The Shitty Nile...

This is a little or not so little but maybe bigger than what was originally intended today but a lot smaller than the whole story. Really.

So there’s this river called the Nile that runs down the center of the habitable areas in the desert landscape of North African Egypt. I have through the course of sitting on the porch drinking a bud come to the conclusion that it can and should be removed. A public service reminder that evolution is happening still: if you don’t use your appendix it will be removed for you or by you.

This so called life blood supporting the Nile valley is drastically underused. This is really noticeable when you go to places that have river systems and use them. Por Ejemplo: Amsterdam, Venice, Costa Rica, Iowa, and more… The only way people notice the importance and/or existence of the river is to stand on a bridge and look down. There are three kinds of boats in the Nile. One is the private half sinking fishing for nasty Nile perch fishing vessel. This one is propelled by rowing with railroad ties or pushing it through the mud. The second is the felucca which may have extremely loud music and kinda makes a donut pattern in a wide stretch of the river. Very annoying if you live within a four hundred kilometer distance of the river. The last one is a huge fat restaurant that was made to look like a boat and eventually was permanently docked in the mud after some low bridges prevented its escape or return to wherever these bulky bastards came from. They do have good food though. Occasionally you see a cargo hauler with nothing in it going somewhere and returning empty both times. Sometimes you just shouldn’t ask.

So what’s missing? First lets make a quick survey of the surrounding city if Cairo. The only potentially arable lands are near the river. They used to be fertile before the dam started collecting all the silt. This is happening with all dams. Eventually the farming is replaced with high-rise buildings and a paved lattice of the most fucked up streets and overpasses to ever be driven by the insane donkey whipper. This whole system is obviously aligned with the vector of the river, so to get to one part of town you follow the river and then turn off and away. So the part that is missing, and the part of culture that would be a really nice addition is the aqueous transport. River taxi at your service.

You’d never be stuck in traffic. Freshness of the river breeze in your face every morning on the way to work. It’d probably cut transport times in half.

Once you reach a neighborhood dock, you catch a taxi for 5 minutes and you’re there, or maybe link it with the public transport and trams and stuff. If Cairo was more democratic(?) this would have already been done. And what the hell happened to the vegetation on the stream bank?

After my visit to the lake Nasser I know what happened there: the water level fluctuation and the suns baking rays turn the shore into a ceramic crust. Only the most crazy plants are able to withstand it. Just last week the city came by and hacked the trees down that provide shade and habitat. But I don’t know why? And how they did it was ridiculous. Cutting 98% of the canopy off and leaving about 15 branches each with 3 leaves. The tree is a goner.

There needs to be some sort of natural filtration reintroduced, like a mangrove, minus the insect diseases and crap. The crocodiles should be reintroduced as a cleanup tool. The water might become clean enough to eat the fish and jump off the bridges. Then we might see more of that little guy, the Pied Kingfisher, and some other awesome natural wildlife that the scene is devastating.