Trip to Africa Park
Yesterday I accompanied a group of volunteers and went with the deaf and children with developmental disabilities from Resala Nasr City for a trip to Africa Park, which is an open zoo on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road around 65 Km from Alexandria. The two employees responsible for the deaf and children with developmental disabilities accompanied us. We took a bus from in front of Resala Nasr City. We were around 45 in the bus.
It was my first time to go to Africa Park. We took a small two-car ‘train’ which was had metal windows wish small openings like a cage. The ‘train’ took us round the open zoo and we sow different kinds of animals during the trip. At some locations, we stopped by and went off the train to get a closer look at the animals.
The most interesting part of this trip was the part where we passed by the monkeys. The monkeys were naughty and extended their hands through the metal cage-like windows of the train snatching the sandwiches from our hands. It was so exciting and a much more thrilling experience than going to an amusement park.
After completing the exciting trip around the open zoo, we then took a boat which glided along a beautiful lake in the park. It was a pleasant and relaxing experience.
The deaf had a lot of fun in the park. They really enjoyed the trip a lot. Because they rely basically on their eyes as the main source of input from the outside world, the deaf found the trip particularly entertaining. I believe it was useful as well for them because it made them see and experience new things they never other wise see in their daily life.