The Qatar Natural History Group will be holding its first meeting of the year at 7.30 pm at the Doha English Speaking School on Wednesday 2nd January. The meeting will feature a speech by author, explorer and President of Rivers of the World, Ben Mathews, about his work in remote river basins.
The Qatar ExxonMobil Open will be starting on the 31st December and running to the 5th January at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha. Once again some of the top names in tennis are competing, including the two finalists from last year - Andy Murray and Ivan Lubjic. You can see this video of the final play between the two on our website.
The purpose of internet censorship is presumably to distract attention from certain issues. If so, Qatar censorship is currently failing miserably with a certain small and rather cute pig.
The issue arose with pictures in a Winnie the Pooh book. The images of poor piglet had been blocked out with a black marker. Images of the book were posted on Qatar Living several months ago.
The offending books were being sold in Saudi-owned Jareer book store, and it was widely assumed that the books had been censored in Saudi Arabia en-route to Qatar. The pictures aroused some rather light hearted banter, but few believed that moderate Qatar was the source of the censorship.
The matter had been forgotten. At least, until a few days ago, when Qtel decided to censor the images of the censorship of the images.
This was despite the fact that the page did not fall into any of Qtel's official censored sites' categories: "pornography, political criticism of Gulf countries and anti-Islamic sites”.
Far from drawing attention away from the story, Qtel seems to have put the spotlight on internet censorship, with the matter being reported and discussed on local websites and newspapers.
The story was initially reported on Qatar Journal, which reported the administrators of Qatar Living saying that they would not appeal the matter to Qtel as there was little chance of a change of mind.
Since then the issue has reached the Gulf Times, and continued yesterday with a letter from well known and long term resident Frances Gillespie. (Note - the letter has since been removed!)
While this current censorship is being viewed with amusement by many people here in Qatar, it could make Qatar a laughing stock if it got into the international press. The censorship also gives a false impression of Qatar, a country which is usually very moderate and tolerant.
Nor is the censorship consistent: in Virgin Megastore you can still buy children's books about pigs complete with authentic pig noises.
What's more, Qatar is not very good at internet censorship, and many seemingly innocent sites have been blocked. Q-tel suggests we email them if we think it has made a mistake. However, I know several people who have emailed the censor who have not had a reply or seen any change in censored sites.
Here are some listed more sites which have been blocked (listed by Nigel at Qatar Journal):
http://www.vkontakte.ru/ - Russian social networking site
http://www.yourfilehost.com/ - File hosting services
http://www.anonym.to/ - Link anonymizer
http://www.torrentspy.com/ - Bit Torrent search engine
http://www.flurl.com/ - Video sharing
http://www.o2.pl/ - Polish web portal
http://www.newgrounds.com/ - Flash gallery
http://www.wrzuta.pl/ - Polish video/image/audio sharing
http://www.broadcaster.com/ - Videos and webcams
You'll be sure to find many more as your surf round the internet in Qatar!
In one place in the Qatar desert it is possible to walk among trees and over a flowing stream, watch brightly coloured birds of paradise flit about and listen to bright yellow Golden Conules chattering away to you.
It’s not a mirage brought on by thirst but the superb wildlife reserve of Al Wabra.
Founded as a hobby farm, under its present owner, Sheikh Al Saud, and his team of European vets, the reserve has been transformed into a world renowned centre for the conservation of endangered animals.
With a collection of over a thousand animals and seven hundreds birds, all of them with different dietary requirements which are provided as far as possible by the farm itself, the reserve is a huge undertaking, requiring a staff of nearly two hundred.
Despite this, the reserve goes far beyond just keeping animals. The reserve has had success breeding animals which have never before reproduced before in captivity, and is without a doubt the only thing preventing several species from going extinct.
In our latest article, the Al Wabra Reserve, we look at the reserve and its activities before focussing on several of the species which the reserve is trying so hard to save.
Today is both Arafat day and Qatar's National day.
The name Arafat is taken from the mountain of Arafat in Saudi Arabia. It's an important day for Muslims, as this is the day when Mohammed gave his farewell sermon the last year of his life.
Many Muslims in Qatar will be fasting, although unlike Ramadan the fasting is recommended rather than obligatory.
Muslim on the Hajj in Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, will spend the whole day on the plan of Arafat, praying for God's forgiveness.
Meanwhile, Qatar is celebrating, for the first time, its national day, which celebrates the accession of Sheikh Abdullah Jassim Al Thani in 1878.
Sheikh Jassim's father was still alive when he handed over power to his son, although he wasn't very happy when his son invited the Ottoman's into the country. However, Sheikh Jassim made up for it later by defeating the Ottoman's in battle. (See the Rise of the Qatar Ruling Family for more details.)
Tomorrow is another even more important day, for it is the start of Eid Al Adha, or the feast of sacrifice. On this day Muslims celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son, and the mercy of God for allowing him to sacrifice an animal instead.
Muslims also sacrifice animals during this festival, so a trip to the wholesale market today will see many peoples with sheep slung over their shoulders and goats in the backs of pick-up trucks.
Also see: Holidays, Festivals and Important dates in Qatar
Drive to Al Khor, make your way along main street towards the sea and follow the road round to the left and you'll come to Al Khor's Corniche. Unlike Doha, below the Corniche is a sandy beach, dotted with play areas and a mock ship for children to play on and shaded areas provided for barbecuing.
The play areas could be in better nick, and the thatch on the beach shades are wearing a little thin, but in our opinion this is still one of the better beaches in Qatar. Unlike many other beaches, the sand seems relatively free of glass, and on Friday the beach is busy with residents playing football and volleyball or having a barbeque.
The promenade also makes for a pleasant walk, and has plenty of flowers to admire - Al Khor is proud of its gardens. Walk to the far end and you'll come to a small area of mangoves - great for the children to play in, and to see the small fish and crabs that inhabit the mangroves.
Also see:
Qatar beaches: news
At the beach: Qatar style
Swimming in the sea in Qatar: Is it safe?
The Gulf Times announced today that the bid to win Qatar's second mobile licence has gone to Vodafone.
Qatar Telecoms perssonel expressed surprise at the result, as GCC companies usually bid more aggressively than European countries.
The product manager of Qatar Telecoms suggested that the decision to choose Vodafone could have been influenced by the government "to get some more economic dynamism in the market with a European country."
This was in contradiction to what the regulator said i.e. simply that Vodafone had submitted the highest bid.
Unfortunately, Qtel will still remain the sole provider of fixed line services.
Also see:
Qtel and Telephones
Qatar Visitor e-store (U.S.)
Qatar Visitor E-store (U.K.)
Find the best deal, compare prices and read what other travellers have to say about Qatar
Tags
Qatar Doha Middle East vodafone
Life in Qatar: What Qatar needs but doesn’t have...
I usually write about what Qatar has, so for a change I thought about what Qatar doesn’t have. It’s not quite as full a list as it would have been when I first came here (Virgin has come, with a decent range of books, as have apple computers, a decent forum (Qatar Living) and a decent online newspaper (Qatar Journal)) but Doha is still far behind many other international cities.
1. An ice-cream parlor. On the Corniche, with decent ice-cream (not the rubbish they sell at the cafe near the Sheraton), air-conditioning (of course) and comfortable seats with views overlooking the bay.
2. A theatre. And I mean a theatre where productions are actually put on, not the National Theatre where nothing ever seems to happen.
3. An opera house. Not that I like opera personally, but if Doha is ever going to become a respected international city it needs an opera house.
4. A decent supermarket. Carrefour is just not as good as a British supermarket. (Why on earth do you have to queue to weigh your vegetables, when you could do it at the same time at the checkout?)
5. A leisure centre. And I don’t mean a five star hotel where you can become a guest to use the facilities, but a facility provided by the government with reasonable prices, where people can swim, go down slides, play badminton e.t.c.
6. Public swimming pools. Same again - why do I have to join a club to go for a swim?
7. Swimming courses for young children. I asked for my daughter in one of the hotels and the instructor laughed. “You can’t teach children younger than six,” he replied. I didn’t tell him that my wife and daughter attended a course in the UK when my daughter was just a few months old. (Now available - see update below.)
8. Better libraries. If you go to the National Library you’ll find that most of the books on Qatar are just not there. That said, you can find the odd gem there.
9. Mother and toddler community. (My wife’s suggestion – she misses hers from the UK.)
10. Maintained beaches. You shouldn’t need to own a landcruiser to get to a decent beach, and you shouldn’t need to keep sandals on your children’s feet so they don’t cut their feet on glass. And you should be able to buy an ice-cream or rent a beach shade while you are there. In fact, there is probably a killing waiting to be made for some business minded person...
In fact I was in Spain over the summer, and every morning they had the beaches cleaned. If Spain can do it, Qatar, which despite being incredibly rich has no minimum wage, can certainly do so.
11. Amusement park. Yes, I have been to Aladdin’s Kingdom, and no, I won’t be going back. The good news is that Qatar will have a theme park – several in fact – when Entertainment City is finished. The bad news is it’s going to be some time before it’s finished.
12. A decent postal service. Why do I have to join Aramex to get my goods delivered on time?
13. And a postman to deliver the mail.
14. And an address for him to deliver it to.
15. An island with palm trees. Wouldn't it be nice to have a beautiful island in the middle of the bay, which you could visit by dhow, where you could relax under a tree on a beach ... You could call it something like Palm Tree Island... What? They had one and demolished it? Nooooo.....
16. Solar power. How can they have all this sun and not make use of any of it?
Anyone, that's all I can think of now. I am sure I'll be adding to this list, though. Please leave a comment if you think I have missed anything!
Update: One of the comments left below suggested an update two years on from the original post. To be honest, not a lot has changed, and some things have got worse (with Al Wakra's beach being demolished.) One thing that has improved is swimming - there are now a number of swimming clubs where children can learn from a young age.
Image by Robert Baldwin
I’ve always found getting my hair cut in Qatar a bit problematic.
Essentially, there seems to be a choice of getting your hair cut in a luxury hotel or in one of the street shops.
In the street barbers, whatever you ask for, you generally seem to get a short back and sides. This is also often accompanied with a massage. I may be backward, or homophobic, but I have never felt quite comfortable with receiving a massage from another man.
I did go to a young Lebanese hairdresser for a while. He was superb, giving me a decent modern haircut with no fuss. Unfortunately, he had a row with the owner of the shop and left the country in a huff.
I have also tried the Intercontinental. Although on the expensive side, they gave me and a friend a decent cut. However, the two barbers looked so unfriendly we felt no desire to return.
However, my search has now come to an end with the discovery of Patrice Salon in Villagio.
This little shop is hidden down the side of Carrefour, in the corridor parallel with Virgin. Within two minutes of entry, they had sat me down in the chair, squirted my hair with water and were whipping it off.
For QAR 70 riyals I got a decent haircut with no fuss – just what I wanted.
If you are from England, a farm may be a place with green fields, white sheep and pretty black and white cows. However, Qatar’s first camel farm will be radically different from this.
The camel farm is to be established in one of Qatar’s most arid areas, and will be powered though solar and wind power – and possible also from camel dung.
One of the aims of the farm is to prevent or reverse the process of desertification. Ironically, the cause of the desertification is overgrazing by camels. However, the key word here is overgrazing – camels in the right number form a key part of the eco-system by both fertilizing and pollinating the desert.
Having a camel farm makes a lot of sense – in fact, in Australia it makes so much sense that there are fifty of them, although tourism makes up a fair proportion of their income.
Unlike the Middle East's pampered cows, the indigenous camel does not require air-conditioning. Furthermore, camel milk contains three times as much vitamin c as cow’s milk, and is also high in iron, vitamin B and unsaturated fats.
It is also very popular. Many people in this region believe it is an aphrodisiac, while across the world it is regarded as an effective medicine for many ailments.
Despite this, there is a serious under supply of camel milk, and people in some countries have to trek hundreds of miles to buy it. In other words, as Anthony Bennet, of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, said: “Milk is money".
Also see:
The Next Thing : Camel Milk (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation)
Qatar Plans First Camel Farm (The Peninsula)
Camels: God's Gift to the Bedouin
Qatar Camel Racing
I took this picture on a trip to Al Thaqab fort, located close to Al Zubarah fort. The fort itself is disappointing - it is simply a Hollywood construction which involved bulldozing the old remains before the new ones were built. (To add insult to injury the remains were bulldozed before any excavation could take place.)
The farm which can be viewed from the fort is more interesting. The owner, who is interested in self sufficiency, runs electricity from solar panels on the roof of his farm. He also provides water for his crops and livestock from a deep well that has been known to have been used since at least 1911.
Inflation has increased again in Qatar, largely due to rents which rose by nearly 30% in the period July - August, according to the Gulf Times yesterday.
Inflation has also been helped by the declining dollars, and these latest figures could help speed the demise of the doomed dollar peg.
Worryingly, the figures are higher than for neighbouring countries such as the UAE, which face many of the same problems.
Meanwhile, one expert has estimated that rental prices will continue to rise for another two years, after which supply should finally meet demand.
The message is clear for potential residents - make sure accommodation is included in your contract!
However, it's not all doom and gloom, according to rumour mongers, at least for public sector workers. The whisper is that Qatar will be following Dubai with a massive pay increase.
Dubai recently raised the pay for government workers by 70%. There is a lot of competition in the job market between Dubai and Doha, and rumours have been circulating suggesting that Qatar will follow with a pay rise of anything from 20% to 100%!
The Qatar Natural History Group will be holding their next meeting on December 5th at 7.30 at the Doha English Speaking College. The meeting will not feature, as originally planned, Peter Harrigan, whose talk on Saudi Arabian rock art has been postponed to after the New year.
Instead Richard Switzer, the curator at Al Wabb preserve, will give a Introduction to the Birds of Al Wabra, which will link up to the QNHG trip to Al Wabra later in the month.
You can find more information about the reserve on the Al Wabra Wildlife Preserve Website.
Photograph by Paula Hoeppner
This week will see the start of the fifth round of F1 powerboat racing taking place along Doha’s corniche. This is not to be confused with the offshore powerboat racing which took place last week!
The Qatar round will see not one but two main races being held. Although you will be able to see the boats on the water from the 22nd November, the actual races will be held on the 24th and 27th November at 2.30 pm.
For more information see the official site F1 Powerboat Racing. You can also view the Dangerous when Wet documentary below:
Qatar Visitor e-store (U.S.)
Qatar Visitor E-store (U.K.)
Find the best deal, compare prices and read what other travellers have to say about Qatar
Tags
Qatar Doha Middle East Powerboat Racing
-
Qatar has the second largest population of dugongs in the world, but little is known of these secretive creatures that often avoid the ocean’s shallows.
Dugongs feed on sea grass at the bottom of the sea. The creatures are slow moving, and a recent study in California found that they avoid their natural predators, sharks, by staying in deep water.
Now these rare creatures, which may be in danger of extinction, are to be tracked by military cameras mounted on helicopters in part of a initiative by SCENR, Dolphin Energy and the Qatar Air force, according to the Gulf Times.
If you want to know more about Qatar’s marine life, watch out for the second of Frances Gillespie’s article on Qatar Nature, which will be published next month and will include pictures of dugong. The first article, An Introduction to Qatar’s Natural History, can be seen on the Natural History section of our website.
Note - image taken from Wikipedia's page on Dugongs.
Also see: Dugong on Verge of Extinction in Qatar by the International Animal Rescue site
In what must be good news for expatriates seeking jobs in the Middle East, Qatar is facing a shortage of professional staff in a number of fields, according to a story in The Peninsula today.
The fields include engineering, banking, finance, medicine and accountancy.
Part of the problem may be due to the rising cost of living and the falling value of the riyal. However one recruitment consultant, Maria Brown, said that as a result companies were offering increasingly competitive packages.
Demand, though high in all fields, was particularly strong in the banking sector.
Those accepting jobs may get an unexpected benefit in the coming months. It is looking increasingly likely that the Qatar riyals - as well as other local currencies - will be devalued. If so, the value of any savings or remittances will increase. But I'll leave it to all those bankers to work out exactly how much extra they will benefit!
Browse jobs in Qatar and the Gulf
There's several posts on Al Wajbah forts on the internet, but no images, so I was keen to visit and photograph the place.
Al Wajbah is of significant historical interest. It was the base of Sheikh Bin Jassim , and from the wadi below Al Wajbah, Sheikh Bin Jassim gathered the Qatar tribes people, ready to attack and defeat the Ottomans in a battle that for many would mark the start of the Qatari nation. (See The Rise of the Qatar Ruling Family and the Battle of Al Wajbah for more information.)
Al Wajbah was built in the nineteenth century, and is probably the oldest standing fort left in Qatar, although there are much older ruins in the country. The fort has sturdy walls with a tower at each corner, and slits through which arrows or bullets could be fired.
Rain water gathers below, and leads to a rare oasis. (Another example can be found on the Zekreet peninsula.)
Unfortunately, my visit was cut short before I even left the house. Ringing a friend for advice, I was informed that access to both Al Wajbah fort has now been closed.The grounds of the Royal Palace now encloses the the fort and the Oasis, and photography is no longer allowed.
Other forts, however, are still accessible, and you can read and view images of the following forts on our blog and website:
Al Koot Fort
Al Zubarah Fort
Barzan Towers
Umm Slal Mohammad: Forts Streams and Water
The tickets for the Doha Player's pantomime Almost Dick Whittington are now on sale. The tickets can be purchased from the International Centre for Music on Ahmed Bin Hanbal Street (4671354) or from Music Master in Landmark Shopping Mall.
The RAF's red arrows will be flying over Doha later today as part of their Eastern tour. The flight will take place at 3.30 pm and can be viewed from Sheraton Park.
Qatar Visitor e-store (U.S.)
Qatar Visitor E-store (U.K.)
Find the best deal, compare prices and read what other travellers have to say about Qatar
Tags
Qatar Doha Middle East red arrows
As Christmas approaches, many of us will be wondering how to get presents over from the UK and USA. Not only does Amazon refuse to shop many goods abroad, when you can ship them there is the awful Q-post service to deal with. I’ve had to wait months for some packages, while others have never arrived.
The 18th International book fair will be held in Qatar at the Qatar International Exhibition Centre from November 28th until December 8th. Ring (+974) 4429955 or email qanal@qatar.net.qa for details.
The UAE announced today that it was at a crossroads with regard to the Dirham's dollar peg. The announcement followed a remark by the Qatari prime minister that the dollar was hurting the Qatari economy, which in turn followed decisions by the Gulf countries not to shadow American interest rates.
It is also coupled with recent warnings by Meryll Lynch that the peg would be difficult to sustain.
It seems increasingly likely that the riyal will be unshackled from the dollar. If another GCC country leaves the dollar peg (Kuwait has already abandoned it) there will be little point in others continuing. What's more, it is unlikely that these statements would have been made if the countries were serious about maintaining the dollar peg.
If these countries do abandon the greenback there will be a sigh of relief from many expatriate workers.
Expatriates have, in recent months, seen the value of their wages hit by inflation. This inflation has been at least partly caused by the rising cost of non-dollar imports. Because of the dollar peg, central banks have been unable to control the inflation through interest rate rises.
Most expatriates are also here to save money or to send money home. However, as the riyal has been dragged down, the value of their money in their home currency has devalued.
All these indications of devaluation, in addition to the difference in interest rates arising between America and Qatar, is bound to invite currency speculation.
In fact, I’m tempted myself to bring some of my savings into the currency. Speculators with a bigger appetite for risk – hedge funds and investment banks - will no doubt be tempted to borrow money in dollars and buy riyals.
They will then enjoy two benefits – higher interest rates than in America, and a big profit if and when the riyal revalues.
Ultimately, speculators may force the Gulf countries to abandon the peg - whether they want to or not.
Also see:
Qatar Currency Converter
Qatar Currency and Banking
www.scootersdirectuk.com - exporting scooters and mobility equipment to the Middle East
