On Sunday 6th March I managed to do 6,576 steps with a 2 hour walk at Arad Bay. The sand storm had gone and it was a very pleasant 23 degrees. I did my shopping at Alosra on Amwaj island ( to see Mark who used to work in Riffa Palms) and then got some traditional lemonade and a Tuna Mayo sandwich and ate lunch in the car park at Arad Bay.
Sarap freshly squeezed lemonade from Alosra
As I started to walk around the bay the memories came flooding back of all my friends who used to walk there. When I was doing Challenge Aref in 2019 the great man, Aref Abdulla ( Bapco then Tatweer) used to walk there to loose weight.
Neil and Aref running around Arad Bay back in the day!
Thang, who I caught up with in Dubai worked at the Movenpick hotel next to the bay. I sent him a couple of photos of his staff accommodation next the hotel and he recognised it immediately. Chester's mum, Elizabeth, used to work in Arad and regularly walked there and shared that with us through her vlogs.
From top left Max, Ayan, Elizabeth and Thang ( with me on 25.12.21)
My friend Ayan lived and worked in Arad at Yum Yum Tree ( now closed) and used to walk there in the early hours after his late shift. Max also reminded me we walked all the way round the bay once. So I have been here a lot of times!
I call it Nose Bay as when the tide is out ( it's linked to the sea by a culvert in one corner and is tidal) it smells! Also there are signs all the bay telling you what you cannot do- No smoking, No fishing, No swimming ( as if!) , no running on the grass, no litter, no feeding the fish, no feeding the birds and no football. Most of the signs are ignored by the public in spite of the signs saying the park is monitored by CCTV. I saw people smoking, running on the grass and a group of boys playing football in front of the no Football sign!
A group of boys playing football in front of the no football sign!
So what is so special about this bay? According to the Supreme Council for Environment website:
" Arad Bay Protected Area & Park
The opening of Arad Bay Protected Area & Park was within the framework of the environmental strategy of the Supreme Council for the Environment to revive and rehabilitate natural sites in the Kingdom of Bahrain and promote eco-tourism. In 2010, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Personal Representative of His Majesty the King and President of SCE opened the facility, which is located in Muharraq and adjacent to the Bahrain International Airport. The park includes the largest walkway in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The walkway provides a good opportunity to practice walking in a beautiful environment that boasts breathtaking natural scenery.
The start of the walk with the Movenpick hotel in the Background
The inauguration of the park coincided with the United Nations’ proclamation of 2010 as an International Year of Biodiversity, under the theme “Mainstreaming Biodiversity; Sustaining People and their Livelihoods”.
One side of the walkway with the new airport at the back left
Costing BD 10 million, the park features a 3.3 kilometer-long and a 3 meter-wide walkway. Arad Bay Protected Area & Park is also linked by four bridges which were designed in a distinctive and non-traditional way, with two bridges for pedestrian crossings, the first bridge links the south of the park to Arad City and the second links the west of the park to the Muharraq Grand Garden. There is also an internal bridge that links the two ends of the walkway to the Arad – Muharraq Causeway as well as another internal bridge near the Movenpick Hotel.
The internal wooden bridge near the Movenpick, the walkway gets busier as the sun sets
The Arad Bay Protected Area contains the tidal environment in which important living creatures live and contribute effectively to the marine ecosystem and serve multiple species of resident and migratory birds in the lake. The sanctuary is a natural incubator for small fish, plankton and seaweed, whose stockpile is enriched by tide movement coming from the bridge exit leading port to the sea.
The Mangroves and some of the many birds you can see
Arad Bay is one of the most important coastal mangrove reserves in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The mangrove trees have been planted in a thoughtful way in order to enhance the cohesion of the soil and provide a safe haven for small fish. Millions of small and micro-organisms that are important for the marine environment live in the sands of this protected marine sanctuary.
One of the many restaurants and cafes in Arad Bay
The park includes grass areas, palm trees, games for children, shaded loungers around the lake, a main large fountain, small fountains and waterfalls, restaurants, a prayer room for men and another for women, toilets, along with parking lots that can accommodate up to 600 cars, divided into two sections, one is located in the west of the park and the other in the east."
Source: https://www.sce.gov.bh/en/AradBayProtectedAreaPark?cms=iQRpheuphYtJ6pyXUGiNqgSxn9EcJfZs (accessed 8.3.22)
I am sure Jeannine Robertson in South Africa will identify this bird for me
I inserted some of the many photos I took on my walk of the Mangroves and the birds I saw which included Flamingoes and Herons. My friend Jeannine in South Africa will doubtless identify the rest! The book on the Birds of Bahrain that I bought is in storage in Palawan!
Birds of Bahrain – January 1, 1993 -by
I think this one may be a Curlew
The new Bahrain International airport is at one end of Arad Bay
You can see the Floodlights at the Muhurraq Football club from Arad Bay
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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