Day Three

It was very dewy during the night and there were lots of bugs so I wrapped my head up in my shawl. Which ended up being a good idea as the pillow was wet when I woke up and I would have had cold wet hair. Steph had set ser alarm for 4:30am as we were able to go out and see the turtles again. There didn’t seem to be anyone around but we got up and ready to leave the camp, found Sulaiman, in the dark and wondered around trying to figure out what was going on. No one could find Ali the man who was supposed to take us to the beach. In the end it was starting to get light so Sulaiman took us to the beach. Unfortunately by the time we go there the tide had come in and all that was left on the beach were some turtle tracks, egg shells and fox prints. Not giving up Sulaiman then took us along to the main beach. A crowd was gathered on the beach so we went to investigate and found a large turtle digging a hole. There were lots of people standing all around it and they all thought they were conservation experts, telling each other what to do where to stand and not to use their camera flash, while doing stupid stuff themselves. Very funny to listen too. The turtle just continued digging its hole and nothing much more was happening. We had spotted a bucket full of babies on the way in and so went back to look at them. There were probably 60 little babies, 1 day old all swimming around and climbing all over each other. So cute and tiny. We were able to pick them up and so took lots of pictures with them.

We came back to the camp a little disappointed that we had not seen any egg laying but happy to at least have seen some little babies. We had a breakfast of cheese, eggs and cornflakes and baby turtle….. just kidding!

After showers and collecting up all our stuff we packed back into the 4WD and were back on the road towards Sur. We stopped there to see an old shipping yard that is not longer highly operational. An ancient port and seafaring town which once played a major part in the trade between Oman, East Africa and India. It started its trading activities with the African coast as early as the 6th century. Today, craftsmen still build dhows following traditional designs without the aid of drawings. We had a chance to walk around the yard and were shown some miniature replicas of the large decorative dhows.

We then drove along the coast to Qalhat - one of the oldest towns and seaports of Oman. Built by the Persians, it was a major and prosperous city during the 13th century and the main port of trade with the Interior, famous for its exports to and imports of spices from India. We stoped at the enigmatic Bibi Mariam Tomb standing high on the cliff top. It wasn’t specifically spectacular but was an interesting stop and another reminder of how ancient this civilization was and the way they lived so many years ago. There are forts all over the country and we often wondered what it was exactly that they were guarding against.

Frequent civil wars between the sultan’s forces and tribal factions left the country vulnerable to the outside hostilities that eventually came in the form of the Portuguese. Alarmed by Oman’s naval strength ad anxious to secure Indian Ocean travel routes, the Portuguese launched a succession of attacks against Omani ports; by 1507 they managed to occupy the major coastal cities of Qalhat (near Sur, and mentioned in the journals of Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo), Muscat and Sohar. By 1650 Oman became a settled, unified state of considerable wealth and cultural accomplishment, with influences extending as far as Africa and Asia. Many of Oman’s greatest forts were built during this period including the impressive Nizwa Fort which we were to see later on in our journey.


From there the journey went off road. At this time the only coastal road between Sur and Muscat is a dirt road over the mountains. The other main highway goes through the centre of the country which is the way we went down. There is currently a road under construction and we could see the developments and the infrastructure as we drove along side it in the dirt. We stopped off at Wadi Shab which means gorge between cliffs. Very picturesque with turquoise water and lush green palms and vegetation. The orange cliffs complete the view glowing in the sun high above the water and trees. I was desperate for the loo and at the though of having to wait 10 – 15 mins to find some smelly dirty toilet in some random village I set off in search of a suitable cover.

Along the coastline we passed Fins and Bimah with many tiny coves tucked beneath the cliffs and stretches of white sandy beaches lapped by an incredible turquoise sea. Near Dibab is a huge sinkhole known as Bait Al Afreet - "house of the demon" - with clear green water. Concrete steps lead down the sides making swimming possible. This was the most beautiful sight and so inviting for swimming but we had to press on to get back to Muscat. Unfortunately our driver was missing out on the Eid holiday with his family and seemed to be in a great rush to get us dropped off. The drive back was a little uncomfortable as was on uneven dirt roads and he wasn’t taking his time. The view from the top of the mountains was breathtaking. We drove though a large gorge that reminded me of the photos I have seen of the grad canyon. The rock is an orange colour and they are huge!

We were dropped off at Muscat airport where we bid farewell to Sulaiman and went to collect our car from the hire company before setting out rather unsuccessfully into the unknown to find some local food, not takeaways! Ended up eating at KFC as we couldn’t find anything suitable. Steph directed us to the beach and we clambered out to have a walk along the sand. The beach stretched out as far as we could see in either direction and the tide was way out providing lots of space for people to walk and play. There were people everywhere enjoying the mid afternoon sun and playing in the water. We had booked a hotel but decided to drive down to Nizwa as it was only 4pm and we were going there the next day anyway. This would give us more time to explore before having to bring Steph back to catch her plane home. The drive down was almost all in the dark and so there wasn’t much to see. We had found an English radio station but it soon went out of range and it was back to Steph's question time! That’s how we spent most of the time traveling, taking turns coming up with questions that we all had to give answers too. When we arrived in Nizwa we checked into our guest house and then headed into the town. There was a large fort in the centre of the town and there were lots of people walking around. Played soccer with some young local boys who were very impressed with my skills at being a girl while the other young girls looked on eager to join in, but reserved and giggling!! So cute. Steph was in love with the Omani children and I was convinced that she was going to try and take one home! Brought fresh juice from a stall and then walked around inside the fort eyeing out the souqs and finding places to return to when open the following day. We found a number of stores with large amounts of pottery and local souvenirs all sitting outside in the open with no one guarding them. Nice to see that there is trust in a society. From there it was back to the hotel to sleep.