Dad is to take the 5 kids to Egypt but the plane leaves without him. They can't enter Egypt without an adult supervisor; their neighbor agrees to take them but she wants to visit museums and the kids want to swim and see the camel race.

Uncle Erik is supposed to take the children on a vacation to Egypt, but when he falls ill, it looks like the long-awaited trip won't happen. Their father decides to take them and everything goes well until they're at the airport: Father misses the plane and the children end up alone in Cairo--almost. Their archnemesis neighbor Mrs. Flinth has also come to Cairo to meet her sister, who's married to the Danish ambassador. After some persuasion, Mrs. Flinth agrees to look after the children during their stay, but she drives a hard bargain: she wants to take them to boring museums and lectures; they want to swim in the pool and see the camel race. Can they once more manage to get their own way? And will Mrs. Flinth soften up?—Anders E Lundin