Cleanliness & Peace - a beach cleanup drive by Spectrum & FilJed Divers

Bottles, plastic cups, cigar butts, just to name a few

Garbage scattered along the beach

Spectrum Photographers & FilJed Divers

Spectrum and FilJed in action

Mr. Jimmy Ulanday of FilJed Divers

Involving kids in this worthwhile activity will make them responsible adults when they grown up. We should teach our children to take care of the environment at their young age

Spectrum and their "captures" of the day

Spectrum and the event's special guest - Professor Nur Misuari

Event organizers (left to right: The Author as the Project Manager; Mr. Jimmy Ulanday; Mr. Romy Israel; and Mr. Chris Herrera) with Prof. Nur Misuari and his wife

A Yemeni friend who appreciated our efforts for cleaning the beach

Project Coastline Cleanup by APO & PADI

"When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves."
~David Orr

It was an honor and a great privilege to be invited by APO president Meljun Martinez Fabicon to shoot their Project Coastline Cleanup this morning at the Corniche boardwalk infront of Jeddah Hilton Hotel.

The cleanup drive started early at 7am. It was a gloomy friday morning. Good thing the weather cooperated as Mr. Sun took a day off. Although it was a bit warm and humidity was a bit high.

A lot of Spectrum Photographers also showed up and contributed to this worthwhile community activity.

MJ & Elmer giving a short briefing to the group 

The group in action

Mr. Tariq, our Arab friend even helped picking up the trash

Young Saudi guys inspired by our deeds also grabbed gloves and trash bags to do their own share

Spectrum with their "collection"

What the group has collected that morning

The most heart-warming and rewarding compliment we've received during this activity was a simple yet very sincere "Thank you" from a Saudi guy who brought his family to the Corniche boardwalk for a morning picnic at the beach.

TAIF - Saudi Arabia's Summer Capital

Ta’if (Arabic الطائف aṭ-Ṭā’if) is a city in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia at an elevation of 1,879 m (6,165 ft) on the slopes of the Sarawat Mountains (Al-Sarawat Mountains). It has a population of 521,273 (2004 census). Each summer the Saudi Government moves from the heat of Riyadh to Ta'if. The city is the centre of an agricultural area known for its grapes, roses and honey. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taif)

I spent the last day of our Eid holiday in Taif with my fellow photographers and friends from Spectrum.

We left Jeddah at around 5am; drove for two and a half hours through the desert and rocky mountains. Before 8am, we're already enjoying the cool breeze of this mountain resort.

I'll let my photos tell the rest of my story. Enjoy!

Breakfast at the park

Ramada Hotel - Al Hada

The Farm Boy infront of Ramada Hotel

Flowers abound in this mountain resort

Hibiscus blooms beautifully under the scorching desert sun

Fruit vendor arranging red plums and other locally-grown fruits

Most of these fruits are grown locally or in nearby villages

Newly-harvested pomegranates 

There are also rose farms in Taif that produces Rose Waters and Rose Perfumes

Another variety of  imported and local fruits on display by the side of the road

Ramada Hotel as viewed from the zigzag road

This Saudi guy is brave enough to sit on the edge of the cliff overlooking the  seemingly never-ending  twist and turns of the zigzag road. (I still get nauseated every time I look at this photo)

Spectrum on board a train going up to the water park

Local teenage boys who were also on-board the train we rode

a view from inside the cable car cabin as we ascend back to the top

local guys aboard cable car

We took a short coffee break to let our nerves relax from the nerve-racking cable car ride (I realized most of us are afraid of heights, but we all had fun teasing each other inside the cable car cabin)

Camel-for-hire sitting comfortably amidst his 21st century competitors

A view of the zigzag road  from the cable car cabin on our way down

the small, beige structure at the top of the mountain is the Ramada Hotel  where one starts his descent via the cable car  

The Water Park - with multiple water slides, boomerang slide, and a  Wave Pool

This photo was taken as we board our cars to find our way back to Jeddah

The summer sun's last peek of the day - how gorgeous, eh?

Here are a few useful websites / blogsites about Taif:

http://www.alhada.8k.com/taif.html

http://americanbedu.com/2008/09/05/taif-saudi-arabia-summer-resorts-city/