Photo : Hatem Moushir — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Alexandria · Nouzha
Alexandria Zoo
An early twentieth-century pleasure garden in Nouzha: come for the palm walks.
The zoo shares one green strip south of central Alexandria with the Nouzha garden and the Antoniadis gardens; it opened in the early twentieth century and its layout is still that of a pleasure garden: long palm walks, kiosks, benches, lawns. This is where Alexandrians bring their children on a Friday, and the ticket is still a public-garden ticket. The enclosures, though, belong to another age: narrow cages, concrete, animals shown at very close quarters.
The extra bit
Take the main palm walk first and keep the enclosures for last, or skip them: it is the garden that earns the walk. The kiosk at the end of the avenue is the place to sit down, and the Antoniadis gardens are next door if you want to carry on.
Know before you go
Expect visitors feeding or baiting the animals, and little supervision: if that spoils the day for you, go to the Antoniadis gardens next door instead. On feast days it fills up, and the noise comes with it. Not much to eat beyond what the hawkers sell. Take cash for the ticket window.
