Oman - Part 4

We woke up a bit early so that we could make it to the Grand Mosque.  This was built by the Sultan using the best of everything.  It has one of the biggest hand woven carpets in the world.  It is just a beautiful place to be and stunning to look at. 

    

Iman's Corner

   

 

    

Oman - Part 3

Thursday was just a lazy day.  

Friday is the first day of the weekend so we went on a bit of a road trip!  Our first stop was the Bemmah Sinkhole.  This is a 30m deep sinkhole in the area between the foothills and the beach.  The area is very flat around the sinkhole.  It is an amazing spot.  The water is a beautiful blue green and at 11:00 is still a bit cold!  We swam for about 30 minutes while the little fish gave us pedicures!

 

 
After swimming we sat and ate roasted chicken, hummus and pita in one of the gazebos around the park.  Funny think about the park instead of birds or dogs hanging around to beg food they have goats!

Our next stop was Wadi Ash Shab or Wadi Shab. This is a watershed, stream and canyon that you walk up about three quarters of then swim/walk up to the cave at the top.  The walk up isn't hard but it was about 98F/37C and there was little shade in the first part.  There is a part about a third of the way up where people cliff jump but we kept on walking!  You can see in the first picture how tall it is and the second picture what the water looks like just after the cliff jumping section. 






Along the way there is a pipe where they are getting water from the stream.  Farther up though there is a purpose built concrete channel to send the water down the stream.  For this section you can actually walk along the sides of this channel.  We even found frogs at one point.  

The last section is a mix of walking through shallow water and swimming through deeper sections.  It was very nice and you could take your time going through this section if you wanted.  Unfortunatly because of the water I couldn't take my phone so I didn't get pictures of this part. At the farthest end is a cave that you can swim into.  The entrance is a bit tight and you only have a few inches of clearance on each side of your head and you have to dog paddle in because you hit the walls if you use your hands, but you are rewarded with an amazing waterfall and cave.  

It is definately worth the trip to this site!

Oman - Part 2

Had another lazy morning, until Abi came by to pick me up and take me to school with her for the last class.  She works at Al Sahwa School. Her school has two sides, a boys and a girls.  Everything except a few science classes, the library and the IT suites are separated.  Even in the shared spaces the boys or girls are not allowed to cross a certain point. The kindergarten area is the only co-ed area.  Other than the seperation of boys and girls the school was pretty typical in that it is a school!  

After school we went for a walk along the beach front. If the tide is out you can walk for probably five or so miles along the beach in either direction.  We stopped off at the Candle Cafe.  This is where I had my first Lemon Mint drink which is very nice to have after a long hot walk. 

After our walk we had Thai for dinner before quiz night at Feeney's Pub.  We had a great time and I was actually able to help with some of the answers!

Wednesday morning Abi left me the car so that I could go to the Opera House to tour the inside. Unfortunately it was closed due to rehearsals but what I saw as amazing! So I decided to go to the mall and get my toes done!

Driving in Muscat is super easy and the roads are very nice.  I made it back to Abi's school after a few U-turns! We decided to go to Qurum Park for our walk. It is a nice intercity park which is being developed.  There is from the map much more of it towards the ocean than what we walked. 

For dinner we decided to try Kargeen Cafe for some traditional food.  We asked the waitress to help us pick something.  She suggested the bread with dips for starters and a traditional lamb and rice for the main.  They were both very, very good.  The drinks were also amazing!

  

     

Oman February 2014 - Part 1

So I booked tickets to visit Abi in Oman, but had no real idea what to expect when I got there. My only reason for going was to visit her and have a good holiday.  I have been pleasantly surprised!

It started on February 14th with a night flight, which I just loooooove.  We landed at around 8:00 Sunday morning. Which would usually be a school day for Abi but was an inservice so she was able to come and pick me up at the airport which was a bonus!  I went back to her apartment to sleep and she went on to school.  Later she came by and picked me up and took me to the beach near an after school BBQ. It was nice to meet some of the teachers and hang out.  Best part of the day was when we were about the leave and a mounted police patrol walked by!  They were riding grey Arabians which was a bit different!  

So day to started with a late morning!  I then decided to walk over the to small shopping area near Abi's house known as MK. I had lunch at Subway and walked around a bit.  While I was there I looked around the parking lot and with the types of cars you could have been in the SW of the US.  There are loads of pick up trucks, Suburbans, Jeeps, and other American muscle.  It was good to hear! 
 
When Abi came home we drove out to the Muttrah Souk.  It was very interesting especially if you like the whole digging for treasures idea! One of the shops had a container of old money, I could have spent hours looking at it!

The walk up to the Souk along the waterfront was very nice as the area has all be developed since the 70s.  Before then it was basically nothing! My favorite part were the giant jack looking concrete thingys that they were using to protect the road base.  They looked like something out of Gulliver's Travels.  The footpath and the statues were also amazing!

                                     

     

The day ended with a trip to Abi's favorite Sushi restaurant, Wasabi Sushi! 

Namibia 2013

On June 23, 2014 I began and adventure through Namibia with 18 juniors from ACS Cobham.  We were to begin in Windhoek and end in Livingston, Zambia. While I won't write up the whole month, I will give you some highlights from our trip. 

It started with an overnight flight through South Africa to Windhoek.  We landed around mid day and were picked up by a van as we were to meet up with our driver at the Cardboard Box.  We weren't even 5 minutes out of the airport before we got our first Baboon sighting.  Thus began my Namibia animal list!  After we settled into our rooms and sorted out where we were all staying, we got taxi's to Joe's Beerhouse.  Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area!

The next day we braved the mall for some shopping.  The mall was pretty standard as far as malls go.  I went with kids to get school supplies for our first school.  When we checked out the receipt was as tall as I am! We then had some time in the grocery to stock up on food for ourselves. One of the things that I love doing when I travel is stopping into a grocery to see what they are like. Making it back to our truck was a bit exciting and took the help of the mall security to get us past the taxi drivers who wanted to give us a lift back.

We had an early start the next day and headed down the main road

towards S. Africa in order to head towards our first school at Kutenhoas.  Coming into the village was amazing because everyone came to greet the bus.  The kids met us about 1/2 mile from the school and swarmed the bus.  The ACS kids all piled out and the Kutenhoas kids pounced on them.  Each ACS kid had 3 or 4 Kutenhoas kids handing off of them. 

Jennifer, in white, was my shadow for the 5 days.

We stayed in Kutenhoas for 5 days.  During that time we managed to paint two classrooms from floor to ceiling, paint murals on those two classrooms, build a chicken coop the size of a small apartment, teach some reading, math, science and IT lessons, plant some fruit trees in the garden and celebrate with the village the arrival of the new truck. I think that the kids would have stayed longer if we could have even though we hadn't had a bath in 5 days or had any water for anything other than drinking and washing dishes.

 

We left Kutenhoas and headed to the Naukluft Moutain range where we were going to do our trekking.  We were meant to trek the Fish River but there was no water as the year had been very dry, so we couldn't do that.  We did two hikes in Naukluft one was 10k on the Olive Trail and one was 17k on the Waterkloof trail.  My tent got broken into by Baboons while we were on the 17k hike.  They didn't much like the taste of dioralyte or tampons!  They broke into James's tent as well and didn't take to Tabasco either!

Tanzania - Part 3

Friday, April 18
We go up early for the Ferry. We got there and I thought I didn't have my passport. Tabitha and Adam weren't worried even though I volunteered to go back and get it and catch a later ferry. They said you can always bribe your way out of it on the Zanzibar side. The ferry was packed but uneventful. When we got over we were

one of the first off of it and we were able to walk though with Me holding Leon's hand and Tabitha going we're residents. We almost got stopped by one guy but he sort of gave up and let us pass. Then we had to wait for the others to get our taxi. When we arrived at our hotel the Mtoni Marine, I unpacked and guess what was in my carry on bag! So we are good to get out! 

I changed into my suit went and had lunch then went to sit by the pool. This place has a beautiful pool and a nice beach. Not the best but nice. Then I went down with Adam to the restaurant that they are playing at called 6degrees South. It is good but sort of fancy. I walked down to the park in Stone Town with the night fish market. I can understand what Matt liked about it. Fresh seafood grilled on the spot.

Saturday, April 19
I went into stone town today with Tabitha as she was meeting a friend. It is like wandering around the back streets of Venice or any tight town in Italy all kinds of shops along the way. You get use to ignoring the vendors wanting you to come inside and just smile and say thank you. 

The doors are amazing and I can see why they are talked about! I found two pieces of art which I will add pics of! I came back just before lunch. Then went and laid by the pool again but this time under the shade the whole time. I wasn't out for long yesterday but obviously long enough! I got just a bit too much on my chest, not painful but red.

We went back down to watch the band and have dinner. The sunset was wonderful again and I got some great pics of a couple of dowh boats on the water. 

Sunday, April 20
So I was going to do a spice tour but I tweaked my back so I cancelled that and booked a massage instead! I also booked some Henna so after having breakfast I went to lay by the pool. I got in and swam for a bit as well which helped with my back as well a bit.The massage was alright but I did think it helped. I basically then spent the rest of the day by the pool! We had lunch and dinner at the hotel.

Monday, April 21
I remembered to keep my passport ready when we left this morning, so I was actually able to go through immigration this time! And I did get a stamp! The ferry was nice in the VIP section! The ride was only about 2 hours long. I sat next to the lower school PE teacher.

Tuesday, April 22  
I went with Tabitha to see here school today. While I was there I helped Tabitha teach her kids about timelines using Timetoast.  She got an email while we were at school saying that there was a Turtle hatching tomorrow, so guess what I am doing.


Wednesday, April 23
I went down to the corner but only one basket shop was open, probably good for me! I got three but am going to ask Tabitha to go back and get me one from another shop as they had them with the traditional wraps wound into them. Then I headed over to Slipway for lunch and to meet up with the guy for the turtle experience. I tell you one thing, food might not be cheap but the portions are huge.

So after lunch I went up to the bank and met Sevin! A German Tanzania! He was perfect for the job! Then up walks the Danish couple from the bike tour! Then we get into his 4 x 4 and head out to the ferry to go across the bay to south beach. While we are driving he tells us that the next is 55 km from the ferry! We stopped at a beach resort along the way to have a drink and a break because we got on the ferry so quickly. The guy there was telling Sevin bag out the roads and things. He said to look out for the 7 tower cranes because a Turkish company was building housing father down the road. 7000 houses in what is the equivalent Hudsonville! There is no village, no shops, no nothing and it is just before the pavement ends. We drive down a decent gravel road for the amount if rain that they had had. Sevin said that amount of rain is normal that the last 8 years have been what has been unusual.

We finally made it down to the beach after off roading through some Tanzania bush! Then we walked down the beach to the nest. They had been watching it, the turtles stay underground for about 4 days after they actually hatch. So they started digging them out and then sprinkling dry sand on top of them to get them moving. There can be up to a 100+ in a nest this seemed like a pretty big one. Once they start going they move pretty darn fast! At one point I turned around and they were just all bubbling along the beach. The guides stomped all the crab holes shut so that the crabs would have to redig themselves out. It was really cool to watch them head to the beach!