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Banana Island: A Place to Remember
Raed Ali Ayesh Marabeh, Teaching Assistant of Math, Foundation Program
On March 30th, the Foundation Program
Social Committee arranged a trip to Bana-
na Island. Around 40 faculty, staff, and
their families participated. For most of the
participants, it was their first experience
visiting this crescent of golden beach.
Everyone on the trip was excited to dis-
cover this island.
Banana Island is about 25 minutes away
from Doha by boat. It contains a five-star
luxury resort with extensive facilities, in-
cluding: rooms with a sea view, a surf
pool, a dive center, a VIP cinema, and a
bowling alley.
Faculty and their families reached Banana
Island around 9:30 am. The morning sun
glistening over the beach was really amaz-
ing! We had the chance to try out many
activities and facilities. However, the most
enjoyable part was relaxing on the beach.
This trip was really a good opportunity to
meet and interact with colleagues outside
the workspace and to see the social and
fun side of friends. If you are a staff or a
faculty member in the Foundation Pro-
gram, then why not come along on the
next trip that the Foundation Program’s
Social Committee organizes?
FPDE Off-road Excursion to Ras Abrouq
Elisabeth Szewczyk-Méziane, Lecturer of English, Foundation Program
On Friday, 19th April, a group of about
twenty FPDE staff, family, and friends set
off in a convoy of five 4x4 vehicles led by
Marcin Wawrzyniak to explore the Ras
Abrouq Peninsula. The first destination
was Bir Zekreet Beach for a photo-op.
Unfortunately, the tide was out but that
did not discourage the avid photogra-
phers. A brief dash through tiny Zekreet
village was followed by a stop at a local
camel farm for another photo-op. Here,
some intrepid souls petted and nuzzled
the remarkably docile and patient camels.
Onward to the Abrouq Nature Reserve,
famed for its bizarre limestone formations
and salt flats, to snap photos of oryx and
Thomson’s gazelles. Our adventurers
gazed in awe at acclaimed artist Richard
Serra’s remarkable quartet of four mas-
sive fourteen-metre high steel-plate sculp-
tures magnificently rising in solitary splen-
dor in the desolate desert landscape.
Film City, a film set of a 19th century Qa-
tari village built for a QTV production
(Eyaal Al Theeb) was a few kilometers
away. The stage village was eagerly ex-
plored by our keen adventurers who clam-
bered up and down the steep steps to
rooftop views of the rocky landscape be-
yond.
The next stop was the so-called Mystery
Valley, a naturally enclosed formation of
wind-sculpted limestone ridges and cliffs.
The valley was peppered with fake semi-
circular structures used to house the vil-
lagers’ enemies in the same TV series.
The trekkers explored the wonderfully
weird natural formations as the sun slowly
set.
Finally, everyone headed to a McDonald’s
in nearby Dhukhan. Afterwards, our weary
travelers wended their way home to Doha.
The trip was declared an overwhelming
success.
Banana Island: Photograph courtesy of
Raed Marabeh
Banana Island: Photograph courtesy of
Mondher Chaabane
Richard Serra sculpture: Photograph cour-
tesy of David Andrew Coupland
Richard Serra sculpture: Photograph
courtesy of Phillip Wren