CAIRO--Perched stories above the streets of a city burdened by economic, political and social struggle, some men in Cairo tend to an ancient hobby for an escape. References to pigeon husbandry, both for sport and as a food source, can be found chiseled into hieroglyphics and scripted in Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets more than 5,000 years ago.
I’ve spent the past two years warily climbing up precarious coops throughout Cairo, much to the humor of the fanciers’ young sons who would whiz past me, giggling at my trepidation.