The Camel Market, located about an hour north of Cairo, does its major business every Friday from seven to noon. It was pretty empty the day we visited because it was a holiday, but that let us stroll freely among the camels. One camel apparently goes for a couple thousand pounds.

Vera examines two big guys from afar...

While I console the lone donkey in the town.

And a baby camel goes for a stroll near the market cafe.

Some of the camels looked kind of sickly. The were apparently the kind that get bought for their meat and not for transportation.

Mmmm...hay...

A wise old camel shows off his beard.

A clique of young camels.

One camel-seller had a particularly large and good-looking herd.

He claimed that Jimmy Carter once visited this market and that he gave him a camel as a gift. I asked if Carter brought the camel home on Air Force One. The camel-seller didn't know.

No one seemed to bother us crashing their breakfast feast.

Birds get a rest while this camel scarfs down his breakfast.

Ma salama!