A Season in Saudi Arabia

18 years ago, on March 8th, 2003, on now famous Siargao Island , I married my darling Mirasol. I can remember so many details from that time. The island hadn't yet been discovered by mass tourism, so my friends and family from England had the waves and epic scenery all to themselves. While the wedding ceremony itself went really well, the first part of the reception was somewhat chaotic, with a large number of hungry, largely uninvited, revelers sitting in seats allocated for the bridesmaids and close family. Anyway, after they ate or stole what they wanted of the one water buffalo, eight pigs and numerous other items on the menu, most of our invited guests got a fair share of food too, and the impromptu disco got everyone up off their seats to dance it all off.  Looking back at that time brings a mixture of sadness and happiness for me. Happy because I married the girl of my dreams after a romance in a place that can only be described as a tranquil paradise. That can't ever be...

At the beginning of February, the Saudi Health Ministry ordered the closure of cinemas, restaurants and coffeeshops due to a minor rise in confirmed coronavirus infections. Thankfully, unlike in neighbouring Oman, beaches weren't closed again in KSA, so every weekend since I was miraculously reunited with my family we've made the most of Khafji's wonderful white sand beaches and turquoise seas. Last month, we began a new vlog series on YouTube for posterity purposes, so if you'd like to watch some of our sandy escapades on film, click this link " On a Saudi Beach ". On one magical beach day in February, thousands of birds flew past us on their migratory travels north towards Kuwait. A reminder, if we needed one, of God's incredible creation. It added to a trio of fabulous natural wonder experiences we've had in the last few years. First of all, five years ago, we got to see a dolphin up close as he or she swam a few metres from us. Second, two years ...