catching up.....

My apologies, I have neglected the blog these past few weeks because we have been off exploring the wonderful scenery that this world of ours has to offer us.

Let's start with my own backyard...... a few hours drive down south near the coast of Oman is a wadi, actually lots and lots of wadis. A wadi is a river or river bed that is used when it rains for runoff waters...... truth be told around here it's also know as an oasis. :)

Wadi ash Shab... it's runoff waters empty into the ocean directly from this little creek (I mean wadi)

below is a scene about a mile or so into the mountains - it is as gorgeous as it looks.

the waters are so inviting - they are refreshing too. The boys left mom at this pool and went on to search for treasure...... every walk/hike must some how come back to an Indiana Jones adventure.... It's how we get them excited! ;)

Then you get back in the car and head away from the coast into the DESERT!!! Deep into the desert and you come across a place where sands are king. Some smart person decide to set up camp here......

It's called Wahiba Sands - Desert Nights Camp. It's pretty much 5 star camping for those a little nervous about getting sand in their ears..... The tents are concrete walls and the tent part is the top canvas cone shaped teepee - it's air conditioned and simply fabulous. sneak peak:

They took us up the hill a wee bit to watch the sun set.....

He had as much fun as his smile says he did..... and he got sand in his ears.... ok - and his pants, too. In fact, there still is sand in his pants, even though they have been through the wash about 5 times!!

Dad is in the far background - kids are rolling down the hill

and the sun did set..... then we walked back down for a lovely traditional Omani dinner - barbecue chicken, beef and lamb. Traditional Omani food is pretty much hummus, tabouli, kebobs, curries, labneh (cheese). It's a mixture of Lebanese and Indian foods - and I am all for it. Yum yum!

There was also Omani music, a guitar (of some sort), a clay drum and a clapper (that's a person clapping his hands). There was a singer, too, but it was not this camel.... The music was very mesmerizing and I wish our boys did not fall into such a trance (aka slumber) we might have stayed longer to enjoy it.

In the morning before check out...... Camel rides!!! Only one of our monkeys went for it.... the other one showed no interest.

Usually, I just post my own pictures.... but someone who likes to go unnamed got really artsy with the camera and I had to share them with you!!

Stunning views......

Thanks for tuning it for this episode of my new big backyard :)

I need a few days to sort through the pics of our most recent trip, I'll be back soon.

Maa Salama,

amt