Wadi Natrun and Cairo Zoo

This weekend  Ann, Lidia and I went to Cairo zoo.  The zoo is a very popular place to be for families during the weekend, because it's cheap and you have a lot of places to sit down in a "nice and clean" atmosphere, which is quite rare in Cairo. The animals suffer a lot from the heat, especially the not afican ones, like ducks or wolves. I think the main attraction are the lions (about 6 of then) and the elephants. If you want to, you can alwayse give some money to the guard and then you are allowed to take pictures with the animals or feed then. My personal highlight of the day have been the pigeons ;-) But I think for most of the Egyptians we (meaning Ann,  Lidia and I)  have been the main attraction. You always see that they stop walking and stare at  us, some even take pictures... I forgot, the first picture is from Khan al Khalili the most famous market place in Cairo, where you can buy any souvenir you can imagine:-) On Saturday Lidia and I went to the Monastery of St. Bishoy near Wadi Natrun, which is about 100 km in the northwest of Cairo. The monks living in this monastery are coptic (which is close to greek orthodox). About 600 a.C. most of the monasteries (about 70 in hole Egypt) have been distroyed. Today only 4 remain..... A lot of Copts from Cairo and Alexandria travel there every week to pray, tourist are rather rare, but the friendly monks give you a free tour around and tell you about the life in the desert. I found it very interessting, especially because the place is not crowded at all.