Oman: Sur to Wahhabi Desert

I had to check out early from the hotel in Muscat and we drove to Sur, stopping along the way for a picnic lunch in a lush Wadi oasis! There were palm trees everywhere! And there were two villages way up in the wadi. We walked up to one, seeing how they channel the water to irrigate all the different fruit trees they have growing there.

After lunch by the stream, we continued driving until we came to a small fishing village, where we stopped for a quick photo. We kept driving and eventually came to Sur, where we stopped first at a dhow making factory, one of the only ones remaining in the world!

We then checked into the hotel, I had a quick dinner and then it was off to go turtle watching! We drove about 35 minutes to a sea turtle reserve, and got to see green turtles, digging nests, laying eggs, covering the eggs, and even had to chance to see some of the little ones hatch! What was so amazing about this beach is that the phosphorescence in the water makes the water glow light blue when the waves crash on the shore. It was so pretty! Then we headed back to the hotel for bed.

The next morning it was up and time to check out as we made our way into the desert! Before we got there, we had to drive a bit of a ways but along the way, we stopped at another beautiful wadi where I had the chance to go hiking. The hike abruptly ended when I didn't feel I could jump over the large chasm to continue on the path on the other side of the jump...

A quick lunch and then we headed into the desert to visit a Beduin community and see how they live. Along the way, my driver asked if I wanted to do some dune bashing and I said sure. What followed was the most exciting/sure-to-be-the-death-of-me twenty minutes or so of my life. After that and visiting the Beduin community, we made our way to my tented camp for the night. It's a very nice tent, indeed!

At the camp, they have lots of activities, so I decided to go quad biking (4-wheeling to us Southerners) through the desert. It was a lot of fun except the few times I ate sand... Then, for sunset, they drove up to the top of a nearby dune where I took some pretty pictures of the landscape!

Then it was time for a delicious barbecue dinner and then time for bed! Another great two days in Oman!!!