A visit to the Sun Bird Cultural Garden in Giza

On Thursday we went to visit the Sun Bird Cultural Garden in Giza, just north of the pyramids. The boys and I were able to go with another homeschooling family who’s lucky enough to have a car with a driver who finds his way anywhere. It’s a busy drive, there from Maadi, and then suddenly quite unexpectedly, there it was; this relatively large garden in the middle of a busy area. We were greeted by two older ladies, Leila and Olivia, where the former of the two is the owner of the garden. It was quite a bit snaller than I had imagined after having read the above linked article, but still a small oasis. As arranged, other homeschooling families had found their way to the garden as well, and after a few initial greetings, bath room visits and running around, the children were divided into two groups; one for the older and one for the younger. Olivia’s presentation to the younger children was well done, and she managed to keep them interested throughout, as she talked about the animals, let the children feed them clover, and showed them a selection of plants. After the visit we had been promised roasted sweet potatoes and fatir with locally made molasses as part of the entrance fee, however as it turned out, these were going to cost extra, and the price was too hefty for us to be interested. Instead we stopped at a small tameya place on the way back, and this combined with the snacks and fruit we had brought kept the kids happy. Although quite tiring for me, especially in light of the previous day’s activities, and despite the fact that the entrance fee turned out to be quite too high considering that no lunch was included, it was a nice outing, and it’s always very nice – inspiring - to get together with other homeschooling families.