Rijal Almaa

As I always imagined Saudi to be a land of desert and dunes I am time and time again surprised by the variety of landscapes. In my imagination people would still live in Bedouin tents … well, sort of… I hadn’t really thought this through. Flat desert land gives way to vast dunes in shades from white to brown, cliffs can be climbed with views that meet the horizon; landscapes scattered with huge, scurrile boulders are interspersed with beautiful green and lush wadies; the steepest roads leading up to villages clinging onto the mountainside, lovely cool temperatures welcoming you. And have you ever imagined seeing monkeys in Saudi? Well, there you have it!
Following Jasmin's car, I wonder about her erratic indicating and blinking warning lights. Finally, she pulls over, comes running towards me with a beaming smile and asks me if I saw those monkeys. No I hadn’t seen them but I tell her, there will be more and we continue our journey. All by myself I wonder how I could be so blasé about it, what if there are no more monkeys? But I needn’t worry. Just some bends further down the road, they were roaming in the hills. More than 50 of them, a huge family, big boys, kids, mothers carrying babies on their backs and around their bellies. When we stopped, they were running towards us, carefully, noisy, screeching and each fighting for the apple pieces we were throwing towards them. Of course, we were targeting the mothers who were a bit slower than the rest, hampered by the precious cargo they were carrying. At one point king monkey ran screeching towards Jasmin, who could rescue herself into her car just in time.
Rex did not like the monkeys. I think they reminded him too much of screaming children. So, after a bit of barking he decided to hide from them in his safe spot between the driver’s pedals.Read more