The Zoo in Cairo: A Photo Essay

For extra fun today, Gilgamesh and I headed towards Cairo University to take in the Giza Zoo. We knew to ignore the negative comments on Trip Advisor that said things like “Worst zoo ever,” "Don't take young kids," and “Shut it down-it is a disgrace.” Therese and I had been here a couple of times before and we know that for a fun day of watching kids throw rocks at monkeys and gorillas smoking cigarettes there isn’t a better place in the world.

It cost $3 for me to enter, Gil was free, and we headed first to the fascinating cat display. There were a lot of rules, and in five minutes Gil noticed that we’d seen every one of them violated. Kicking soccer balls against the cages was the most common rule infringement.

After stopping at what Gil called the second worst toilet he’d ever seen, we found the cats. The sign was labeled "Persian’s cat" but I think they were Tabbies. They were very ferocious.

Then it was off to the dog area. The sign said that these were Maltese dogs, and though they weren't Maltese, I do think the Cairo zooologists were accurate about the "dogs" part. We watched one of them chew on a bird carcass. He was so cute.

Speaking of playful chewing, this camel chewed on its infected second hump for about five minutes, and then we decided to head off to the monkey area.

Someone threw a bag of chips in the baboon cage and all hell broke loose. I swear their buttocks became a brighter shade of red, probably because the chips were spicy.

Gilgamesh had never seen the elusive shit-horned rhinoceros so we lucked out with this one.

There were supposed to be crocodiles and ducks in this lagoon but all we saw were pepsi cans, water bottles, plastic bags, and animal feces.

We didn’t get to see the chain smoking gorilla. He must have died from lung cancer. For a few extra dollars in baksheesh we could have had Gil’s picture taken holding this chimpanzee, but I declined, as the chimp looked suicidal.

The Giza Zoo seems to be the Angola of animal jails. What these critters need is an old time Christian rodeo.