Friday, December 12, 2008- Fossil Hunting

Fossil Hunting

Well we have not yet gone camping on our Eid break- This is the second and more important of the two Muslim Eid holidays. During this Eid Muslims make a hajj or pilgrimage Mecca. Anyway we had just gotten our apartment two days before the vacation so we knew we would be spending a lot of time getting the place together during vacation but we also wanted to do some camping. But so far we have not been able to organize this part of this is my fault for not taking the lead.



What we did was go over to the hills in Oman to do two day trips. On the first trip (I think it was Sunday) we got a late call. It turns out my buddy from Abu Dhabi I thought I knew the area and was expecting to meet up with us out there. Anyway we ended up meeting up with them for lunch at a nice spot in the hills. It was a neat spot because you got the rocks and hills but you also had some nice sand dunes tucked right up to the hills. So the kids could play on the sand dunes and we could see the hills. We let the kids play for a few hours while we ate and chatted. I did some minor rock climbing up the hill but nothing serious. After a while we went over to the valley that had the fossils. Fossils were easy to find and the finds were nice we picked up a half a dozen fossilized shells. Then we went exploring the waddi. Wadis are dry river beds that cut into the hills and plains of the region. When it rains they run fast – I hear as it has not rained since we got here in August. Well the Wadis can be pretty boring like the ones in town or they can make these canyons which are very cool to explore. So we explored tow of these. One of the kids out made me look I was under control she was all over the place and it was difficult at times to keep my eye on her and the other children as she was much faster. But in the end it was nice explore and I have attached pictures of the hike.



On the way back we took a different border crossing and went over to the Al Ain gulf club, which consist of a dirt track of land with 18 holes of golf. It was kind of surreal as it is a “golf club” with no grass. I guess you have to bring your own green to play. You lug around a piece of Astroturf to hit your ball. Well we Had a few beers here and then as it was cold and I had shorts and a t shirt on I decided to go change before we went on to food and more drinks. But as is usual once you break out of the group things tend to fall apart. In the end we dashed around looking for them but gave up and went home and had Pizza Hut.




Shark Tooth Hunting

A few days later we meet up to go shark tooth hunting. Now this place was pretty easy to find and I will probably go back and take some other families with us. The fossil hunting place I would not find again on my won but then again you are not supposed to go on your own as your car can get stuck and you need someone to help get it out. Anyway we spent the morning slowly climbing up the hill looking for shark teeth at first it was hard as I did not know what to look for but now it is easy you kind of get used to seeing them. We found about 12 teeth we could easily chip out and take home. We now have a nice collection of them.



The best part of this trip was the ride home. Again we went to the border going to the golf course. Oman is not as concerned about its border with UAE, so many places you can cross into the UAE and not pass an Omani border patrol. I guess just a few years ago the UAE did not have border patrols there either so you could drive in and out of the countries without even stopping.



So we are at the border and the place is looking pretty empty but more so than usual. We get up to the guard and he tells us to go inside. Strange as usually they just do it right there. We go inside and find two guys just watching videos on the computer. They tell us to sit down. It is a strange because this looks like a real border with lanes and booths for the border patrol to sit in and process your visa BUT no one is there except the two guys watching videos. About 5 minutes later the guy who told us to go inside comes in and tells us to follow him. We follow him out to the booth he came from (outside- drive up kind we started at) and then proceeds to process our paperwork while we are standing in the drive thought lane. I guess he was bored and wanted to play a game with us or something because it was a complete waste of time. Not complaining I thought it was a lot of fun.


Hope you enjoy the photos added to this one.


Rumptz