randombirder

27th March - 31st March 2024 Finally the warm Kuwaiti breeze was upon me as I left the airport after a really enjoyable flight from Heathrow on Qatar Airways connecting through Doha. A third attempt to get to the emirate, Kuwait was everything I had hoped for from the great birding to the in-country experience. It was a tough moment when the time had come to leave.  Having applied for my visa online, there was probably a bit of time-saving but it was still a bit of a faff getting my passport stamped. Similarly for the hire car, that requires payment of a local tax (£30) took another half hour or so but eventually I was on my way. The traffic was terrible and my first impressions of the city was of a typical oil rich state, large gas guzzling cars indicative of an oil-rich state driving chaotically along the wide highways. This wasn't for the faint-hearted. Eventually making it to the hotel, it was nice to relax after a long day. The king of the skies - Qatar Airways A380 preparing ...

Almost exactly a year since the last trip to Morocco but there was unfinished business to attend to. The geographic diversity of the country provides a range of regional specialities and this time, we were hitting the desert. A long nine hour drive across an arid landscape skillfully avoiding incident while driving out of Marrakech arriving at the Kasbah Erg Chebbi by early evening. The accommodation and food here was incredible as were the views across the desert. The following morning provided the main focus of the trip - a guided half day tour out into the wilds of the desert for plenty of target species. On-board a 4x4, the guides Otman and Mohammad threw the jeep into the wilderness.  It wasn't long before these targets came into view. A group of sandgrouse were seen in the distance heading toward a watering hole. In no time at all, we were observing a decent group of crowned sandgrouse around a modestly sized watering hole. These birds were thought to have originated their j...