Exploring the local area/building sites 22 Jan 2017

I'm drinking camel milk in my tea this morning. To be honest, apart from a very slightly earthy flavour, it's difficult to tell the difference between cow and camel milk, but I had to try it.

The great entertainment show here at the flat has been the road below us, or rather the traffic using it. I don't wish to be disparaging about driving standards here, but drivers do attempt some interesting manoeuvres, especially during the evenings. Next door to us is a large hotel. The hotel, the Grand Millenium, is also an entertainment hotspot too. Many of the visitors attempt to park in the street outside and their parking antics provide moving targets for the taxis serving the hotel. We've seen several close calls and one crunch, luckily that was a slow speed reversing incident.

Crossing roads here can be a bit dicey. They have pedestrian crossings marked on the roads, but there is no certainty anyone will stop for you. To be fair, those that do, are very courteous and always respond to a thank you wave from us.

After our long day out yesterday, we stayed local and just ventured out into the TECOM area. Having played dodgems with the traffic, we managed to walk to an area with neatly planted trees and bushes in amongst residential flats. We found a lunch spot, 'Arrows and Sparrows', that served delicious deli-style food. Our drinks were bright green and contained parsley and mint along with a variety of other fruits and vegetables. My wrap came with chicken and ginger and a small salad of cauliflower, seeds and berries. I felt tremendously virtuous as I walked out after a tasty, healthy lunch. Now, mid afternoon, I'm peckish!

Whilst we were out, we found a couple of artificial lakes which we walked around. There were several types of birds here. We saw both Common and Pied Myna birds, some form of Sparrow, Hooded Crows, a Hoopoe, Egrets, Cormorants, Gulls and a Ring-necked Parakeet. The last of these is considered a pest as they are not native and destroy crops.

As we walked back, we found three men tending the grass. They appeared to be trimming the grass with their fingers. Maybe they were pulling out clover.

We managed to struggle to Carrefour through a building site. There is not a single way to get to this quite large supermarket by road or pavement at the moment. I can't imagine it could happen in Europe, but it all adds to the experience here!

FB told me this morning that rain was expected. It is very cloudy and I'm sure I've felt a few drops of rain whilst sitting out here. Variety is the spice of life!