Egypt’s largest camel market is held at Birqash, a small village 35km northwest of Cairo. Until 1995 the market was held in Cairo’s western suburb of Imbaba. But when land became too precious for camels, one of Cairo’s age-old institutions was relocated to the edge of the Western Desert, just like all of Egypt’s animal markets. The camels have come a long way. The ride from the western deserts of the Sudan to the Egyptian border town of Shalateen takes between 25 to 35 days, depending on the weather, the health of the herd and the experience and mercy of the herdsman. Trucks then drive them here, to be sold for meat.