More Oman...

 

After the high from the turtle sightings, we hopped back in our cars and drove out to the closest campsite- behing the Ras AL Hadd Hotel.  The drive was only about ten minutes, but I fell asleep as the guys were scouting out a good camp spot.  We all stumbled out of the cars at 1 am, unloaded our tents, brushed teeth and crawled into our sleeping bags.  That was all I remember.

 

 

 

 

 

(The Hotel)

 

 

This is what we woke up to:

 

 

Sullivan and the early risers scouting out the grounds.

 

 

The beach was very nice- pretty remote with only  a family of early morning bathers and a fishing boat.  There were tons of sardines swimming close to the beach.  This dark shadow in the water is a school of sardines.  Audrey thought that was pretty cool.

 

We were surprised to find a lot of turtle nests on this beach.  The turtle ranger from the night before told us that we could only see  nests at Ras Al Hadd.  That there were not turtles on the other beaches. Well, there were definately nests here.  The above pic is of  soft turtle egg shells.  Looked like they had hatched the previous night.

 

Sulivan standing infront of a nest.  They were pretty deep and wide.

 

 

The beaches were full of these fishing shacks.  Not a lot of fishers though.  They were all empty.

 

Our find of the morning- a squat potty inside a vacant shack.  Notice the  tank of water on the left rigged up to it- so we could actually flush!  Yeah!

 

 

Dhows in the harbour.

 

Last look of Ras AL Hadd.  We packed up that morning after breakfast and headed north, back towards  Sur.  Our last stop was going to be the Wahiba Sand Dunes.   This would put us closer on the map to home,  and make the drive back a few hours shorter.

 

Stopping along the way to check out a beach.  It was pretty rocky and slippery, so we decided to keep looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One our friends little girl- too cute of a pic!  I had to include it!

 

 

Curtis and Michelle - our friends that caravaned across Oman with us.

 

 

 

The beach we settled on was in a town called Fins . Fins is located along the east coast on the Salmah Plateau.  There were a lot of amazing Wadi Hikes around here.  We will definately have to come back and check them out.  It was another beautiful white sandy beach.  Not surprisingly, we had to do a bit of off-roading to get there.   It is a popular beach, and there were a lot of tents set up for the holiday.  I think if you came back another weekend you might just be lucky and have the beach all to yourself.

                                       

 

Audrey and Quin snorkled over by these cliffs.  They saw all sorts of fish- tarpins, puffer fish, sardines, parrott fish and more.

 

 

 

 

Our last touristy destination of this trip was to play in the Wahiba Sand Dunes.  The desert is the whole essence of Arabia.  Our kids love to climb and jump around this sandy landscape.

It was pretty warm on the dunes as we arrived about noon.  Amazing how hot the sand was.  It really burned your bare feet.

 

 

 

Nothing cooler than seeing bedouin and camels while visiting the sand dunes.

 

 

 

 

I love the contrast of these lush date plantations against the harsh sandy desert.

 

 

 

Last glimps of Al Mintarib as we leave the dunes.

 

 

 

A great trip!  Oman always makes me want to come back and explore more!

Eid Al Adha 2012 - Omani Style!

 

 

 

There is something so attractive and stunning about Oman. The raw landscape, the wonderful people; I feel like it keeps beckoning us back to visit.  Last Eid Al Adha we camped in northern Oman - Musandam.  This year we decided to do a coastal trek from Sohar down through Muscat.  There are some beautiful white sand beaches, majestic rocky mountains and red sand dunes that we just needed to explore over this four day holiday weekend.

 

 

 

 

Eid Al Adha means "Feast of Sacrifice".  This holiday marks the end of the annual Hajj- or pilgrimage to Mecca.  There is a huge feast- "shuwa", which is the traditional slaughtering of animals which is done in similitude of Abraham's sacrifice.  Christians believe Abraham was going to offer Issac; Muslims believe it was Ishmael that was going to be sacrificed.  Both believe that it was a test from God and ended with the slaughtering and offering of a ram.  During our trek, we saw  lots of trucks on the road taking animals to be butchered and eaten.  Loads of goats and cows. 

 

 

 

 We drove from Abu Dhabi through the Al Ain border crossing.  A holiday is not an easy time to be crossing the border, it's packed.  Note to self - try 3 am in the morning next time to beat the rush.

The kids were pretty amazing troopers through all of the waiting.

Pics include members of the Kofoed Family who were fun traveling companions.

 

 

Mosque in Muscat.

 

 

 

Our first camp site. It was worth the extra time finding this secluded, breathtaking spot.  Just about 30 minutes south of Muscat is a stretch of beach called As Sifah; white sandy beach with good snorkeling and a grand view of the mountains.

 

 

Hazel, Q and I woke up for the morning sunrise - one of those breathtaking moments.

 

 

 

 

 

View from our tent.

 

 

Cool shells!

 

This beach had tons of fluffy sand - makes driving a bit tricky.  We just left the food at the car.  Enjoyed a yummy breakfast of cold cereal and pomegranate yogurt parfaits.

 

 

 

 

 

  

We broke camp after a fun morning in the sun and waves and started our way down the coast toward Sur.  We were going to see the famous turtle beaches in Ras Al Jinz.

 

 

 

The Omani landscape is harsh but beautiful - the scenery changes constantly from green farms to rocky mountains, wadis, desert peaks and sparkling turquiose oceans.  Love this country!

 

 

Arriving in Ras Al Hadd- where we are looking for green turtle nesting beaches.

 

 

 

 

Sardines drying to feed the goats.

 

 

 

  We had a miserable time trying to find a spot to camp at Ras Al Jinz.  The beaches there are all protected, camping is prohibited. It's one area where Oman has done a very good job with nature preservation.  After about 4 hours of trying to find a turtle-spotting campsite, we found a helpful local at the turtle reserve who guided us back to Ras Al Hadd to another turtle nesting beach up the coast. After about an hour wait and a crazy, treacherous four-wheel drive up the most uninhabitable terrain on planet earth, we were amazed to find a secluded beach that had hundreds of green turtle nests.  We had a local guide, Ali, who took lead us down to the beach under a full moon and there we saw a large mama turtle digging her nest!  Apparently there were only three mama turtles laying eggs that night on this stretch of beach.  So lucky for us! 

 

They say the best time to see green turtles is June, July and August.  Baby turtles are hatched after three months and immediately head for the water; only about 3% of them actually make it to the ocean. Crabs, foxes and seagulls are the main predators of baby turtles.  The mamas lay about 50-150 eggs a nest.  Then they swim away to Sri Lanka, India, Australia, Indonesia, etc.  It takes about 25 years for the mature turtles to return to the beach where they were hatched to lay their own eggs.  So amazing that this even happens - and that we were there to witness this miracle!

 

 

Our big green mama turtle.  The pics are pretty dark as there is no flash photography allowed - just the light of the moon and the occasional flashlight.

 

Not only were we lucky to see the Mama, but a nest nearby just hatched about 25 baby turtles.  We got to hold them, the newborns are no bigger than a small cellphone. Sully and the girls were determined to help them get to the waters. They chased off the waiting crabs and cleared a path for the baby turtles to make it into the sea.

 

Above is Quin and Hazel.  Below - Grace with two that she named 'Sammy and Spot".

 

Audrey and I with baby turtles.

  

 

 

 

                                           One of the best nights of my life!  I love this earth!
                                  Truly a miracle - so glad to experience this with my kiddos and Quin!