Moving on day and with a morning flight we chilled a little
and let the Stinkies go off and get the Tahoe washed before our airport return
(they like them to look like you have not been madly off road anywhere…).
Muscat airport was painless and we were soon on our way south
to Salalah. As we climbed and left the
coast behind we skirted the Al Hajar and the magnificent view that I had the
day before was now from a completely different perspective.
The vast amphitheatre and plain within was skirted by this towering jagged mountains and I could even see the tiny village of Waken nestled half way up in the left of my view. When we were there yesterday it felt to my geographers eye that a huge folded dome of limestone had been eroded out in the middle and the incurve of the peaks suggested it too. I loved looking at stereographic (3D) aerial images using special weird lenses when I was at Uni 35 years ago which made the flat photos come alive and as we flew along I got the same feeling from my plane seat.
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| The ring of mountains |
Over the top there was a plateau with what I think is the town of Saiq which looks to have some tortuous hairpins to get to it before it drops down to Nizwah lower down. South of here we entered the desert proper and I tried not to be mesmerised as the orangey and sandy scenery changed below us from empty nothing save for the arrow straight tracks (even the bends) to and from un-known homes and what looked like businesses. Occasionally one ‘home’ was gleam green but otherwise there were no other colours.
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| Saiq on the plateau just right of centre |
A strip of crescent Barchan dunes headed north on their
endless journey and I could see the shadows of high stepping pylons striding
across the landscape in all directions.
Rocks returned and these horizontal beds had been water and wind eroded
like an onion with successive layers removed leaving it looking like stacked rings
from above while the dendritic pattern of thousands of waterways had incised
the desert into vast meandering wadis to streams, gullies and the tiniest rills. All were visible and looked like a text book
diagram of a the alveoli of a human lung or the gyri and sulci of a brain. I was captivated.
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| The last rock ridge until Salalah |
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| Oman's modern equivalent of the Nazca lines |
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| Simply nothing - just shifting bands of sandy grey and pink. I would not fancy driving through this for a whole day! |
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| Rivers of sand |
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| no straight lines here |
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| Hello Salalah |
As we neared Salalah it changed again; the wadis became deeper
and steeper and the valley sides cloaked in trees. It felt like there should be water down their
somewhere. And then we were dropping
over the gleaming white city and working our way through another airport to
pick up our next monster car – a GMC Yukon.
It did not take long to get to our flat on the north side of
town and we were soon out and having a quick look around the Khawr Al Dahariz
where the birds and people all mix between the fresh water, beach and sea. Caspian
and Gull-billed were new amongst the Terns which also included Crested, Whiskered
and Common and many gulls were coming in for a wash and brush up.
At least 500 Glossy Ibis swirled in a purple – black mass
before coming back down to bathe and dotted amongst the ‘usual’ waders were six
Citrine Wagtails! A Shelduck was apparently a good local bird and there was a
small flock of Tufted Duck too. Ospreys and
Marsh Harriers patrolled and Eastern Imperial and Greater Spotted Eagles were sat
around looking bored. Two new birds were
on offer for me with the first Tristram’s Starlings whistling from a rooftop
and a Delicate Prinia was trilling from the juncus but did not show but at this
point there were other priorities.
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| Glossy Ibis |
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| Glossy Ibis |
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| Glossy Ibis |
The park at Ayn Razat was our destination to the north of
town and we hoped to get into the park before it closed for the week – it is
only open on weekends.
It was busy when we arrived but the heat had gone out of the
day so we quickly spread out to search the trees for the pair of Arabian Eagle
Owls known to live there. Tom got there
first and we all got superb views as it booged at us in a contemptuous manner. A medium sized EO but still a splendid beast.
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| Arabian Eagle Owl |
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| Arabian Eagle Owl - Tom Bird |
While the others papped I tried to find the singer that sounded like a funny Black Redstart and soon picked up several male Cinnamon-breasted Buntings singing from the scrub. I had to check; but I had seen this species in Uganda last year. The African crossover continued.
Chunky Arabian
Sunbirds zipped around ‘chipping’ and the Silverbills here had black rumps and
were African. Distinctive little Siskin-like
calls drew me to a party of Abyssinian White-eyes and I think that they are one
of my favourite families.
A male Arabian Warbler popped up and showed well and I
called Black-crowned Tchagra as it flew
in flashing white tail spots. Back in
the trees there were African Paradise Flycatchers and even a calling Wryneck.
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| Cream Bordered Charaxes |
We were in no rush and stayed till dusk watching the Night
Herons emerge to hunt while Pond Herons, Grey Herons and Little Egrets settled
in to roost above the clear flowing river where Common Sandpipers teetered and
a Kingfisher dashed. It was all very
pleasant. Up above us there were several
Kestrels and Pale Crag Martins and an adult Hobby appeared close to and proceeded
to catch previously unseen dragonflies just a few feet away from us before
returning to a snag to eat its catch.
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| Hobby |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| The late evening warmth - despite sunset still gave a Short-toed Eagle some late lift |
Dinner called us back to town where we discovered the La’Jaula
restaurant which was to become our venue of choice during our stay. Always good to pick a tasty one the first
night!
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