Two Little Birds, On My Door Step

Two Egyptian vultures wait just out of camp. They look like plump, scruffy seagulls with a searing orange beak and willy-nilly grey head feathers. I can imagine they are happy to see us move along, perhaps happier about what we have left behind.

In the hinterland of desert and Nile, unusual plants thrive. During a desert walk, I came across a plant unlike the rest, as it was lacking thorns and other typical defenses for such a ripe looking plant. Wrinkled branches independently extend from the soil and directly from the branches, grow thick plate-like leaves. A green or brown fruit grows beneath delicate white flowers beneath the shade of the leaves. The fruit looks like a plump wrinkled walnut.

After asking our driver about the plant, he explained is not local. It is an invasive alien species. The fruits are actually seed pods filled with white, fuzzy seeds that burst upon maturity, sending seeds across the desert. It lacks thorns as the plant is poisonous to animals. Also an alien species here, I think to myself, I hope my impact is not as destructive.