The Fish Gardens of Zamalek

Two days ago we took a taxi to the Fish Gardens on the island of Zamalek. The guidebook ranked it number four on the list of "fun things to do in Cairo with kids." What the guidebook didn't mention was that the fish were either catfish, koi fish, or bleached sickly carp-like fish, and that the rest of the exhibits were clouded water with empty conch shells, plastic alligators, or, my personal favorite, stuffed mangy seals with googley eyes that also resembled [roadkilled] Egyptian hairless cats.

The Fish Garden was 0.50 LEs for children, 1 LE for Egyptians, and 20 LEs for tourists. We agreed that it was worth it, though, if only for the colony of bats we discovered living in the upper darkness of the artificially constructed viewing caves. We stood and listened to the bats chuckling and warbling like squirrels for at least fifteen minutes.

A few of the cynical side comments you'll miss in the video due to the music: Keats: "I've seen better aquarium displays in the waiting room of my dentist's office." Casey, while video-ing walking onto one of the bridges: "Keep people watching in suspense...and...boom! No water!"

If you ever come to Egypt, you must go to the Fish Gardens.

--Keats

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