Al Kharara

An organised ramble to Al Kharara with Qatar Natural History Group, including a lizard expert and a plant expert as guides and a passing geologist as a fellow newbie to the group. It was fabulous to be out in the fresh air, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The stroll was very gentle, the 'sights' few and far between, but it didn't matter a bit - I can't think of a way I'd have rather spent this morning. Met some lovely people, wandered in the sun, saw a couple of lizards and found out a bit about a couple of plants.


Geologically, the area is quite interesting as it is covered with a variety of water-rounded pebbles. These were washed down into an alluvial fan by heavy rain in Saudi something like 30 million years ago. Apparently the rest of Qatar has almost nothing but limestone and it was interesting to see this evidence of so much water.



Ramblers' parking:

Featuring.... second from the right.... my new car!
Not bad for its very first outing!
Its a bit of beast - by my standards even if not by local ones - causing me huge eco-guilt, but I am finding ways to justify it. (eg living through the commute on the Mesaieed road and driving off-road to places like this). And it's damn nice to drive. Still, I was very glad to have co-drivers and navigators for this trip, thanks to the car-pooling of the group. Great company too.

This car is a bit all-singing, all dancing in a number of superfluous ways but the absolute highlight came when after an hour of driving, a tuneful little chime sounded. I looked at the dashboard to see what it might be about, to find that the odo and petrol etc display had been replaced by a picture of a cup of tea and the message that it was time for a break!!! I waited for a cup-holder to slide open with promised cup of tea, but sadly this one, much more useful, feature appears to be absent.