of the Nile.

It is nigh on impossible to stop and look at a scene here. Wether it be the Nile, a temple, a shop, anything. You can easily count to 3 and I guarantee, you will hear a voice that then emerges from nowhere and tries to sell you something; Sailing? Caleche? Motorboat? Cigarettes? Taxi? Scarf..and so on. So as a rule, I don't stop, I walk and look occasionally, shame really.

As I walked along the corniche to the ferry, I saw the Kite, stopped and turned the camera on. There were just a few people on the corniche, so I thought I was 'safe' for a while, but no after the 3 seconds, a voice asked me if I wanted to go sailing. He soon changed the conversation to the bird, as he could see I wasn't listening to him, we then began talking about this magnificent bird, literally metres away from us.

This was the result and I am fairly pleased, as he was fast and flying between the masts of the moored up feluccas.

On a separate note, I must share some good news I received last night. Masrya, a lioness that was kept in a small cage, at the side of a busy road in Cairo and used for photo opportunities, will be starting her new life in the Netherlands this week. It has been an International Team effort, headed up by Spots & Stripes, who raised the money and have liaised with organisations here in Egypt - No easy task I can assure you. They came up against many hurdles and overcame them. The long journey is finally over and we await details of her flight. If you 'Do' FaceBook, like their page or visit their website for more details.

I also visited the El Nada Land zoo today, where lots of building is happening, all the animals will have new enclosures, but they need advice on the design. It's a start. It will be far from perfect, but it brought tears to my eyes, when you see where they live now and where they will be living.