Girls Only Road Trip!

My Texas friends won't believe I took this trip, driving, with a new visitor and friend from the states. Don was working, it was Sunday (first day of the work week here), and we wanted a little adventure. The only way to get it was to go by ourselves. I've blogged on this location here in Oman before, Wadi Shab, but just to get a better perspective, here is a map to show where we went. We drove along the highway shadowed by the red line to get from my house to the Wadi.

A wadi is an arroyo, or dry river bed which is filled by rain water coming down the mountains. Wadi Ash Shab actually has water in it most of the time. Back in the mountains there is a dam which helps keep it full of water. It is used by the farmers and locals year-round. Since you can't swim in it down close to the mouth of the river, we have to take a boat across to get to the hiking trail.

Our driver for the ride over. He was glad to pose, but doesn't appear to be much into smiling!

Jenn, my friend visiting from Alabama.

Going under the highway.

Closing in on the shore on the other side--these mountains are really tall!

Beginning our trek back into the wadi. You can barely see the water at
the base of the mountain on the left. It is very narrow right now.

We saw this herd of goats climbing up on the rocks of the mountain side while we were hiking.
Goats are allowed to roam free during the day, and belong to the local bedouins.

The rocks just dwarf these full-size palm trees! See the hose snaking along the front,
used for irrigation to water palms and banana trees planted along the sides of the wadi bed.

This is just about as far as we had time to go. Just around the bend is the first swimming area,
but no one was swimming there that day. The rain clouds were building overhead
and we were keeping a close eye on them. Wadis are NOT a good
place to hang out when it's getting ready to rain!

This is a close-up of the opposite side of the wadi. Once upon a time, a house had been built into the
rocks here to provide home and shelter. Another friend said that these holes in the rock reminded her of
where David (Old Testatment in the Bible) and his men hid when being hunted by Saul. I also think
of the old hymn, "He Hideth My Soul in the Cleft of the Rock, in a Dry and Weary Land."
Shelter in this harsh climate is invaluable, just like God's protection of me!

Last picture of the wadi before we turned back to meet the boat again.

I love flowers blooming in the desert--but if you know me at all, you know I love flowers period!

One last picture of both Jenn and me with the highway and the ocean

 in the background before we boarded the boat back to go to the other side.

Our driver for the ride back. If you ever wanted to know what they wear under their dishdashas....Both
drivers were friendly and helpful in getting us in and out of the boats!

We just had to stop and take a picture of the beautiful water of the Gulf of Oman.
You can see storm clouds encroaching to the left.

Jenn

I just had to take a selfie--not a very good one!--just
to prove I was there!

To quote my granddaughter, uh-oh! When we saw these storm clouds obscure the tops of the mountains,
we skedaddled outta there. To all y'all non-Texan speakers, that means we left really fast!

After we were back on the highway headed toward Muscat, we came across these camels by the side of the road, just enjoying eating the vegetation and hanging out. I just had to include these pictures because I really enjoy seeing camels on the side of the road!

Baby doesn't stray far from mama.

Up-close of baby, who wasn't really sure why our car was parked on the shoulder!

This is a really good picture of a camel. It is hobbled on its front legs, to keep it from running off.
All of the adults were hobbled. This is a really healthy looking animal that is well-cared for by its owner!

We made it home from our Wadi Ash Shab adventure just fine, obviously! I'm pretty proud that just us girls had the gumption and fortitude to give it a try! Who knows what my next adventure will be?