If until now you worried about carbon offsets for your international flights, you may want to add baby crocodiles to the list of concerns.
On Friday, a foot-long croc was found scurrying down the aisles of an EgyptAir flight from Abu Dhabi to Cairo. The Emirati paper The National reports that EgyptAir has claimed the animal was actually just a lizard.
However, other passengers have boarded EgyptAir flights with carry-on bags stuffed with 250 baby crocodiles.
Another passenger made it onto an EgyptAir flight with 700 snakes, and in 2003 a Swedish man prepared for takeoff with live cobras hidden in his pants.
Airline officials say a passenger must have smuggled the crocodile on board in carry-on luggage; no passengers have admitted anything. The crocodile will be donated to the Giza zoo in Cairo.
If you want to get close to nature in Cairo without airborne reptiles, check out GreenProphet’s guide to eco-tourism in Egypt.
Author: Daniella Cheslow
Daniella Cheslow grew up in a car-dependent suburb in New Jersey, where she noticed strip malls and Wal-Marts slowly replacing farmland. Her introduction to nature came through hiking trips in Israel. As a counselor for a freshman backpacking program at Northwestern University, Daniella noticed that Americans outdoors seemed to need to arm themselves with performance clothing, specialized water bottles and sophisticated camping silverware. This made her think about how to interact with and enjoy nature simply. This year, Daniella is getting a Master’s in Geography from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. She also freelance writes, photographs and podcasts. In her free time, she takes day trips in the desert, drops off compost and cooks local foods like stuffed zucchini, kubbeh and majadara. Daniella gets her peak oil anxiety from James Howard Kunstler and her organic food dreams from Michael Pollan. Read more at her blog, TheTruthHerzl.com. Daniella can be reached at daniella (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
