Early morning, as we’re meeting Juma before heading to Wadi Bani Khalid. He’s brought us t-shirts from his tour company and birthday sweets for me. He’s such a lovely, thoughtful guy. We’re already in our swimming outfits so we leave Juma’s vehicle and he’s drives ours to the wadi. Thank god he’s driving because the goat track we end up on has barely enough room for the car.
We start hiking through the canyon and Juma’s there to assist us clambering over massive boulders, traversing across mini rapids and scaling rock walls. We reach a beautiful little waterfall with a bright turquoise pool at the bottom. I’m too chicken to jump off the top, so opt for a smaller boulder to dive into the water. There’s numerous separate pools formed out of white rock and I sink into one, like it’s a giant bathtub.
Juma points to a small crevice at the bottom of a grouping of boulders perched above the running water and starts to climb down into it. Um, what the hell? I am NOT going into that! He pops his head back out and waves us down. No fucking way dude! I’ll stay out here and enjoy the scenery thanks very much. He shows Becca how to climb into it then lay flat so she can slide inside. Juma exits and sits beside me.
“Jenn, it is no problem. You must come inside. It is amazing.”
“Juma, I can’t. I’m claustrophobic and a pussy. It’s not happening. You guys go ahead.”
“No Jenn. You are coming. You must trust me. I will look after you. You can close your eyes until you’re inside.”
“Is it dark in there? I can’t handle enclosed, dark spaces”
“No, no. It’s open to the outside. Please Jenn. I want you to come.”
Come on Jenn. Stop being such a wimp and get your ass into the hole. Juma enters first, and guides me through step by step. I briefly close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying not to think about the stone walls surrounding my body. And two seconds later, I’m through and in a large cavern open to the outside.
“Oh. That was easy.”
“See! I tell you, no problem!”
Sometimes I hate being such a wimp 🙁
We have a snack and water break before heading back to the car. Becca and I need to continue on to Wahiba Sands where we’ll be staying at a lodge in the desert for two nights. We drop Juma at his car and say our goodbyes. I get the impression he’s sad to leave us and him and I make tentative plans to possibly meet back up in Dubai when I travel to Uzbekistan in the fall. We’ll keep in touch I tell him and he gives me a big hug and kiss on the cheek.
We have a short drive to Al Walsil, the small town on the outskirts of the desert where we await our ride through the dunes to our accommodation. Our driver, Amur, arrives and we head off. Upon seeing the sandy track, I realize I could’ve driven us to the lodge, but I wasn’t sure at the time of booking so unfortunately we’ve just wasted almost $90 CAD for a 20 minute drive there and back.
The bonus of having Amur drive us is that he provides us with his business card and tells us to contact him directly if we wish to go 4×4’ing in the desert or go for a camel ride. He has his Bedouin camp nearby and he’ll give us a discounted rate instead of booking through the lodge. I have no cell service. For some reason my ESIM isn’t working but Becca’s is fine, so she says she’ll contact him if we opt to do an activity. There’s no wifi here either, so I’ll be totally off the grid for a couple days which I actually like. I enjoy being cut off from the rest of the world once in awhile. We’ve opted for separate cabins this time to give each other some privacy and at least this way I won’t be waking Becca up when I head out in the early morning for sunrise.
The lodge is set up in a circular shape with the cabins facing inward and a round covered open room containing couches with free cold water, coffee and dates in the centre. The restaurant is outside of the circle with numerous tables and benches covered in bright red, patterned woven fabric. There are also low tables with cushions on the floor if we want to recline while eating.
The dunes directly behind the lodge are 100 feet high and a rope has been rigged to pull yourself up to the top. Colourful couches surround a large movie screen with the large dune as a backdrop. Camels and goats dot the valley between the dunes.
I head out with my camera to explore and come across a herd of goats that immediately scatter when I’m within 50 feet, except for two of them. The two male goats have big horns and are fighting each other. One goat rises up onto his hind legs and then smashes his horns into the other’s horns making a loud cracking sound. They lock horns and move around each other slowly. Breaking apart, they seem to eye each other up before beginning the process all over again. Several camels are off in the distance and I slowly make my way towards them. They look at me from under their long eyelashes while gnashing their teeth sideways, chewing the prickly grass they’ve been grazing on. I snap a few photos and when I walk away to start climbing the dunes, one of them starts to follow me. I’m a little wary of letting it get too close to me since they are known to spit if they’re angry and I don’t know if this guy’s pissed off I’ve interrupted his meal or thinks I’ve got treats. I pick up the pace and start heading uphill. The camel stops, makes a loud grunt and then turns around.
Clouds have come out of nowhere from the West and a sunset seems unlikely but I huff and puff my way over dunes to get myself oriented for morning in case there’s good lighting at sunrise. I see a small lizard, the same colour as the sand scamper across, leaving tiny little tracks. The wind has picked up and I have sand in my ears, my hair and in my clothing. I see ess-shaped tracks and stop short. Oh christ. Snake track. The fear I have for these things is even greater than my fear of dark caves. I make an abrupt change in direction and pray I don’t see one.
