attractions ACTIVITIES
designated national park in 1981 covering an area from the mountains west of Abha across the Tihamah plain to the Red Sea. Jebel Sawdah, the highest point in the kingdom, is situated within the park. Birds that can be spotted
here include partridges, magpies, warblers, kestrels and rare Barbary falcons, but there have also been reports of sightings of the near- extinct long-legged bustard. Main access points to the moun-
tains are at Al Hadba, Al Qara, Al Sudah, Dalgan, Abha and Prince Sultan Park. Visitors can also reach the mountains through Toor Al Masqah Park, where there is a visitor centre with seven exhibi- tion rooms and panoramic views.
LUSH FORESTS Situated near Al Baha, 100 kilo- metres south of Jeddah and 80 kilometres inland from the Red Sea, Raghdan Forest spreads across three square kilometres and is criss-crossed by winding roads and pathways. Slightly larger, but within the same province, Shahba Forest is a thick mass of pine trees and juniper bushes. The most spectacular of this
trio of adventure parks is the Al Geme Forest, which is reached by a cable car. There’s tougher
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walking further afield at Nawan Al Ala, a six-kilometre-long valley near Asham and the Al Shaira recreational park. More spectacular still is the
Wadi Melil, a valley at the foot of Mount Shada Al A’la shaded by statuesque trees growing out of white soil in the Tihamah foothills, west of the Asir escarp- ment, where annual rainfall is the highest in the kingdom.
ALSO TRY
UNDERWATER IN YANBU Another industrial area with hidden depths is the city of Yanbu on the Red Sea, which boasts around 1,930 kilometres of the world’s finest coral reef, with more than 450 species of fish. Despite the industrial
surroundings, the marine life off Yanbu is vast and varied and dive sites are located around Al HasaniI Island, north of Yanbu.
CAVE EXPLORATION The Jebel Garah Mountain is loc- ated 13 kilometres east of Al Hofuf, a city of 1.2 million inhabitants in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The mountain, also known as Ash Shab’an Mountain, hides a series of large, high caves where the temperature remains constant thanks to the thick limestone. One series of caves, named Ghar
Al Hashshab (cave of the arrow maker) is particularly impres- sive with towering canyons and labyrinthine interiors. Passages are narrow in places with dark openings along the way. Walking in and out takes about 20 minutes, but with a good flashlight there is much more to explore. The kingdom has 85,000 square
kilometres of lava fields, which also provide caving experiences with long, smooth tunnels up to three million years old. Explorers in Saudi Arabia are only just beginning to discover the maze of underground caves.
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8 Jebel Sawdah 9 Al-Geme Forest, Abha
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