The grooms saddled up Shaboura, Sondos and Lilly, and we took Farhan out for a walk on the lead rope as well, to get him used to the fact that he is no longer a school horse and that life at Maryanne's is fun.
Out through the village again, and across the field – there was a flock of egrets in the field to our left, and in the same direction, the next field over, the storks were circling down to land. That was the closest I have seen that many storks this trip. It was nice having someone to talk to as we rode, talking movies and things, while watching the scenery. Just before we were about to head across the field, there was another donkey foal with its ears tied together and the string above its knees – and we rode down to where the first donkey foal I had seen like this was as well. I'm starting to get sensory overload from Egypt – I was riding along and there were all these interesting things I hadn't seen before that I was going to write down in here, but there were just so many that they have been forced from mind (I guess the 2am finish to the day without being able to write in the diary didn't help that – more on that later however). It was an awsome ride, but we were almost back and we had only been out for 40 minutes, so I suggested we ride up to the road, and along through the village to take a little bit more time. We did this, but at one stage the path along this side of the canal was covered in rubbish that had been dredged from the canal – horses in any other country would no doubt freak and not head over this at all – it was full of horse eating plastic bags. Maryanne's horses didn't even bat an eyelid, and just chose the clearest path through there (with riders alert for any signs of glass or wire), which fortunately we did not see any of.After crossing back across the road and about to head through the fields to Maryanne's gate, there was a young boy on a donkey coming from the other direction. There was also a young goat grazing over that way, and when it saw the donkey, it came running at a rate of knots back towards its home and safety. It didn't stop until it ran up the bonnet of the car and stood on the roof. The car was interesting enough in itself in that it was covered in floor mats – I'm not even sure if it would run. So we finished the ride after laughing at the goat on the roof – a bit like my goat Toffee used to do on the roof of Dad's black ute at the time.
We got back and dismounted and then Mona suggested we headed out again – it had
been nice and cool in the countryside, with a good breeze blowing, so they saddled up Bunduq, Negmadin and Amira, and we went out for another ride. We had talked to the grooms (well Mona had) and they suggested another path that we hadn't done before which went closer to Abu Sir – this sounded like a good plan to the two of us. So I hopped up on Amira – my first ride on a mule :) Complete with her very own custom made mule saddle. Interesting paces on a mule – much smoother than riding a horse. As we headed out towards Marina, for the first time the workmen that had been gathering around a building there were actually working. The concrete mixer was going, and they had a winch that took a bucket of concrete up to the roof in no time at all. The horses and mule were a bit hesitant to go past there at first, but with a bit of urging we got them up level with the building – until the winch took up a bucket at a rate of knots and they all freaked out, spinning and wanting to run back home. It took even more coaxing to get the horses past there again once they stopped the concrete mixer, but Amira wouldn't move a muscle. There is a reason they say "Stubborn as a mule!" It took one of the workers taking a hold of her bridle and leading her past that got her to move. Up past the Marina club. They have stables, but there are also two horses that appear to live between the stables and the boundry fence which is rather weird. Amira was rather interested in one of these two horses – possibly because of its roan colouring, which is unusual for Maryanne's herd.
We followed along with Waleed leading the way on Negmadin as neither Mona or I had been this direction (well, we had done some of the path, but in the opposite direction). We got down to the canal, and were following along the side of it. This canal had also been cleaned out recently, and there was a narrow path between the canal and the dirt that had been dredged out of it – for a little way at least. Then the path stopped and we were forced to back track, which was a shame – it had been a very nice path up to that point. As we headed back, I noticed something I hadn't seen on the way out, as I was busy looking at the track and the surrounding area. This path gave a very good view out over the pyramids at Abu Sir (if it wasn't for the ugly building below them). There was an advantage to backtracking after all – it is amazing what a change of perspective can give. We headed all the way back to Marina, and then crossed over to the other side to avoid the building work that had startled the horses on the way out, only to have Amira balk at two round objects in the field (they were like large plastic pot type things), and once again she wouldn't move without a lead, this time from Waleed and Negmadin. We then headed down a path down behind Morad's place, and through the village again before ending up at the back gate.
Mona and I then had a chance to relax (once I had called back a client who is coming out on Saturday who had rung while we were out on the trail), before Mona had to head into town to go out and do some shopping with her Mum and have lunch.
I headed back inside with the dogs and dozed for a little bit until I was woken by my phone ringing. It was Morad saying he was going out to look at some horses and was wondering if I wanted anything. I decided it would be nice to get away from the farm for a little bit (famous last words) and asked if I could come to, which then meant I had to quickly go find some clean dry clothes to put on (one problem with Maryanne's horses having had strangles and the fact that they can shed the bacteria for up to a month afterwards – I'm very careful when I go to see other horses). There was no time to give Demon his eye drops or his antibiotics, I was planning on doing that when I got home.
Once Morad pulled up I hopped in the car, and we headed out, and down to the Cataracts Hotel where he was going to leave his car, and we were going the rest of the way to the other side of Cairo in his friends car. We had to wait a bit for his friend to turn up, and then we jumped in and we were off. One hundred kilometers per hour doesn't feel that fast in New Zealand, but in Cairo traffic, with they way they drive over here, it is rather terrifying! Let alone the 140-160kmph we reached at times, dodging and weaving through the traffic, but we made it safely to the stables, where there were some very nice Egyptian Arabian stallions. There was one boy with a very very nice head. And they were all well fed and they had the solidity that I like in my horses.
After leaving there, Morad's friend headed off, and we hopped in the 4WD of the owner of the horses (it was a Korean car, Alex :P), and headed off through Cairo once more, as the sun began to set. Although there was some lovely colour in the sky, unlike in New Zealand, this sunset did not cover the horizon – the sun was large and an orangey reddy pinkish colour, and the colour of the sunset did not spread far beyond the sun itself. We passed an amusement park, complete with bad replicas of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck above the entrance (not sure about the rides inside), and headed out onto the Cairo-Alexandria road. Just before we got to the toll gates out of Cairo, we stopped for a drink at a petrol station – should I say, we double parked on the side of the road while the driver went in to get drinks (and was stuck in there for between ¼ to ½ hour). It was absolutely crazy – there were massive queues for petrol, and all the parking lots for the shops in the area were also chocker block full. When I commented on it to Morad his response was that it was Thursday evening. That is something I keep forgetting here – the Egyptian weekend. Their holy day is Friday, not Sunday, and the weekend is Friday, Saturday. That weekend difference is very hard to get used to when you are over here on holiday – it might be slightly easier to keep track of if you were actually working over here.
We drove for miles to get to the farm with the mares and fillies, out near Wadi Natroum. I had to take Morad's word for the fact that as we got closer to the farm we were actually passing between large expanses of fields. It would have been interesting to see it during the day, but I'm not sure I'm likely to go back (after all they did tell Morad that if I went again they wouldn't give me back – lol).
We finally reached the farm at 11pm, and they showed us the mares and fillies – once again some very nice horses, and the owner was very pleased when I told him that. Tea out at this farm was actually a mint tea – it was kind of nice having a flavour you could actually taste over the large amounts of sugar that the Egyptians flavour their tea with.
After viewing the horses we went down to the house for more tea, though by this time I just wanted to get back to Cairo – I hadn't planned on being away that long, and I still had to medicate poor Demon. But I had to wait till they had finished their chat. Once they turned off the generator at the house and the area was plunged into darkness, it was nice to be able to see the sky full of stars – even out at Maryanne's, the light pollution of Cairo doesn't leave that many stars showing in the sky. And it was actually cool – I could have done to have a long sleeved shirt with me. And what I enjoyed most of all was no darned mosquitos!!
Driving home, when we turned back onto the Alex-Cairo road, the signs read 100km to Cairo – I'm not sure where in Cairo that would take you to, but we were quite a way out. Fortunately the trip back (as is often the case) seemed to take less time than the trip out, which is also helped by the fact that we didn't stop for refreshment. They did ask whether we would like to go out for some food, but even though there was a large hole in my stomach, I really wanted to get back to the farm, give Demon his meds and collapse into bed, because I had made arrangements with Pal to head out riding with him and his friends at 8.30 in the morning.
So they dropped us back at Morad's car, and then Morad plotted a course back home to miss any check points as I didn't have my passport with me (but I'm not a very good female – I don't actually own a handbag to carry things like that easily). This necessitated taking a very bumpy route home as the road was being repaired... and what did we run into anyway but a checkpoint in an unusual place, very close to home – lol. Fortunately we were waved right through and made it home safely. After he dropped me off, I went into the main house and got Demon's medication, and then was followed home by a troupe of dogs. I managed to put Demon's eyedrops in myself and he ate down his tablet, and after feeding the other dogs a little bit of cheese, it was time to collapse into bed.
Countryside ride 8
Distance - 4.87 km
Time - 0:56:06
Average speed - 5.2kmph
Max speed - 13.6kmph
Countryside ride 9
Distance - 5.45km
Time - 1:09:40
Average speed - 4.7kmph
Max speed - 12.9kmph
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