Jim Choat and I got leave together on Friday from 1:30pm to 1:30am. I was rather keen on going to the pyramids but as Jim had already seen them last week we decided to go to the zoo instead. We took a bus and train to town [Cairo] and made for the N.Z Club - being page 15pestered all the way of course by hawkers, beggars and shoe shine boys.

From the NZ Club we took a taxi to the zoo - it was a fair way from the Club out towards the pyramids and made a very interesting drive. The Nile is divided by an island, Gezira, and some of the best residences are situated on it. The Gezira is of course well watered and there are many beautiful gardens and trees on it.

On the main land again we travelled up the bank of the river for a mile or so. The water of the Nile is brown and filthy but looks nice if not too close. We reached the zoo at 3 o'clock and it is beautifully laid out with trees, gardens, rockeries and flowing water. It must hold its own with the leading zoos of the world. We saw everything I can think of from mice to elephants and from crocodiles to polar bears. Strange as it may seem Jim and I could name most of the animals and birds before we saw the names just through having seen them in pictures.

New Zealand's main overseas base, Maadi was minutes away from Cairo and the desert there was hard and suitable for training and practically free from mosquitoes and flies. The New Zealanders peaked at 76,000 constituting the largest single foreign community ever to have resided in Maadi. Tents, camouflaged to merge with the sand, were erected for accommodation. While off duty, soldiers could get a decent meal and a drink at The New Zealand Club in Cairo.