Wahiba Sands

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Still amazed from our Turtle Experience the night before, we packed up and got back in the car heading this time for the desert region of Wahiba Sands, for a night in a desert camp! On the way we had time to stop at Wadi Bin Khalid. Similar to Wadi Shab but rather that an adventure this was more of a 'parking lot and well trodden path' kind of Wadi. Still very pretty, the pools no less refreshing but just feel as wild. We stopped in a café (see, no where near as wild!), enjoyed a beverage and carried on our way.

It had just turned afternoon before we arrived almost at our destination. I say almost, we were driving a regular saloon car and the rest of the way to our camp was over sand! So we parked up a petrol station and was picked up and taken onwards. We checked in and was shown to our 'tent' in the desert for a night. And what a treat it was, a luxurious permanent tent, in-between two massive sand dunes - it was awesome. But, we weren't in a 4800 sq mile desert to enjoy a tent, so after dropping our bags we headed out on a 4x4 safari. The Wahiba Sands are incredible, sand as far as the eye can see in every direction, Massive sand dunes rolling with the prevailing winds, it might sound boring but the drive was incredible. Helped of course by the fact that our driver was intent on enjoying himself!! We surfed the sand dunes, driving up to the top before drifting down sideways, he launched us over the edge of a near vertical edge and did drifts through the corners. Then after a photo stop, we got back in. This time, our driver put on his seat belt, before reversing off the edge of another vertical sand dune! 'I love my job' he laughed to us as we careered through the dunes! 4x4 trip done, I decided to join our guy on a quad bike trip through the dunes, where I got to enjoy my self! Drifting through the corners, taking the steepest route down and flying over the dunes... great fun! Before sunset we were taken up the top of the sand dune overlooking the camp to watch an epic sunset over the Wahiba Sands.

That night we ate dinner in the communal dining room and shared adventures with an Australian and Swiss couple before heading back to our tent. We took in the peace and quiet and watched the night sky as shooting starts flew over our heads. We've stopped in a few desert regions before in Jordan and India, and the Wahiba Sands is right up there with them. Annoyingly we only had time for the 1 night so the next morning after a quick breakfast we were back on our way!

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Photos

Dale Palm plantation at Wadi Bin Khalid
A bit of green in the desert!