Okay, I’ll admit it. Before I arrived here, I knew squat about Oman… nada. I knew it was somewhere in the Middle East, but if I looked at a map, I would be just as likely to point at Jordan, or Yemen. It’s sad when the only countries we Americans (most of us anyways) can identify on a map are the ones in which we have wars in.On that note, I get asked often by friends and family, “are you scared? Is it safe?” Well, when you’re in UAE and Oman, the answer in my opinion is yes, it’s very safe. There is little to no crime (the punishments for doing so are very severe) where we live and travel, the people are nice, and there is scant hint of terrorism. However, when you do look at a regional map and
realize where the UAE sits – smack dab in the middle of all the countries from which we hear so much frightening news, its easy to understand everyone’s concern.But, I digress. Oman is apparently quite the diverse nation with desert flats, huge mountain ranges, and a beautiful coast line that wraps around 2/3rd of the country. And just like the USA, it has a northern part that is disconnected from the mainland.
Our first sojourn into Oman occurs courtesy of Bruce Ora's Nature Conservancy group. We take a day trip into Oman to walk through and explore the Mussafah Wadi. Wadi (Arabic: وادي wādī; also: Vadi) is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley; in some cases it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.
Thankfully there is no rain today, because I’m not in the mood to get washed out or cling to some tree branch for a couple hours. Instead we trek down into, around, and up and over the wadi and continue on towards a large date palm oasis, and eventually arrive at a wadi pool. We are encouraged by some Italian guy to jump on in and he proceeds to (I kid you not) rip off his pants like some break-away basketball warm-ups, only to reveal his mini Speedo and dives in. “Who’s coming with me?!?”
I submit to the power of the silverback Italian and his black Chiquita banana holder and follow.
The water is amazing, cool and clear. 4 or 5 more people join (thankfully) and we all dry off. Just then, we are greeted by a really cool group of native Omani teenage boys, who are very excited to talk to some tourists, take some pictures with us… and even offer us some medwat, which is a local, herbal, strong tobacco which they all seem to love. I acquiesce and realize why they like it so much; as it nearly knocks me off my feet. STRONG stuff!
Most of the group are big plant nerds, so I fit right in on that one…. Imagine a bunch of people walking around, only to look down and proclaim:
Thankfully there is no rain today, because I’m not in the mood to get washed out or cling to some tree branch for a couple hours. Instead we trek down into, around, and up and over the wadi and continue on towards a large date palm oasis, and eventually arrive at a wadi pool. We are encouraged by some Italian guy to jump on in and he proceeds to (I kid you not) rip off his pants like some break-away basketball warm-ups, only to reveal his mini Speedo and dives in. “Who’s coming with me?!?”
I submit to the power of the silverback Italian and his black Chiquita banana holder and follow.
The water is amazing, cool and clear. 4 or 5 more people join (thankfully) and we all dry off. Just then, we are greeted by a really cool group of native Omani teenage boys, who are very excited to talk to some tourists, take some pictures with us… and even offer us some medwat, which is a local, herbal, strong tobacco which they all seem to love. I acquiesce and realize why they like it so much; as it nearly knocks me off my feet. STRONG stuff!
Most of the group are big plant nerds, so I fit right in on that one…. Imagine a bunch of people walking around, only to look down and proclaim:
Ohh… cool, its Euphorbia larica!” –pictured to the left.
Or, “hey everyone, come check out this Calotropis procera!” –pictured to the right.
Yes, I'm one of those people that come over to look and take pics.
Yep...... uber dorky.
Nice post - pictures of oman ..Keep Posting
ReplyDeleteRon
pictures of oman