Camping in Dhofar

Camping. Here are a few off-the-beaten-track coastal camping spots: Dhalkut, Rakhyut, Mughsayl [1], Khor Rori [2], Hinu area (beyond Mirbat); Mahallah and Gangri (both near Sadh); Hadbeen and Hasik. In most of these places, drive a couple of kilometres away from the town or village and you will find good camp sites. There are many other (inland) sites, although their suitability for camping depends on the time of year and weather conditions, especially temperature, humidity and wind.

It’s advisable to camp in groups of more than 3 or 4 people. Probably the only place where you can leave your gear unattended for the day is at Mughsayl. However, take your valuables with you. There are very few places that have facilities (toilets, running water) so be prepared!

Beaches near Salalah for picnics. Following are some popular, and usually, safe beaches [3]: Mughsayl, Al-Awqad, Al-Haffa, Dahariz, Taqa, Ajoont, Mirbat, Hinu.

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[1] This is an ideal place to camp as there are about 20 pergolas along the beach which can be used to camp in. However, on holiday weekends like Eid, you need to be early otherwise others will occupy them for the whole weekend.

[2] Not suitable for swimming at any time of the year.

[3] During the Khareef season (May – October), swimming is not permitted in any of the beaches of Dhofar, not that you would want to, as it is generally very dangerous with unpredictable rips and undertows.

High in the Dhofar Mountains (a poem about the khareef)

Some years ago I received an email after someone had come across my website on Dhofar (that website is no more). He had evidently enjoyed the couple of poems I had written on Dhofar, but he was disappointed that there weren’t any on the khareef (monsoon). I immediately got to work and wrote the following poem, sending the inquirer a copy. It wasn’t long before we met. He was none other than Dr Salim Bakhit Tabook, a very interesting local character, who wrote his PhD thesis on Dhofari tribal practices and folklore (Exeter University).

Here then is my poem…

High in the mountains – no sound…

Except for chirping sparrows, and clacking crickets,

Until the cadence of distant voices

Drifts towards me through the mist –

It lifts and, lo, a beautiful panorama unfolds:

Rolling green hills, trees and rocks growing through.

And across the next valley I spy the voices –

Picnickers perched on top of a little hill

No doubt thinking that they too were all alone…

High in the misty mountains.

As I sit and ponder the peaceful scene

‘Midst gently falling rain and friendly flies

I first hear the buzz then feel the nuzzling

Of a very hungry mosquito,

And, a few of its relatives!

Quickly I spray hands, feet and neck

With a liberal coating of anti-insect spray.

It does the trick

And I continue enjoying the pastoral setting…

High in the Dhofar mountains.

Clouds again descend

And cover the nearby hills,

And my face, with their wet kiss.

I sink into a reverie

And dream of friends and loved ones in distant places…

Only the shishing of passing vehicles on the damp road,

The gentle lowing of contented jebali cows heading home,

And the far off laughter of happy excursioners,

Tell me that I’m…

High in the green Dhofari mountains.

The peace and tranquillity of the rural scene

Soon settle the small worries of the day,

Clearing my thoughts

And reminding me of the One who made it all.

Just then a new sound enters the audio spectrum –

The distant cry of a muezzin in a mountain mosque

Calls the faithful to prayer

And I too bow my head…

High in the lush green Dhofar mountains.

© Ross Hayden, Salalah, Oman.  Khareef 2000.

Baobabs in Dhofar

Huge Baobab Tree (Adonsonia digitata), Wadi Hinna, Dhofar, Oman

One of my favourite places in Dhofar to retreat to is Wadi Hinna. Half way up the mountainside you come to a spring – Ain Hashair.   The waters of this spring – and the annual khareef – have kept a stand of 30 or 40 baobab trees (Adansonia digitata) alive for perhaps 1000 years. This particular species of tree originates in Africa, but it is found in Dhofar in only two particular locations – here in Wadi Hinna (40 km east of Salalah) and near Dhalkut (150 km west of Salalah) not far from the Yemen border. <

Among the scattered stand of baobab trees in this valley there is one specimen that is particularly memorable. It is possibly the largest baobab in the region with a girth of 20 metres! I love to sit at its feet, or carefully clamber up its slippery armour-clad trunk to perch in a fork of its gigantic branches.

Ain Sahalnoot (Dhofar, Oman)

© Ross Hayden. Boys swimming in Ain Sahalnoot

This photograph was taken in August at the end of the khareef season when the weather is cool and the vegetation is lush and green. Local boys take advantage of the cool waters of Ain Sahalnoot to enjoy themselves. The waters of the spring are channelled to farms and gardens 6 km away in Salalah.

Though the fig tree does not blossom… (Dhofar, Oman)

Old watercourse (falaj) beside Dead Fig Tree in Ain Razat after monsoon. Though the fig tree does not blossom…

A man in his mid-thirties came to one of my photo exhibitions in Salalah, Oman…
He said he knew this tree well. I asked him to explain. He said that as a boy of 8 in the early 1980s he used to look after his father’s cows in the area. At that time this tree was alive and provided him with shade.

“What kind of tree is it?”, I asked.

He replied, “A fig tree.”

This photo encourages me in my belief that if we put our trust in the right place then times of shortage will be followed by times of plenty.