A host of eco-tourism initiatives in Egypt are moving away from the packaged tour to nature-based experiences Nature has been developing solutions to its own challenges for the last 3.8 billion years, so two women in Egypt have set up an eco-tourism venture that tunes into that infinite wisdom. Biologists Sara el-Sayed and Betty Khoury […]
While snorkeling in the Red Sea just before Valentine’s Day, a Swiss scientist came across a 3-legged turtle. Ivo Blöchliger was snorkeling in the increasingly vulnerable Red Sea just two days before Valentine’s Day when he came across a 3-legged turtle. The turtle was swimming in front of the Swisscare Reef in Nuweiba in South Sinai. […]
This new eco-resort in the Fayoum Oasis offers tourists and locals respite from Egypt’s ongoing chaos. Without the steady influx of tourists and constant political trouble, Egyptians are wondering when their lives will ever return to normal. But the folks at El Mandara eco-resort in Fayoum promise that visitors to their new facility will experience […]
Omar Samra is an adventurer whose incredible pursuits highlight the importance of environmental awareness. When Omar Samra isn’t running one of the few genuinely eco-friendly and socially responsible tourism outfits in Egypt called Wild Guanabana, he climbs mountains. Big ones. He was the first Egyptian to summit Mt. Everest in 2007 and by the end […]
Can mega well bring peace to Sudan? At least 300,000 people died and almost three million were displaced by the Darfur conflict in Sudan. Egyptian-American geologist Farouk El-Baz believes that limited access to water is one of the root causes of this conflict. Doctor El-Baz is director of Boston University’s center for remote sensing. He […]
10 King and 10 Gentoo Penguins imported from Texas are now living at Ski Dubai – an indoor ski slope in the desert! Picture : © Samuel Blanc / www.sblanc.com It’s bizarre enough that Dubai has an indoor ski slope despite outdoor summer temperatures averaging at over 40 degrees Celsius, but now a colony of penguins has […]
Join the debate: is the world’s first all-women falconry association in Qatar a bad idea? Falconry is a time-honored tradition in the Gulf, but like more recent sports such as race-car driving and rugby, it is a male-dominated sport. So when the Katara cultural village in Qatar recently announced the launch of the world’s first female […]
Anyone who loves nature will enjoy Balyolu’s week long tour on Northeastern Turkey’s honey road. Update May 20, 2020: this tour is no longer operating. It’s impossible to understate the importance of bees. Like fruit bats – thousands of which were gunned down by unknown assailants in Lebanon last weekend – they are pollinators that […]
International water management policies in Morocco have disrupted the Berber’s perfectly good and longstanding system. In 2009 I travelled to the High Atlas mountain region of Morocco to reach some friends that ran an eco-lodge in a very lonesome village with a wholesome lifestyle. The mother of Houssa, the owner of the eco-lodge, revealed the […]
Israeli researchers have developed a DNA test that will allow the desert-dwelling Bedouin tribes to detect which of their sheep have a gene that makes them more likely to produce multiple offspring. With the cost of animal feed rising as well, a new technology that helps Bedouin tribes increase the size of their flock without […]
After publishing so many stories about Arabs who offend nature so deeply, the Green Sheikh’s soothing words are especially timely. What links humans, nature and technology is one of the secrets of life. This link should be used to reach sustainability and to seek “Nature’s Wisdom,” which originates from a conscious and extensive belief in […]
“Nature has provided ecosystems and their benefits to us for free… perhaps because this capital has been provided freely to us, we humans have tended to view it as limitless, abundant, and thus perhaps always available for our use, exploitation, and conversion.” (p.3) The modern economy’s obsession with competitive consumption and endless exploitation of natural […]
Nabil Hirbawy from Siwa, Egypt lost an eye to his craft, but that hasn’t dampened his passion for carving salt rock into beautiful works of art! Nabil Hirbawy was polishing off a small salt sculpture when a small piece of it struck him in the eye, leaving him partially blind – not only physically, but […]
Guest writer and Oxford student Will Todman describes the mood in Lebanon following the announcement that Jeita Grotto failed to secure a spot as one of the new 7 Natural Wonders of the World. Lebanon’s hopes of having its candidate, Jeita Grotto, declared one of the new 7 Natural Wonders of the World were crushed […]
Taliban holds fire thanks to tooth-sized nut. Image via the NY Times. Some say all is fair in love and war, but for guerrilla warfare between the Taliban and Haqqani in Afghanistan, there are limits. Guns go down for pine nut season. Pine nuts are those delicious, tooth-sized nuts which are a staple in pesto. […]