Beach bums

Well, it may be too hot to walk on the Corniche (and even that I'm debating), but we've still got great beach weather here in Qatar.  Morning temps are in the high 90s to 110s but generally the beach has a breeze going that makes it tolerable for an hour or so.

Many of the close beaches are at the hotels, where you can buy a pricey day pass and enjoy their beach, pool, gym, etc.  We've been going every weekend or so to one of the closest public beaches in Al Wakra.  This beach is about 25 min. drive for us and is just south of the airport, near a plant of sorts (we try to avoid looking at the air pollution).   Al Wakra has fine clean sand and is super shallow in the morning with many sandbars.  It's also frequented by a lot of expat dog owners, so we now take Mr. Pico.  Over six years ago we tried to get Pico to swim by tossing him into a retention pond in our friend's neighborhood.  That didn't work out so well and Pico shrinks from sprinklers, hoses, etc. ever since.  The first time we went to the beach with Pico we made sure he had some friends (Mies and Ruby Rose) and thankfully he followed Mies' lead and waded into the water.  We think he likes it, even though he seems to get pretty deep (water touching his belly) and then doesn't realize how he got so deep or where to go next.  It's adorable.  Since the beach is fairly segregated between locals and expats, expats can pretty much wear bikinis or regular swimsuits without offending anyone, too!   

Directions - D-Ring or E-Ring towards the airport, right on Airport Rd., left at the shell r/a, after the sand mound u-turn go right, pass a little park and turn right onto the beach.  Facing the water, look for the dogs at the right side of the beach.

This past weekend we were invited by our neighbors to go out on their boat.  We drove an hour north to a bay near Al Khor.  We were just happy to invited to this one, as everything was pretty much done for us!  Tent with shade, tasty barbequed lunch and even a tented latrine.  We were also the only ones on this beach (two cars drove up as we were heading out).  Wildlife was different from Al Khor at this area... lots of (what I would call) mini-bees and little crabs everywhere.  A mini-bee stung me on the middle of my palm - how does this happen?  We also zoned out watching the little crabs roll sand with their claws.  The beach closest to the water was covered in what looked like Dippin' Dots, but was really thousands of tiny balls of sand rolled by little crabs.

Kev thinks he remembers waterskiing on a neighbor's boat as a kid, but his memory feels a little foggy.  Well, after one crash and burn, Frank helped get him steady and he was skiing like a pro!

Next up were the ladies and we were squeezed in tight to this floating chair.  It was a smooth ride, but the wake jostled us around and the speed was zippy!

Finally Kev and I tried out the AquaGlide which was flippin' awesome!!!  The advice from Frank's teenage daughter was just "hang on for dear life."  I think Frank was zig-zagging the boat which flung us across the wake again and again and then he'd somehow rev up and the ride would get crazier.  I shrieked from the minute I got on till the minute I cried mercy.  This is one of the funnest things I've done ever!