The Wetlands of Wadi Hanifa

Since it's the haj holidays, The Pink Tarha is giving expats in Riyadh/Saudi Arabia a place to go to... come and visit the wetlands of Riyadh!

What wet?! Riyadh is? How?!

Normally, I wouldn't associate Riyadh with "wet" as the overall atmosphere and climate in this city is, what else? Dry. But it's true, there is a wetland in Riyadh. Imagine a valley with a river cruising through... that's something out of the Philippine tropics but sometimes, it is possible for Riyadh to become one through Wadi Hanifa. Wadi- er, what?!

Along the way.

Bridge above the riverbed (it's dry now).

By the river.

Say it with me: WAH-DEE-HA-NEE-FAH. I had fun saying this name over and over ever since I persuaded my father to take us to Dirriyah. Huh? I know, you got lost in there. Where did I really go? You see, the initial plan was to go to the old Dirriyah and visit the original "Riyadh" with its mud houses and ruins but the father took us to nearby Wadi Hanifah instead because he's more familiar with the place. We even packed a picnic cooler for the roadtrip. So, we passed through Dirriyah but the only mud houses we saw were laden with graffittis. I doubt it if that was the place. So we just went to Wadi Hanifah, which is a totally unexpected detour.

Valley of the Hanifu Tribe

Wadi translates to "valley" and the name Hanifa comes from the ancient tribe of Banu Hanifa. Combined, "Wadi Hanifa" is a 120km valley that cuts through Riyadh passing through the towns and villages of Uyaynah, Jubaila, Irga, Dirriyah, and Ha'ir. A river in the middle of the desert... phenomenal!

Date palms.

Rain fell heavily on this part of the region during the pre-historic times (that's hard to imagine looking at it now). Global climate changes had severely affected rainfall on this side of the earth. This wadi has long dried up but a large sewage facility was constructed in 1982 to bring forth treated water to cultivate date palms, to run oil refineries, and to irrigate public gardens and parks. Plans of preserving Wadi Hanifa are taking place. For now, this valley is a picnic place for all. Pwede ring dito n'yo gawin ang mga emo moments n'yo. O kaya naman, mag-roleplay ala Simba and Kufu sa Lion King!

Palms lining the park street.

Picnic area.

Photo op area.

I was all amazed with the Al-Elb dam. May water dam sa Riyadh?! Seryoso?! Yup, seriously. The thing is, wala namang tubig. Lol. I'm not sure how it works because there was no one around to be interviewed.

Al-Elb Dam.

The Ar-Riyadh Development Authority is leading efforts to rehabilitate and preserve the Wadi Hanifa wetlands. I'll consider myself lucky when I get to see the Wadi Hanifa with water running across lush vegetation of date palms and verdant plants in this lifetime. Let's go green!

Envision this...

Sustainable water management system.

Wow, these images can bring a lot of optimism to this country. Who would've thought that Riyadh can boast of something like this?

Go and visit the Wadi Hanifa wetlands this haj holidays especially when you're sawa na with the Red Sands and don't have plans to go out of the capital city.

§undrenched

Saudi Arabia is 79!

Today is Saudi Arabia's National Day (a day that marks the foundation of Saudi Arabia) and The Pink Tarha Team would like to greet this blessed nation of 79 years with a lot of love and thanks! Despite the several "short-comings" one may find in this country, there are several things to be thankful for. The abundance of food (and gasoline), the generosity of holidays (and bonuses, for some), the SALE Seasons (which we LURRRVVE!) and of course, for them opening up their doors for us OFWs in helping us earn money to aid for our families back at home.

So why don't you go on and wear something green? Or hold up a flag outside your car or home? You can also visit the National Museum for a more in-depth take on this country's culture (see our two-part post about the PT Team's trip there here and here).

Today, us ladies will be putting our feet up and drink tea as we watch (or listen) for the fireworks from our patios. More Power KSA! :D

Happy Saudi National Day everyone!

Hawks of the Peninsula

On my way to the Riyadh Centre from the airport when I got first got here, I saw a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane inconveniently parked on the side of the road. (I'm sure you've all seen it.) WTH is that plane doing there?! Na-miss ba n'ya ang airstrip?! I asked the father about it and he answered with a shrug and a "Malamang nag-emergency landing. Nawalan ng gas kaya ayan, pinabayaan na lang nila d'yan." For a moment, I believed him and I put the issue aside. You know, because I was this gullible first timer sa Riyadh. A year after, I learned that fathers do tell jokes in odd ways. Argh! (Segway lang: Happy father's day papa! You're the best, even if you're corny at times, hehe.)

The SA plane you see is part of the Saqr Al Jazeera Aviation Museum which houses the Royal Saudi Air Force's military planes, helicopters, fighters, bombers, and missile launchers. (Saqr Al-Jazeera means Hawk of the Peninsula.) There's more planes on the vicinity if you only look closer. This is what Eyecandy and I did one Thursday afternoon... inspect the planes closer, ride 'em, and fly away! Just kidding about the fly away part. :P

The plane that launched a thousand speculations.

Where did this come from and how did it get here? Unfortunately, we do not have the answers for you. We just know that this plane is one of the first few models of Saudia. Kasi sabi nga ni Eyecandy, naka-RGB pa raw ang kulay nito. Hehe. Malamang gawin daw syang restaurant in the near future. Nice concept.

The grand entrance

I'm not sure how this works for bachelors but families came and roamed the museum the day we were there. There were also students, probably coming for their school field trip. We were in one of our company's fun bus tours. Thank goodness for social clubs.

A third of the plan

The building which is standing just behind the airplane from the side of the road is only a third of the grand project for this place. The triangle structure and the half-moon building are yet to be built. They will be done inshallah.

A whole new world.

Sinong Wright brothers?! Actually, sa flying carpet nagsimula ang lahat eh. Ika nga ni Aladdin "Come on down / Stop on by / Hop a carpet and fly / To another Arabian night."

Tour guide, tour group, and tour eyecandy.

There's a person that will give you a walkthrough but he's speaking in Arabic so our own tour guide needed to translate. Soon after, most of us lost interest in listening so they just let us roam around the place on our own. Note that Eyecandy is wearing her pink tarha! :P

Green is in!

Ganda pala ng green sa plane at sa uniform noh. Green is the royal color of Saudi Arabia. Sinong nagsabing standard sa royalties ang blue?! The plane you see here is used by the Saudi Hawks in their aerobatics show.

Mayday! Mayday! (film presentations)

Creativity in the sky

There were areas to view 5-minute films showcasing the best of the Saudi Hawks, the Air Force's aerobatics team. Ang astig ng formations at colors na ginagamit nila. Amazing ang skills ng mga piloto. There was also a videp on how the Air Force do their rescue operations. Interesting malaman kung pano ka maghahanap ng tao na nawawala sa gitna ng disyerto.

Flight with the king.

This is the Douglas C-47 Skytrain (Dakota) given by Winston Churchill to King Abdul Aziz. It started its operation in 1945. We thought it was a reproduction because we highly doubt this thing could fly based on how flimsy the aircraft looks. Apparently, it's the real deal. We boarded the plane. In fairness, the stuffy feeling and the heavy atmosphere has never left this plane no matter how long this has been retired.

More planes used through the ages by the Royal Saudi Air Force.

And now we fly...

Eyecandy and...

Sundrenched reporting for duty!

Bakit ba hindi kami naging piloto?! The planes are not only available for viewing. They're also available for boarding! Unlike some museums where you can only gaze at the stuff displayed, the museum here is sort of interactive. Eyecandy and I had a blast taking turns in the cockpit of this rescue helicopter. Kamusta naman, pilotong naka-abaya! Hehe. That doesn't look too astig but so what?! :P If there's a female Saudi pilot, we'll be so darn proud!

Sa outer space naman!

There's a corner devoted to spacecrafts but it is yet to be fully developed and completed. Para kasi s'yang afterthought lang. :P There are pins and souvenirs commemorating the journeys of Arabs in space.

Zero gravity.

There's a flight simulator but it's not yet working. Wish pa naman naming ma-experience ang space... at gumaan. Better luck next time. Hopefully, by the time we visit the second time around eh open for public na ito.

We went out of the main museum building to check out the bigger planes. The huge expanse of land is home to several military aircraft and an airbus.

Slow down, construction going on.

Slowing down air traffic

After we stopped traffic in our tour of Riyadh, we're stopping air traffic naman! A huge plane along with some other little ones are parked at the back of the museum grounds. Sarap magkukuha ng photos dito.

This is how you stop an aircraft.

Nah!

Air angels.

Eyecandy is partial to the smaller planes while I love the huge airbus! Hehe. Before we went out to check these babies out, there was even a sandstrom but nothing can stop us from inspecting these planes closer. Aba eh, sayang naman ang pagkakataon!

There you go. The two hours we allotted for this trip was well worth it. There's even free brochures and booklets about the museum. What better way to unwind than being gone with the wind on these air babies. Royal Saudi Air Force, fly high!

Saqr Al-Jazeera Aviation Museum
Opening Days: Tuesday-Sunday
Opening Hours: 9:00am-12:00nn; 4:00pm-9:00pm
Visiting Fee: SR10 (adults) / SR5 (kids)

PS. We've made a Multiply site for all the other photos that our blog entry can't accommodate. There are a lot of photos we take from our trips so we're putting them on photo albums at the thepinktarha.multiply.com just in case you're interested to see what we saw. Hep, before you click that link and go to our site, it's still under construction. We'll post an entry if we're done uploading and updating it. Thank you, thank you.