HAWTAT BANI TAMIM, Saudi Arabia — The four-wheel-drive vehicle crunches over brittle, sunbaked rocks before stopping within inches of a chasm that cuts across the Saudi Arabian plateau, at the head of a gorge stretching for miles into the distance.
Naif Mutlak Bugumi, dressed in the two-toned, ankle-length khaki robe and red-and-white headdress that is the smart new uniform of a Saudi game ranger, never seems worried that the cliff might not hold and that his car and two American passengers might tumble into a 300-yard abyss.
Nonchalantly, he gets out and leans over the edge, craning his neck left and right, then motions in triumph. Below, four ibexes are resting on a shadowed ledge. They stir at the unwanted attention and run daintily along a narrow path away from the intruders.
Thought Saudi Arabia was just oil fields and trackless desert? There is life out there--gazelles and leopards, hyenas and baboons--and habitats that include water-carved canyons, mangrove forests and juniper-covered mountains.
These are natural wonders little known outside Saudi Arabia.
Long perceived as one of the most closed societies on Earth, Saudi Arabia has started to preserve its wilderness and rescue its animals from extinction. As a result, it is even toying with an idea that once would have been unthinkable: opening itself to the worldwide trend in eco-tourism.
Just over a decade ago, the kingdom launched a program to rescue and restore endangered species on the Arabian Peninsula. The campaign is both a reflection of pride that Saudis feel toward their harsh, wild landscapes, and a reaction to the urbanization and modernization that has overtaken the country of 18 million people since World War II.
Fifty years ago, Saudi cities--even the king's palace--were built of adobe. Bedouins roamed the interior, their flocks following the sparse rains. Wild dogs and hyenas prowled the edges of human settlements.
But the oil boom brought cars, highways and air conditioning. Desalinated water and government-subsidized fodder for animals made nomadic life unnecessary. Life moved indoors.
The immense technological gains have made life easier, but many Saudis pine for a connection with the land that has been lost. It is evident on Friday afternoons, when many families wander out to the desert for picnics and prayers as the sun sets.
