A Water Tree

Wood is expensive in Egypt so many things are made from wrought iron. This rack carries earthenware jars that keep water cool by evaporation through the clay. During Ramadan these jars would be upside down and empty until just before sundown.

Walking In Circles

A blindfolded donkey walks alone around the track pulling the wooden bar that turns a sakia, a water wheel in a palm grove near Dahshur.

Elbow Grease

People come to Egypt and they marvel at the pyramids, at least 125 or so of them, scattered along the Nile Valley, and they wonder how they were built. Well, when they were built the Nile used to flood the whole valley necessitating many of the farmers living in the valley to move into the low desert around the temple and pyramid sites where they were basically stuck for about four months every year. With pretty much the entire population of Egypt looking for something to do for four months, the labor pool would have been pretty impressive. So they put their backs to it and moved rock.

We recently decided to drill a new 40 meter well on the farm. The actual drilling was done with the aid of a diesel motor that pulled up a weighted pipe into the air and then dropped in to pound it through sand, clay and layers of some of the hardest stone I've ever seen. And then when they were putting in the actual pipe, the well diggers and some of my staff took the handles to push the pipe in circles to disengage the digging pipe. Hard work, but they did it.

The Geometry of Irrigation

When I was a kid we had a big garden in Southern California and one of my chores was watering the vegetable patches. I liked nothing more than designing irrigation ditches and directing the water throughout the growing plants. I still love watching the irrigation in the countryside of Egypt.

Exploring Water With a Friend

We were doing some watering today using a diesel pump attached to the well and a used firehose. I think "flooding" is really the right word. The resident infant was playing on the grass and one of my larger dogs walked in front of him and stood there looking noble for a couple of minutes after which I realised that the toddler I'd been watching was nowhere to be seen. I walked around the aviary to find him happily sitting in a flowing stream of well water while another one of the dogs supervised his explorations. This is a lucky kid. Not that many have this much  clean water to play in.

Dishwashing

Think of this young lady the next time your dishwasher is on the fritz. When all you have is a hand pump, doing dishes is pretty complicated. Soapy water in one pot, clean in another, and enough dishes for a huge family.

The Water Cooler

In a country with heat like ours, water is very important. Traditionally it is something that people provide for others. During Mameluke times people built sabils throughout the city where people and animals could get a drink. This tower contains terracotta jugs that absorb some of the water and then cool their contents through evaporation through the walls.

Managing Summer

Our fields are amazingly fertile and supply Egypt with its vegetables. This is all done with irrigation since essentially it doesn't rain. Summers are hard here for my work, riding and teaching, because they are so hot but shady trails and the cooling effect of evaporation help a lot.

Wet Pleasure

On a sunny holiday afternoon we were riding along a trail in the countryside when we ran into a group of boys who were playing in the canal. I wouldn't voluntarily go swimming there, but then I'm not a roughly nine year old boy....a group not notoriously picky when it comes to fun. If I were their mother they'd all be taking a nice dose of parasite medicine pretty regularly too. But it was a perfect child moment.

And Sometimes It Rains

We were invited for lunch with friends. We started out with nuts and a beer in the sun on the patio by the pool, gradually shedding jackets as the day warmed up, but then it began to darken as the clouds gathered from the north. Rain began to fall, pushing us under the shelter of the roof for a few minutes. After about half an hour the rain stopped but the water on the patio reflected the trees and the black clouds in the sky promised more of the same.

Ancient Engineering

While riding through Sakkara village I noticed something that I'd ridden past over twenty times previously without noticing. Look between the palm trees and you will see a tall pole with a stone ring around the end of it near the ground. The stone provided the counterweight to ease the job of hauling the water bucket attached to the other end out of the well. The chopped off palm trunk provided the fulcrum for this simple lever. The machine was known as a shadduf and it was one of the earliest machines.

Automatic Vegetable Washer

As we rode past a hand pump, I noticed that the spout was blocked with radishes. Odd. As a young man approached he put another radish with the first two and pumped fresh water over them to wash them. Healthy snack.

Woman Waiting

We were out for a morning ride in the countryside and on our way back we found her sitting in the shade watching over a pump that was helping to distribute the irrigation water. I asked if I could take her picture and she nodded yes. I wasn't surprised at her agreement as she's one of my neighbours and they've all gotten used to me photographing all sorts of thing. The women here are so beautiful in their simplicity.

The Eye

Shooting down into a terracotta water pot I find myself reflected against the sky. These pots are placed by people alongside the roads so that someone passing by can have a drink of water. During Ramadan a little is left in the pot for emergencies, but the pot will be filled just before sunset.

Heavy Duty Hose

We water our garden from the well and in order to do the vegetables and the horse corn, we went looking for a BIG hose. We found a used fire hose that delivers a stream of water about 4 inches in diameter. Everyone gets a bit wet, but a lot of water is what the plants need on these hot summer days.

The Only Place To Be

The temperatures for the past two days have been ridiculous! We've been sweating through days of mid-40's C or around 110 F. Too bloody hot. On days like this the feluccas do good business, carrying dehydrated weary Cairenes out onto the water for an hour of peace. Photo by Kelly Anderson

Leaning

I've probably ridden past this palm a million times and admired the curve over the canal. Today the light and the reflection were just right.

I Always Wanted One Of Those

What more could you ask for than a poolside sphinx.....

Water Cooler

These oddly shaped jugs on a cart are known here as "ola" and are used to store water. A stand is made with a circular cut out at the bottom to fit the bottom of the pot and as the water soaks the pots it evaporates from the clay cooling the water. Any sediments go down to the pointed end of the pot. Usually an ola has a wooden lid and a cup attached to it so that passersby can take a drink.

Good Morning, Little Girl

Bunduq seems to be bestowing a greeting as we pass a village girl on her way to the water plant to fill a jerry can with purified water. Most of us out here depend on our wells, which are more reliable in delivering good water than the city taps are as long as they are deep enough, but the well water is very hard due to the calcium in the soil and often has a slightly sulphurish taste. So a number of the larger farms have built reverse osmosis water plants and made taps available to the farmers who collect the pure water for babies and drinking water.