Saudi Arabia in Pictures

[Saif al-Arab]

jeddah by azizmishkhas, on Flickr

DSCF1618_HDR by المصمماتي, on Flickr

color building by Nasser Aldossary, on Flickr


























تضاريس by Abdulaziz Hajjaj, on Flickr

 

[Saif al-Arab]

 

[Saif al-Arab]

One of the 1000's of wadis (non-permanent rivers) in KSA:

The largest palm grove in the world in Al-Hasa:

Some of the many strange birds found in Saudi Arabia:

See this excellent page below:

http://www.birdsofsaudiarabia.com

 

[Saif al-Arab]

KAUST (one of the most beautiful and modern universities in the world):



Winter in Tabuk Province:

Saudi Arabia Snow by ABO_TMEEM, on Flickr

More random photos:

















Mountain Road at Night by Abdullah Muhammed, on Flickr

MyLand | Rediscovering the Hejaz Railway by Land Rover MENA, on Flickr

MyLand | Rediscovering the Hejaz Railway by Land Rover MENA, on Flickr

MyLand | Rediscovering the Hejaz Railway by Land Rover MENA, on Flickr





tabuk .. saudi arabia by عبدالله العيدي, on Flickr

 

[Saif al-Arab]

JEDDAH_AL BALAD _9 by AHMED SAMIR, on Flickr
















Souk1_HR by dphender, on Flickr





Castle black - Jeddah by TonyRc P, on Flickr



JEDDAH by Muhammad Bakhdar, on Flickr

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Desers of Saudi Arabia by Ahmed Almohammadi, on Flickr

MyLand | Rediscovering the Hejaz Railway by Land Rover MENA, on Flickr

 

[Saif al-Arab]

 

[Saif al-Arab]

 

[Gomig-21]

Keep up the great work, Sharif! Really some EXCELLENT photos of that magnificent country. I love your selections, also. The impressive woodworking skills in all the old architecture to the modern, stylish buildings to the natural, geographic landscape from the vast beauty of the desert scenery to the lush, greenery and water to the amazing, turquoise waters and spectacular corals and marine life of the Red Sea to the amazing wildlife to the beautiful faces of the people. You really are hitting every single beautiful aspect of that cherished land. Thanks for the effort.

Red-crested pochard. One of the most beautiful ducks in the world. That's the male, most often much more colorful (even the color of the eyes) than the duller-colored females (or hens.)

That's a great picture. Not only capturing a neat moment, but capturing what is essentially animal conservation in Saudiya. I remember about 8 or 9 years ago, Australia was going to set some type of bounty on roughly 500 camels because they were either a nuisance or there was some issue that they were having with that particular population and they were set to eradicate them. Once the Saudi government heard about it, they actually told the Aussies "please, give us your camels, we'll take care of them." I thought that was one of the most incredibly profound moments of nature preservation that this photo reminded me of that despite it being so many years ago. When you're involved in animal conservation at any capacity, this type of thing is easily and naturally spotted.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

@Gomig-21

I am trying to do my best but I have to admit that my selections are random for the most part. I do appreciate your praise though. By the way feel free to post photos of Egypt in this thread below whenever you want to:

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/the-arabian-peninsula-and-arab-world-in-photos.280918/

It is always a pleasure to read your informative posts @Gomig-21 . Not sure if I told you this already but if that is the case I will simply say it again.
I have to be honest with you and tell you that my knowledge about birds is limited in general aside from knowing about the more common bird species used for falconry locally.

The male Red-crested pochard (thanks for educating me) sure looks special.

As for conservation efforts in KSA, it has to be said that the government for the past few decades has done a good job in this regard. KSA is home to several national parks. Many of those national parks are comparable to small or medium-sized countries.

"Saudi Arabia began setting aside land for protection of natural habitats, flora, and/or fauna in 1978. Currently, the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation & Development (NCWCD) manages 15 protected areas, which encompass 85,557 square kilometers (33,033 square miles).

These areas are:

• Harrat al Harrah Reserve - Located in the north-central part of the Kingdom
• Al Khunfah Reserve - Located in the northwest part of the Kingdom
• Ibex Reserve - Located in the central part of the Kingdom, about 200 km (124 miles) south of Riyadh
• Mahazat as-Sayd Reserve - This totally fenced-in reserve is located in western part of the Kingdom, approximately 150 km (93 miles) east of Taif, and adjacent to the Saja Um Al Rimth Reserve
• Umm al Qamari Island Reserve - Located in the Red Sea off Al Qunfudah, which is located south of Jeddah and north of Jizan, approximately halfway between the two cities
• Al Tubayq Reserve - Located northeast of Tabuk, in the northern part of the Kingdom, along the Syrian border
• Farasan Islands Reserve - Located in the Red Sea, 40 km (25 miles) off the city of Jizan, along the southwestern coast of Saudi Arabia
• Raydah Reserve - This small, 9-square-kilometer (3.4-square-mile) park is located adjacent to the Asir Mountains National Park a short distance outside of the coastal city of Jizan, in southwestern Saudi Arabia
• Majami'al-Hadb Reserve - Located in the plains of the south-central part of the Kingdom
• 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid Reserve - Located on the western edge of the Empty Quarter (Rub' al Khali)
• Nafud al-'Urayq Reserve - Located in the central part of the Kingdom, northwest of Riyadh
• At-Taysiyah Reserve - Located on the Summan Plateau of northeastern Saudi Arabia, south of the border with Iraq
• Al Jandaliyah Reserve - Located in the northeastern part of the Kingdom, somewhat southeast of the At-Taysiyah Reserve
• Saja Um Al Rimth Reserve - Located in western part of the Kingdom, approximately 150 km (93 miles) east of Taif, and adjacent to the Mahazat as-Sayd Reserve
• Jabal Shadah Reserve - Located south of Taif, near the National Wildlife Research Center, on the outer edge of the Sarawat Escarpment in the Tihamah foothills
• Jubail Reserve - This coastal/marine reserve is located on the Arabian Gulf, outside of the city of Jubail

The NCWCD has plans to recommend over 100 sites for protection.

Wildlife in Saudi Arabia"

However as always more can be done in this regard and in particular when it comes to educating people living on the countryside who not always look favorable at for instance Arabian leopards ravaging their farm lands etc.

Yes, as far as I am aware of Australia has the biggest number of wild camels in the world next after Somalia. KSA's numbers are actually not that big but in recent years conversation efforts have been made to improve the numbers. This has been a successful policy as the numbers have increased.



Great white sharks are present as well.

Continuing with the random photos:

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Al Wadj Bank, Saudi Arabia (NASA, International Space Station Science, 12/30/07) by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, on Flickr


فرسان by Jazan Know, on Flickr

Tabuk area منطقة تبوك by tabuk تبوك, on Flickr

 

[Gomig-21]

@Gomig-21

I am trying to do my best but I have to admit that my selections are random for the most part. I do appreciate your praise though.

Well that randomness is working pretty well.

 

[Arabi]

Makkah

Some pictures from Abha

the corniche of fog, Abha

Faifa

 

[Gomig-21]

Great white sharks are present as well.

I've caught my share of sharks through the years. Blues, spinners, blacktips, 1 hammerhead, threshers and reefers, not including the ones that were just too massive and overpowered me and my line. Seen bulls, oceanic white-tips and whale sharks while diving and from the boat. I'll be heading back in a year or so for a couple of weeks at Ras Mohammad and Sharm and we're doing a couple weeks of diving and fishing till we drop! I've caught a lot of spinners and blacktips off the Florida Keys. They love mackerel so we'll catch an bunch of them and cut the head off and use that as bait, something about all the juices in the heads of mackerel that spinners and blacktips go crazy for. The second the cast hits the surface BANG, a spinner nails it if you're in the right area lol. Very aggressive and put up a great fight.

Catch the mackerel first (almost looks like a barracuda), cut the head off and...

hook it tight on a circle hook and cast it and then pow...lol, this is what comes up.

In a few months I'll be going down off Louisiana coast with some buddies for a week of yellow fin tuna. We end up catching a lot of other very cool stuff as well.

the corniche of fog, Abha

That's unbelievable. Must be very high elevation. Beautiful pics.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

@Arabi

Great share brother.

@Gomig-21

Wonderful photos brother. You are really catching some beasts there! I know for a fact that the waters around Florida and the Gulf of Mexico are a treasure hove. I have done similar kind of fishing in the Red Sea, Florida and the Med.

I have only caught a few barracudas and smaller sharks. Nothing huge.

I would love trying this kind of fishing though:

Unbelievable.

Anyway back to KSA and more randomness: