Camping at Fuwairit Beach

One of the things on my "to do" list for Qatar was to go camping.  Some of our friends were going last week during spring break and invited us to join them.  Unfortunately, Bobby had to stay in Doha for work and couldn't join us.  He was really disappointed to miss it, but I decided to take the kids anyway since it is quickly going to be too hot to camp here.   We went with the McKernon's (Julie's family) and a family from Scotland (the Morrison's).

We went to Fuwairit Beach, which is about an hour north of Doha.  It is a public beach area surrounded by mangrove trees.  We started out on the beach close to the water so the kids could swim and play.  Natalie, Jack, Chase, and Charlie enjoyed passing the football (the American variety) around.  Charlie wants an American football for his birthday.  Will have to see if we can find one anywhere here in Doha.  

Charlie and Chase playing American football

Avery enjoyed finding shells along the beach.

I felt really British when Julie pulled out a flask (we would call it thermos) with hot water to make afternoon tea and coffee on the beach!

Angela, me, and Julie with our tea

When the sun began to set, we moved to our campsite that the dads had chosen tucked nicely away from the wind in the mangrove trees.  All the kids helped out getting the firewood piled up and the ground leveled for the tents.

Since we are leaving here in just 2 months, we didn't want to invest in camping equipment.  Julie and Angela and their families were so nice to let us share chairs, tent space, and cooking equipment.  We were able to borrow sleeping bags from Ken and Esther.

Tillie, Neve, and Avery

Charlie, Chase, Natalie, Jack, Tillie, Neve

Kelley, Avery, & Natalie by the tents

Chase and Charlie were exploring around the campsite and found 2 eggs.  Unfortunately, one was cracked already and Chase dropped the other one and cracked it while he was returning it to the nest.

Once it was dark, the kids huddled around the campfire.

Avery was so excited about sleeping in a tent for the first time!!!

FAKER!!

They had an awesome grate to put over the campfire and cook on!  We need to check into getting one of these back home.

The kids and I brought all the stuff to make S'mores for everyone.  None of the kids had ever tried them before and they were a hit!  The marshmallows are different here because I think our kind has some sort of pork product in them but the kids didn't seem to notice.

Jack testing out a S'more

Neve, Tillie, Avery, and Callum all tucked in

Neve, Tillie, and Avery

Callum

Julie even brought a tea kettle to put on the fire for making tea and coffee!

At about 10:30, Jack happened to walk alongside the tent and noticed some water creeping along.  He called out and sure enough, water was quickly rising really close to our tent site.  We walked back behind the mangrove trees and sure enough, there was a huge swampy area just behind the hill.  (Like 40 yards behind our site)  We quickly moved all the tents to an elevated area on the other side of the campfire.  Within 15 min. the whole area where the tents were was covered with water.  Ha!!  Luckily we weren't already asleep so no one got all wet in their bed.

All sorts of little minnows were in the tide pool and the kids had fun catching them and putting them back in the water.

We were so grateful so get to join these two fun families on their camping adventure and had a fantastic time!