Mr. Biggs

We met the jovial “Biggs” at our scuba shop and sat down to talk while awaiting our next dive. He was always in a good mood.

Talking About Flat Land....

Sandy & Rich from Colorado

We met Patricia’s brother Richard and his wife Sandy in Dallas and then headed on down to Belize. It took less than a day to slow down to the Caribbean lifestyle and once we did it was hard to return to the US. They were a bit surprised to be able to see the water on both sides of the island when standing in the middle and the 10 feet of elevation when they are used to 5000+ feet.

Around Every Corner

My wife, daughter and I were fortunate to tour portions of Italy Greece and Turkey this summer. While in Rome, it seemed as though everywhere we turned we came across another beautiful relic of the past glory of the city. Parked in front of this relief decorating an ancient Roman wall was this new "Smart" car.

Big Beautiful Belizean Bougainvillea

When not snorkeling, going scuba or fishing we explored around town. We took the golf carts one day but most of the time we would take our time and walk. We passed through a hotel entry, while scouting out a restaurant, and in the middle of their courtyard was the tallest bougainvillea I have ever seen.

"Under the Shade I Flourish"

One of the many nice guys working as staff at our hotel was Pedro. It seemed either he or his counterpart, Rocky, were always around when we were in need. One day Pedro gave Tricia & Sandy a history lesson using the Belizean flag.

From what I understand, the white and black men pictured represent the wood cutters sent here to feed the mahogany lumber trade. Pedro explained, together as equals, they formed a country whose motto is “Under the Shade I Flourish” There are 50 leaves on the wreath for 1950, which is when the country was founded.

From the day we arrived, Pedro flew the American and Belizean flags together.

Underwater Fun

Aric Suspended in a Blue Background

Belize is known for its world-class diving and this year was awesome. We saw turtles, sharks, tarpon, rays, barracuda and all of our favorite little & tiny fishes, crustaceans and corals. My son Aric and brother-in-law Richard & his wife Sandy, came with us this year so it was a very special time for all of us.

Cruising Through An Underwater Canyon

Bull Shark for Dinner

Aric's Bull Shark (Tricia in white cap & Clifford in red)

We went fishing in Belize with the same guides we used last year. Clifford & Eric, who run Uprising Tours, did an awesome job & we had a good time. Everyone who wanted to fish caught something. We also stopped and snorkeled then ate some of our catch on a deserted stretch of beach.

Aric, lucky guy that he is, had just taken over my rod & reel at the back of the boat and immediately hooked this bull shark. It was good challenge on the light tackle we were using and everyone was happy & excited until the shark got closer to actually being landed. That is when Eric got out the club and whacked it a few times to kill it. At that point we were all wondering whatever happened to "catch & release," but were glad to find out that Clifford had an order for 50 pounds of fish & planned to sell it to a local lady who uses shark for her empanadas.

Asian Football Championship Challenge

David & Kurtis on Top of Mount Democrat

I went to a Saudi friend’s house the other night and watched the Saudi Arabian national soccer team win against Japan in the semi-final of the Asian Cup. There a few of us watching and my friend had all the traditional Arabic coffee, tea and snacks so we listened to the announcer in Arabic while chatting in English & munching away.

The funny thing was every time the Saudi team scored everyone leapt up and shouted. Then in very short order my friend’s uncle would come crashing through the door smiling broadly and yelling something almost unintelligible and then he would disappear as quickly as he came. I was laughing so hard because it reminded me of myself with my sons when our teams play basketball or football.

The Saudis earned the chance to play Iraq in the finals so I challenged my son David, who is serving in Iraq, that my Saudi National soccer team would beat his Iraqi team in the finals of the Asian Football Championship. I was wrong! The Iraqis were the better team that day and won the title 1-0.

I took this photo of the two of us from the top of Mount Democrat in Colorado prior to David deploying overseas. We were sitting at over 14,000 feet and had excellent cellular coverage so we just had to phone home. I'm looking forward to the day David returns home so we can get together and climb a few more peaks.

Seat Belt Professional

Seat Belts On - Ready For Takeoff

Flying is sometimes more than an adventure. Last year on our way to Ambergris Caye, Belize we boarded our single-engine, "puddle-jumpin,'" Cessna Caravan airplane and as we settled into the last leg of the journey we immediately had a problem. Everyone was asking each other about how to fasten the seat belt latches. They were unlike any fasteners they had seen before. After a few seconds and a little common sense those of us who wanted to get a belt on did so.

This year we visited Belize again and Patricia made sure all the aircraft trays were stowed, seats were in the upright position and everyone had their belts fastened, prior to takeoff. She should have been paid to take this flight. Never mind everyone had every electronic device in their possession on videoing excitedly.

On Short Final for San Pedro

Enough Flying Already!!

"The Final Four" - (L-R) Amanda, Jessica, Emily & Kurtis

With my vacation regrettably over I decided to calculate the airline miles I traveled. I found a website where you plug in your takeoff and landing destinations and after inputting all 19 of the flights I was surprised to find out I had traveled more than 30,000 air miles. To me that sounds like a lot of miles in a 30 days period.

Fortunately, I traveled nearly all those miles with family and friends. Without family and friends I would not have been having such a great time, as the airlines repeatedly cancelled or delayed flights. In my final trip back to the US from Athens, Greece, it took a patience-taxing three days for me and my vacation buddies to reach home!

The photo above was taken in Dallas on the third day while we were awaiting the final flight to reach home. We were the last of our group of 35 to get home yet the young ladies were real troopers who kept their spirits high despite all the delays during the final stages of our adventure.

Time to Move on to Cricket

Sultan

Wow! Every year the NCAA Basketball Tournament gets better. This whole season was a blast right up to the point where my team (the Kansas Jayhawks, of course) was booted last night. Now I am longing for the days of playing the Nebraska Cornhuskers. What was the KU-NU game final score??? 93-39 or something like that?? That almost makes up for the 63-0 scores KU used to endure in football versus NU!

I had a fun time trying to catch all the March Madness games. KU played their last two games at 2:00 am local Saudi time as we are 8 hours ahead of Central Std Time. It wasn't really that hard getting out of bed to watch. The difficult thing is wondering if you will actually get to see it.

I receive satellite TV through a company called Orbit. Orbit broadcasts ESPN but it is a mix of ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN-U, ESPN Classics, ESPN International.......you get the picture. I'll plan to catch a game that is scheduled to air based on Orbit's schedule and sure enough something else will come on instead. One day it will be polo from Argentina, the next day will be horse racing at Santa Anita in Southern California, or sailing races in the Med, or 7 Nations rugby from Australia, so to get ALL the tourney games has been a real treat. I might even get up tonight to see who the last two Final Four teams will be.....



When I have some down time I can watch just about anything they broadcast except for the cricket. I've figured out the scoring and batting rules with the help of Sultan, who is from Bangladesh. However, for those of you who think golf is boring, cricket, in my mind, is not far behind. I am sure it is fun to play, but to watch it on TV is a killer. Sultan and his buddies have recently dropped by asking for the latest World Cricket Championship scores, as it is being played right now. They're as crazy about cricket as I am about NCAA Basketball. More power to them!

Ibrahim's Courtyard (Left View)

View of the Courtyard

This view is looking left out the front door of the entertaining room and is about half of Ibrahim's displays. The entry before this one is looking to the right.

Ibrahim's Courtyard

Panoramic View of the Courtyard

This is a view of about half of Ibrahim's displays and is looking to the right out of the door of the entertaining room.

Ibrahim Al-Hamdan's Museum Display

100 Year Old Arabian Market Scene

The woman in the lower right is displayed selling grains arrayed in baskets while her baby is cradled in the leather baby holder (top-center of photo). The walls of the display are covered with traditional, black & white wool, tent material and many other items from the period that are still widely used today.

Bayt Al-Hamdan

Room for Entertaining Guests

This is the Al-Hamdan House (Bayt Al-Hamdan), located in the Janah Valley (Wadi Al-Janah), in Unaizah. My host was Ibrahim Saleh Al-Hamdan, the patriarch of this home.

The doorway in the right rear of the room led to a storage area. The concrete fireplace was rigged with an electric blower to stoke the flame. If you look at the window sill on the right of the photo you can get an idea of the thickness of the walls. The ceiling is at least twenty feet high and the walls have windows at both lower and upper levels. Also, ceiling fans hang from the ceiling to assist with circulating the air. Because of the time-tested construction techniques, I am confident this room is very comfortable in the heat of the summer.

There are only shutters and no glass in the upper windows so, with the shutters open, birds flitter in and out of the room at will along with the sunlight and breeze. No one seemed to mind at all. All the sounds of the farm surrounded us and it was a very tranquil morning.

Coffee and Tea

Sabir, Kurtis and Two Sons of Ibrahim Al-Hamdan

Enjoy Arabic Coffee and Tea

I took a short trip to Unaizah, which is in the Qassim region, to visit my Saudi friend Sabir. The Qassim region is about a three hours drive north of Riyadh. It is a prosperous farming area known for the excellent dates grown there. Very few westerners visit and even fewer live there so when Sabir took me to a family-owned and operated museum I turned out to be somewhat of a novelty.

The museum was built by Ibrahim Al-Hamdan and his family and is actually connected to his home and farm. He has built everything and sourced the displays solely out of his own pocket. He is trying to keep some of the old-style Saudi farm and small-town life alive in his displays.

Ibrahim invited us into his house for qahwa (arabic coffee), shai (sweet arabic tea) and homegrown dates. He had other visitors at the time but he invited us to sit with him as a distinguished guests. We had a good talk and I had a great time and will surely visit him again in the future.

Breakfast Time

Ibrahim, Myself and Sabir Breakfast on the Veranda

We ate a breakfast of camel meat and vegetable stew with bread and fresh milk. It was very tasty. Moments after I took this photo I took a video of us eating and one of Ibrahim's cats came and sat right in front of the camera to wait for the scraps.

Ibrahim's Oasis

Date Palm Covered Walking Lane

This pathway leads from the back of Ibrahim's house to his barnyard. I imagined how cool this lane would be in the hot summer months as compared to the surrounding desert.

Ibrahim's many date palms bear more fruit than his family can eat and store so they sell them to local vendors. They raise a couple hundred pigeons for the squabs they produce and they have a few dozen chickens. He has five milk cows and a few beef cows, four donkeys, and dozens of goats & sheep on the farm.

Future Mosque

This is the Backside of the Mosque

This view shows exposed brick before fascia mud is applied to give it a smoother appearance.

Brick-Making Mudpit

Sabir and Ibrahim's Son Discuss Brickmaking

In the foreground is the pit where mud and straw are mixed to make bricks. In the background you can see some of Ibrahim's farm. Note the sand dune in the background. To the right of it out of view is a brilliant green alfalfa field which will feed Ibrahim's livestock. Unaizah, and the Qassim Region in general, have plentiful underground water and wells and the irrigation systems with which to use it.

Oldtime Mosque

Mosque at Ibrahim Al-Hamdan's House

This building, which will be a mosque when finished, has two stories. The mud bricks are decorated on the exterior with the hand prints of Ibrahim's sons. Note the rain spout emerging from the center of the roof.

Camel Visit Crew

(left to right) Kurtis, Russ, Mugbul, Allen and Romeo

Mugbul invited us to go and see the camels, try some camel milk and maybe even ride them. His cousin has a herd about a fifteen minute drive out into the desert from our location. We had a good time interacting with a couple Sudanese herders who showed us the herd. Mugbul enjoyed "rally" driving like a crazy man across the desert dunes in his Toyota Land Cruiser with us.

Scratching Feels Good

Everyone Has An Itch

I made the mistake of scratching some itches and soon became very popular. They really loved to be handled. They weren't aggressive but would follow you around a bit. If you weren't paying attention they might step on you.

She's a Beauty

Such Soft Lips and Long Lashes

I personally had a good time investigating the way the camels are put together. They're lashes are so long and the lips are very soft to the touch but they are tough enough to get past the thorny bushes they eat here. By the way, all the bushes seem to have thorns.

Romeo Knows How to Ride

Romeo Sits Atop the Camel

Mugbul, my Saudi friend, is drinking a cup of tea while Romeo rides the camel. Allen, Russ and I were all taking photos trying not to laugh.

Allen Dismounts

Allen Dismounts While the Big Male Watches

Camels are surprisingly tall and when you sit on the back you are about six feet in the air. The big male is the father of all the babies in this herd. The herders hobble him (note the feet are tied together) him to keep him close, as the males are known for wandering even further than the females.

Everyone Gets a Share

Russ Drinking His Share

Note the baby suckling. Also, the darker camel in the background has a saddle on. This was the camel we rode.

Looks Like Milk, Tastes Like Milk

Fresh from Mother - Allen Samples Jemel Halib (Camel Milk)

Marcus milked one of the camels and we all had a good long drink. The Saudis say if you have stomach problems and you drink the camel milk you will soon know it because the milk will very quickly clean your stomach out. Luckily this didn't happen to any of us.

The milk tasted like cow's milk but didn't leave the milky after-taste.

Note the camels in the background. They spread out and wander around grazing on bushes somewhat aimlessly until the herder calls them in by shouting certain commands.

Caring Mother Suckles Her Baby

The Baby Gets a Meal

One of the reasons we wanted to see the camels was to see the little ones. We counted roughly 200 camels in this herd with maybe 40 babies. The mothers were mildly skittish at first with all the loud talking and strange camera noises we were making but they really calmed down and allowed us to get as close as we dared. The babies remained wary and wouldn't let us too close.

What Big Feet You Have!

Size 10FFFFFFF - Wide to Hold the Load

This is my size ten next to one of the mother camel's feet. If you look closely you can see the toe nails or hooves. The wide camel feet are perfectly made for cruising across the sand.

Sudanese Herders

Tsegi, Marcus and Allen Sharing a Laugh

Tsegi and Marcus are from Sudan. According to the Saudis I have asked, the Sudanese make the best camel herders.

These two were very gracious hosts. We literally just drove up on them to ask for directions to my Saudi friend's cousin's herd and found out they had moved a day or two prior to a distant location. The Sudanese asked us to stay and look at their camels because the other herd was too far to drive to before the sun went down. We agreed and all got out. They were drinking tea and they both immediately gave us the little glass cups they were drinking from. We shared it with each other and thanked them. This is the custom of the Bedouins. You always have to offer tea to your guests.