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Hospitality on The Way to The LiwaThe United Arab Emirates' Desert GardenBy Habeeb Salloum"Desert! What do you mean? Our country a desert land? Make a trip to the Liwa and see how our nation has been turned into a world of greenery!" Jassim, my Emirate friend appeared to be upset when I mentioned that the United Arab Emirates is a land of unchangeable desert.
My friend's words gave me the needed persuasion to see with my own eyes this greenification of the desert. Soon thereafter, I rented an auto and, with my wife and daughter, set out westward on our way to the Liwa, edging the Rub al-Khali (Empty Quarter) - the ‘desert of deserts’.
Near mid-morning, two hours after leaving Abu Dhabi, we stopped in this desert city at the Al-Nafurah, a restaurant which appeared to be newly opened. While sipping our Turkish coffee, after relishing our manaqeesh bi Zatar (thyme pies), Walid, one of the restaurant owners who hailed from Dera in southern Syria, handed us a pamphlet about his roadside eating place. Soon we were discussing the food of the modern UAE - a cuisine of the many nationalities who call the country home. Noticing on the pamphlet that his restaurant served Lebanese food, I asked, "Why do you call your dishes Lebanese? You're from Syria. Isn't it also Syrian food?" Walid smiled, "The people here call all Jordanian, Palestinian and Syrian dishes Lebanese." When we came to pay, Walid refused to take any money saying, "You have honoured us with your visit. How can I take money from guests who have travelled here from North America - thousands of miles away?" It was apparent, the renowned Arab hospitality was very much alive in this evolving part of the Arabian Peninsula.
A little over a 100 km (61 mi) from Tarif, we were in Mizaira, one of the main towns in the Liwa - a string of natural and man-made oases on the edge of the fearsome Empty Quarter with its ocean of dunes. Turning eastward, we drove in the direction of Hameem 64 km (40 mi) away.
What has made agriculture flourish is the area's substantial supply of underground water. In the last few years, a huge 2,000 square miles lake has been discovered under the sands. Today, 95 million gallons per day are being pumped out and this is expected to rise to 400 million in the near future.
Retracing our steps until Madinat Zayed, we relaxed for awhile in its well-manicured park before continuing homeward - reaching Abu Dhabi in the early evening. Our days journey of some 630 km (391 mi) had been a satisfying experience. As we entered our hotel, my daughter summed it all up, "I can't believe how the desert has been transformed and how friendly and generous are its people. It is like magic! A dead world has come alive." IF YOU GOFacts About Abu Dhabi: 1) Most western European, American and Canadian citizens can enter the UAE without a prior visit visa, they can obtain their visas at the entry points. 2) It is easy to move around the city - taxis are metered and very cheap - less than $3. will take one to most parts of the city. 3) Autos are reasonable in price to rent. A small auto, fully insured, costs less than $50 per day - less if you bargain. Roads are excellent and, except for some two legged tigers behind the wheel, traffic flows. 4) Abu Dhabi, and in fact all of the United Arab Emirates, is the easiest country in the Gulf for women to travel. If not dressed too outrageously, they are rarely hassled. 5) The U.S. dollar is equal to 3.67 UAE dirhams. The rate has remained the same for more than two decades. Exchange cash or traveller cheques at the money exchangers - they do not take commission. 6) In a survey by the British Magazine, ‘Holiday Which?’, in 2001, the UAE and Sweden were found to be the safest countries in the world when it came to holiday illness. 7) Major international hotel chains are well represented in Abu Dhabi. However, there other very reasonably priced and excellent abodes to be found throughout the city. 8) Abu Dhubi offers the food of the world in its hotels and restaurants. The best in Middle Eastern and Asian dishes to an all-encompassing international cuisine, all to be found in this delightful 21st century city. Note: All prices quoted are in U.S. dollars and all hotels and most eating places charge a tax and service charge. For More Information, Contact: Department of External Information, Ministry of Information & Culture, P.O. Box 17, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Email: admin@uaeinteract.com Website: http://www.uaeinteract.com/ |
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TM
Of course, I should have known better. More than once I
had travelled to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, and seen with my own
eyes how a once mud town built in the sand had been transformed into a
breathtaking modern ultra-urban centre. Flowering gardens and parks,
towering skyscrapers and wide-clean streets, edged by majestic date palms
now totally covered the landscape. Yet, even though I had been captivated by
this fairyland city, rising like a phoenix out of the sands, I had not
dreamt that this transformation extended to the four corners of the land. 
The
four-lane highway, edging the Arabian Gulf, traversed a flat desert
landscape, in many places white with salt. However, bordering the road
on both sides, the land had been built up and topped with soil transported
from long distances. In this, trees, mostly date palms, had been planted,
nourished by a plastic-pipe continual water sprinkling system, enriched by
fertilizer. The older planted sections were flourishing, but much
appeared to be newly planted. "Imagine! In a few years when all these
trees are fully grown, we will not be able to see the desert." my daughter
pointed to the mile after mile of young palms. 
At Tarif, 130 km (75 mi) west of Abu Dhabi, we turned
southward and in less than 20 minutes we came to the oil fields at Hasban.
Past this petroleum oasis, here and there, patches of trees intersected with
fields of grain were encompassed by the surrounding desert. Just before
reaching Madinat Zayed, the trees, dominated by the date palm, increased to
block out the desert. 
After Madinat Zayed, the greenification seemed to
stretch further and further into the desert. Dozens of bulldozers were
levelling the sands, preparing them for the spreading of the top soil and
the installation of one of the most modern sprinkling systems in the world.
On this prepared land, along the roadside, trees and shrubs are planted and
beyond, the prepared land is distributed free to farmers. 
It
was a pleasure to drive on the smooth four-lane highway which followed
valleys, green with flourishing fields of cabbage, cucumbers, strawberries,
tomatoes, cereal and forests - many newly planted. In the midst this
deep-greenery were greenhouses, experimental farms and vegetable fields,
partially covered with plastic sheeting. It was apparent that the most
modern of agriculture technology was being applied to a once lifeless land,
reincarnating the landscape to what it was 10,000 years ago when the Arabian
Peninsula was a tropical jungle. 
Only
the barren hills reminded one that this was once part of the dreaded Arabian
desert. However, on the top of some of these had been built glimmering white
villages and schools overlooking the ever-expanding lush farms below. It was
a scene from the 21st century rather than a profile from the ageless desert. 
Encompassing the irrigated hills and fields are the
sand dunes - some a 100 m (328 ft) high. Tourists come on desert safaris to
ski or ride these mountains of sand or just to enjoy their panorama of
breathtaking colours, especially in the early morning or at sunset. 
At Hameem, the highway ended abruptly. Beyond, to the
south was Saudi Arabia's Rub al-Khali - a land so barren that for millennia
conquering armies had avoided entering its sands. Nevertheless, today,
even though the battle has been fierce between man and desert, the modern
agricultural armies, in their encounter with the dunes, have tamed some of
these sands - a testimony to what modern technology can achieve if employed
wisely.