of chickens set us on our way again. We reached the car park at eleven; some 16 hours after leaving it. Did we beat the heat; most definitely. For the majority of the trip, whilst occasionally warm and sweat inducing, it was never uncomfortable or skin stripping hot. I would certainly recommend this summer trip to moderately fit people that are prepared to put Early morning view looking north up with a little discomfort and when required man last a significant length of time; shade and up/suck it up (select as applicable). The true a welcome cooling breeze made us linger summit of Qihwi should be avoided unless longer than we should have. Eventually the you are prepared to risk life and limb with guilt that we were disrupting our hosts’ busy the potential of ending up as a pile of sun schedule of managing 30 penned goats, six bleached bones on a rocky hillside. feral donkeys and an unspecified number
Turtle
Power! We witness the release of 101 rehabilitated turtles back into the ocean
“Turtles and tortoises are frequently depicted in popular culture as easygoing, patient, and wise creatures, snapping turtles aside.” Thankfully, there were no angry Snapping Turtles to be seen at the Mina Al Salam, but there was a plethora of stunning little hawksbill turtles, excited to be released into the wild oceans. We were at hand to capture the great moments of an inspiring event on the morning of the 16th of June 2011. In celebration of World Sea Turtle Day, the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project (DTRP) today successfully returned 101 critically endangered hawksbill turtles back to their natural habitat following several months of rehabilitation at Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah. 101 children, including competition winners, pupils from a local school and hotel guests, released the turtles from the beach of Madinat Jumeirah back into the Arabian Gulf. The DTRP is based at the Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah and run in conjunction with Dubai’s Wildlife Protection Office. It has been running since 2004 and has so far released over 500 rescued sea turtles back into Dubai’s waters. This year alone, over 350 sick or injured sea turtles have been treated by the DTRP’s team of marine biologists after washing up on the region’s beaches. The event, which attracted a large crowd with children’s activities and a taste of Jumeirah hospitality, was designed to raise awareness of the importance of the turtle rehabilitation programme, issues facing turtles, their risk of extinction (with an 87% decline in the hawksbill turtle population in the last three decades) and conservation of the marine environment. To see more pictures, log onto the OutdoorUAE Facebook page!
10
We took: • • • • • • • • • •
Nine litres of water between two in hydration bladders Thermarest and cotton sleeping bag liner each Good quality head torches with fresh batteries Mountain first aid kit Too much dried fruit (what was remaining was left with tea providing shepherds) GPS (Garmin Etrex Vista HCx complete with user manual – unread) Coolmax clothing – very effective with the breeze experienced on the ridges. Brimmed sunhats Buff headwear – great stand-in sunhat for the idiot that left sunhat on backseat of car in rush to depart. Approach shoes
We left behind: • •
One sunhat – see above Atmospheric Data Centre that would have provided objective evidence of how we beat the heat.
Pete Aldwinkcle.