Trip to Souq Waqif, Late April 2013

I'm constantly amazed at how things here remind me of things in the Tex/Mex world.  That little donkey could easily be in the Mercado in San Antonio, Texas.

Mmmm...crepes for dinner...Three years ago, these were exotic.  Now they are an anticipated and required treat.

The baby macaws.  This pair was hilarious.  There were a bunch of them around.  In fact, some were free-flying from other shops over to see these who had been put out for fresh air more recently.  And they were all yelling that trademark macaw sound, "brrrrrrrock!"  So when the one in front here would yell, he would sort of lift his wings just a little, with the force of the noise-making effort.  And that would bump the guy behind him, who was trying to take a nap.  And when the guy behind got bumped, he go "brrrrrrrock!" too.  This went on for many repetitions (from bird screams, opens wings an inch, bumps back bird, who opens eyes and screams then closes eyes again).

The African Grey babies.  The pet souq here is a source of great frustration and mixed emotions.  Historically, the animals have been in terrible conditions. Now, I would say it's a mixed bag.  These birds were well cared for (fresh food, fresh water, a guy who cared about them and was doing some hand-feeding), but the cats and kittens around the corner were in horrible shape.  A lot depends on the individual pet owner and shop manager. In general, the pet souq still needs better regulation or guidelines.

John wants a Military Macaw (the green one), but those beaks scare me and we don't have any business with another chicken.