Saturday, April 10, 2010

Life on the land

Bed ridden today overdid the walk yesterday got carried away with all the wildlife in the marshland.
then stayed up late making the blog. only to find I was almost run out of space.  so had to re load on one of my other account blogs  then cut the whole blog and paste into my Website  http://www.myegypt.co.uk/index.php?f=data_home&a=5  there is almost a thousand photos on the one page   and I must spend some time on it putting the different species together.What Adrian said cataloging .  and today seems a good day to do it.
 This is a blog I thought you my like to see again on a walk  along the Nile farms and land on the outskirts of this place called Luxor Egypt. more famous for its Pharaonic tombs and temples  including the Valley of the Kings. I am also in the process of making a map so you have some Idea of where I am blogging from.
 in the meantime there is a map of Egypt on  http://www.myegypt.co.uk/index.php?f=data_home&a=6

first blogged   Sunday, December 13, 2009


Click on the photos to enlarge 

 A typical front door that only keeps the larger things in life out most of the farms have straw roofs so why they bother putting padlocks on everything is beyond me. the walls are mud and mud brick one good shove would knock it over anyway.


By the side of this building there was a hand pump the Egyptians prefer this water than tap water . and its much cleaner (not polluted)

A few yards further I picked up my tour Guide first we said our hello's then she let my pick her up very unusual here in Egypt, and promptly thought my nose was a good place for her to rub against . ( Must have Eskimo blood running through her) then once she was back on teraferma up went her tail and its follow me  I know these parts,  every few yards she stopped to make sure I was following .

First she started to go into what must have been her farm yard so I could say hello to  the sheep donkeys and calf,  but I kindly refused her offer just in case she was an Egyptian cat and had the owner around the corner ready to pounce on me offering cups of tea.


my tour guides home.  must be a great place to live especially as a kitten. you know! anything that moves is a toy,

Then she has an over grown Date palm tree in a flower pot.

and on we went to find the Nile. through the cabbage patch and a young man busy tying his load of fodder on to the cart,

Here there is a Morning glory in full bloom did not want to get too close just in case a hand poked out for money. two farms one each side of the lane this woman looked very strange at me passing and talking to my guide. the little egret guard also gave us some funny looks.
Don't you trust that guide, I don't.

This building looked very out of place in this small farming community most likely some tourist wanted a house with a Nile view, then everything came to a halt at this yapping dog. its OK I was assured by my guide as she went and said hello. the dog then went back to its yard ? and on we went with our guided tour, another stop to get a photograph of the cow, calf and donkey tethered down by the Nile. we had arrived at our journeys end and the end of the guided tour.

After taking these shots my guide was not to be seen anywhere so I carried on to the Nile without my Guide,

after all that walking I ended up just down river of the Bridge where I had started from,
I travelled half way back through the farms just as I was passing the Guides farm yard Out she jumped in front of me. rubbed against my leg as if she had met a long lost friend. and off she went back to whatever she was doing before she was my tour guide,

Sugar cane season has started again I may go get some photos tomorrow of the harvesting.
These guys can get through a stick of sugar in minutes. they pull the outer skin off with the teeth then suck and chew the inside and spit it out. a bit like a squirrel eating a nut.

The next shots are all of the farmers from the area I have just been to.


Off to market  if its not on a donkey its on one of the womens head,


Getting the concrete ready for the culvert pipes, saddens me to see good nile land being prepared for buildings  when only 3% of Egypt is arable.

You might also like part 2 of this blogspot :  http://nilelife2.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-post_05.html 

1 comment:

ADRIAN said...

Tony sorry you are suffering, you got some cracking bird shots there.
Yes they do need cataloguing. And all the very best with that job!!