Postcards from the Middle East by Chris Naylor

 

Published by Lion books price £8.99 Paperback

 

240 page        ISBN 978 0 7459 5649 7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having travelled in the Middle East and stayed in Egypt for up to 2 years on and off this book was of interest to me to see how others had enjoyed their stay this time in Lebanon. I was alone leaving my family behind while the Naylors had their family with them. My time saw the terrorist killings at Queen Hatshepsut’s temple leaving the streets of Cairo empty of westerners while Lebanon saw major conflict including bombing and invading troops often from both sides of the border. I was working for the World Bank while Chris was creating a new post for himself working for A Rocha. Given he was working by one of the world’s largest migration areas birds do take part in the book but  a lot is about the workings of the country with several different religious groups  and interested neighbouring countries like Israel and Syria both which occupied parts while the Naylors were present. The birding is very much concentrated on one wetland in the Bequaa Valley but other areas are covered setting up protected areas via Birdlife International . I enjoyed the read and would hope that someday these areas become a safe area to visit by British Bird watchers.