Qatar

This crop grown in Qatar - amazing!!!

Checking out the sheep for sale for immediate slaughter

Irish and I and Camels for sale

Camels

Dinner at the market

Our hosts Annabelle Coppen and Blythe from MLA

Brenda and I before last meal together

 

Doha city, capital of Qatar, in the middle east region, was a pretty cool few days. We stayed in the VERY lovely golden Radisson hotel. It was rather deluxe, with a beautiful pool, drinks and snacks available 24/7, awesome gym and very comfy beds. Spoilt rotten !!!! Annabelle Coppen and MLA consultant Blythe were our hosts, and did an awesome job of showing us round. We’re so lucky to have locals in these different countries, so we really get to experience the culture.

After we checked into our hotel, we headed to a very flash shopping centre, firstly to check out all the Aussie and New Zealand lamb on sale, then just to check out the shopping centre, and get an idea of the wealth in this country. These people have mostly got it pretty good. The shopping centre included an ice skating rink, fair park with rollercoaster ride, and rooves that were very high and painted with clouds like the sky.

We were able to catch up with Hussad food manager for a chat about the business of Hussad. As Qatar can hardly produce any of their food at all, to feed the poplation of 1.4 million people, Hussad food is agricultural land all over the world, to ensure Qatar has food security. What started as purely a food security business, has evolved into a large agricultural investment company, which is more commercially driven and will trade ag products all over the world. There 5 products of investment were predominately wheat, rice, poultry, lamb and sugar. They are funded by government, and done an amazing job in their growth in the last 3 years.

Our first ‘non indian’ meal for me was a terrible pizza, and I missed the curry immediately!

Wednesday morning started with a great workout in a very flash gym, then a delicious breaky! We headed to Hussad food headquarters, and had further discussion about the business. We easily could have spent a few hours with them. We headed out on the bus, with their head agronomist, to visit one of the few farms that Hussad is trying to start up in Qatar, using grey water irrigation. Driving out through the city, past the white limestone soil, sand covered buildings, it is hard to imagine anything growing in this country. It really just looks like a desert. Then, in the middle of no where is this farm, with huge irrigation pivots growing fodder crops for cutting small hay bales. They are growing alfalfa and Rhodes grass, and because of the very warm conditions, they are able to get multiple cuts 4-9 per year of these perennial crops. It was pretty cool. The farm is set up with these very flash Arabic looking sheds and quarters for the workers.

We headed back to another hotel to meet with David from MLA. It was a really interesting presentation on the live export sheep trade and all the issues MLA has been dealing with in recent years. A topical point for sure!! MLA have made some huge improvements, and are really getting places with the people over here.

We were treated to a traditional ‘gulf’ meal at a local restaurant. We crammed into a small room, and all sat on cushions around the floor. An abundance of food was placed in the middle, and just grabbed it with our hands, threw it on our plates then shoved it in the mouth. Apart from the stiff legs and pins and needles, it was a very enjoyable night. The food was delicious, a few of the local guys that hosted us showed us the best way to eat with your hands (can you believe there is an art to it!), and we had a lot of laughs. No alcohol can be consumed in Qatar, except for hotel bars. Which, considering we struggles to get off the floor as it was, was a very good thing!

Thursday morning we had a very early start to get to a slaughter house, that imports and slaughters Australian sheep. MLA has been working hard with this place to ensure that it meets the new Australian standards that have been imposed since the live export controversies. The standards were far, far better than I expected, and I was really impressed with the tidy operation that was being run. I had never been to any abattoir before so it was really interesting to see in action. The sheep have to be killed in a certain direction and a prayer said before every sheep to meet the religious standards. Every part of the sheep is consumed except the lungs. Even to hooves!!!!!

Because of the issues with Aussie sheep being rejected in Bahrain, this abattoir was just about to run out of sheep to kill. They are very frustrated with the lack of stable supply from Australia, and can almost always can take more sheep, if we could supply.

We visited a public slaughter house next, where people are able to come and pick out their live sheep from the sale yards, then watch it being killed and take it home cut up in a bag all in a matter of 10-15 minutes. It sounds pretty awful, but it is actually a very good thing. Whole families come and choose their animal, then the kids and all, watch the slaughter of the animal, and then talk to the butcher while he cuts it up in the cuts they like. It is such a great way to educate people about where there food comes from. On a weekend it can get pretty crazy, with people yelling and screaming and trying to keep an eye on ‘their’ sheep the whole process. The ‘e’ festival is a time when every family comes and buys a lamb each to celebrate a religious festival. They all want to choose the best animal, then get it cut up into thirds, with a third for themselves, thirds for family and a third for the poor. You can imagine the caos when so many people all want to do this process within a few days, and the MLA have to ensure that all Aussie standards are met.

We wandered through the saleyards, and saw so many different type of sheep. The sheep over here are so different than ours, gates are left open and they never wander out, and they stand on the back of utes without anything to keep them in. No wander they don’t know how to deal with our wild aussie sheep, and the MLA spends a lot of time teaching them in stock handling techniques.

We also saw a camel and a cow being killed, the camel carcass was SO massive hanging from the middle of the room.

We wandered down to the local markets, where all sorts of fresh produce is marketed everyday. Fruit, vegies, spices, poultry and seafood, It was great to wander through.

We had a relaxing afternoon, and even enjoyed a beer by the pool. It is so bloody hot here, we had really got warm wandering through the markets, so a swim was well appreciated.

We headed out to the Souk markets, were they sold fabric, scarfs, jewellery, kitchen utensils and more. It was a relaxing stroll through the area, and I even brought myself some pearls. Go shopping with Brenda – and I think you’ll always bring something home, she is a good encourager which I need. We then had a fantastic boat cruise in the Qatar inlet, looking back at the city lights was a great way to see the city. We had a swim – in the dark and it was SO salty, then had a meal on the deck. It was a relaxing and enjoyable evening.

Friday morning I was able to fit in my sports fix, with a game of squash, tennis and swim in the pool. We headed out to watch some Camel racing in the afternoon, and WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT, it poured with rain in the desert and the races were cancelled. Becuase it never rains here, there is no drainage and the roads were an absolute mess. It was quite amusing to watch the cars go through the metre high water, and some not making it. We were able to visit a local camel race breeder, and have a chat to him about his camels. Well not a chat he couldn’t speak any English, so we communicated, and a few had a ride on his camels.

Tonight we went out for dinner at the markets, and now we have made it to the airport to catch a flight at 2am this morning. The sad part about tonight that I have been leaving out, is our dear friend, travel partner Brenda has been very sick, and has had to leave us to head for home. It is so sad to have a group member go home, and we are all so sad for her, and we will miss her lots. BUT we have had an amazing 2 week trip together with lots of memories, so that will last forever!

Ukraine here we come!!