Out and about in Bahrain again
Waking up to a cool but clear sky this morning, the plans to go out and explore Bahrain was confirmed.
Not entirely sure where to go yet, I was reading the morning newspaper while having coffee. There I read about a few interesting places. I decided to consult Google map and found something I never imagined, but we would definitely have to go and find, Stegosaurus Tombstone. Yes that is correct, Stegosaurus Tombstone, in Bahrain.
With this in mind, wondering and trying to guess what this could be, we headed out, made a stop at the drive thru Starbucks and was on our way. Away from the walls of buildings, away from traffic and into the desert.
Once we left the highway, it was quite fascinating driving on the small narrow roads in the desert. You don't feel completely lost from humankind because you are driving in amongst the oil fields. There are pipelines and all sorts of strange looking equipment all over, and yet you do get the feeling of being away from it all.
The surroundings are not as flat as you might imagine, there are quite a bit of sandy, rock-like hills everywhere, making the drive more interesting as you look out and see what there is around.
We eventually arrive at the point where the GPS was leading us, and there the Stegosaurus Tombstone stood, prominent and clear.
On the opposite side of the road is a point on the GPS that indicates caves, so we stopped the car and walked around exploring looking at the caves that are built into the hill. Before we knew it we landed on top of the hill, with the most spectacular view and it was so clear you could see the sea water on both sides of the island.
The walk was fascinating, looking around and seeing the rock formations, and staring into the distance.
After the walk we drive off to go and find the Bahrain Forrest, yes, again strange for a desert island, a Forrest. It is a Mangrove Forrest and the article that I read previously stated that unfortunately there are no boat rides into the mangrove, but you can go and have a look around the area. It really did not take us long to get there. We drove and quickly found ourselves in amongst the buildings. Again, it is a sight to see, there are old and new, merged, super modern massive homes between traditional simple homes, and yet, somehow it works.
We drove a small road and as we got closer to the beach area you could see the green of the mangrove peeking out from behind buildings.
We arrived at an open area where you can park and look out onto the bay area or you can have a look at the mangrove. I think it would have been more spectacular if we could have the boat trip through the mangrove rather than just walk, but that we can certainly do when it opens again, it must be very impressive. It is still stunning to find this patch of natural green in between all the pale of the beach sand and the buildings around.
It is a great time to be out, because there are flamingos everywhere, so we had the bonus of seeing some flamingos in the bay water as well.
It was a lovely morning, driving around and getting away from the walled environment we find ourselves in everyday of the week.
We will go back to the mangrove to take the boat trip when they open and we will also keep exploring, trying to find more sites and places to astound and educate us. It is also a better alternative than going to the mall or public area where there are lots of people.
I encourage you all to try and find places around your own area to go and explore, not a mall or town, but nature, a park or walkway, any place to get yourself away from the dominance of the wall that surround you daily, away from the excessive screen time we are all doing as well.
Most of all enjoy exploring and talking with your children.
Keep safe all.