By Anis Albasha
Talking with many western people, I've noticed that most of them think that Yemen is a desert which is full of sand (and perhaps camels!) .The truth is, unlike the neighboring gulf countries, Yemen is a mountainous land with a fascinating geographical diversity. It is true that there are some arid parts in Yemen such as al-Rub al-Khali desert which is located at the borders with the Saudi Arabia. However, there are also many green plains and valleys scattered in different parts of the country.
Historically, the greenery and heavenly gardens of ancient Yemen were the reason that made Romans refer to the land as ‘Arabia Felix’ or Happy Arabia. Nowadays, we can still find the green color in many parts of Yemen especially in the countryside where farming is still people’s number one profession. The fruits and vegetables that grow in Yemen are very tasty.
Unfortunately, greenery is vanishing in the Yemeni cities especially in the major ones. For example, many old people in Sana'a asserted that forty or fifty years ago the city was covered with forests. Sadly, Sana'a now is only covered with dust. You can only spot one tree here or there. This is also the case in some other cities where the green color gradually disappeared to be replaced with ugly concrete buildings. This is actually the government’s fault because the soil of Yemen is so fertile and Yemenis could have had greener cities.
