Jazan is a port town in the southwest of Saudi Arabia with an old castle on the hill, complete with flocks of circling black kites. There is a modern corniche complete with enormous hotels and vast play areas, designed to attract tourists; the main inhabitants are the cats that lie around without a care. The…
Tag: Farasan
Dumsuq and Qummah Islands in the Farasan archipelago
After the obligatory sign-off by the coastguard, we take a small boat south beyond the tip of Farasan Kebir and across open water to Dumsuq island. The sea is choppy but not as harsh as it is later in the day when the winds pick up and so we bump, and only at times thump,…
Farasan Kebir’s Wild North Coast
By the bridge to the second largest island of Al-Sajid there are deep green, fringing mangroves and a range of migrant waterbirds along the muddy banks including small numbers of bar-tailed godwits, dunlin, Kentish plovers, slender-billed gulls and various herons. A female brimstone appears to lay eggs on the mangroves. We travel back east towards…
Farasan’s Idmi Gazelles
The entire Farasan archipelago, including all the islands and surrounding marine areas, was declared a nature reserve in 1989 and is managed by the National Center for Wildlife; it is currently seeking admission as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The reasons are manifold but include rich coastal waters with fringing reefs and seagrass beds supporting…
Farasan Kebir
The ferry crosses the Red Sea from Jizan to the the main island in the Farasan archipelago called Farasan Kebir or just Farasan. The road from the port runs to the main town where an Egyptian vulture is foraging in a dusty car park; the islands are a stronghold for this species perhaps because they…