Eid ul Fitr 2009Trips part II

Gaff Grove BBQ September 21, 2009 GPS: 24°23'39.60"N 55°39'8.24"E

Well on Monday we took some friends out to the Wadi Subaitah, Oman later in the evening we meet up with some more friends and had a BBQ out in the desert. The place we went to was the gaff grove just past the camel race track in Al Ain. Our family ahs camped here several times and the pictures are from one of those previous excursions. The other people had never been there so it was a new experience for them. The reason I like the gaff grove so much is that well it offer some shade in the middle of the desert!!! This is very nice. Another cool thing is that it is in the middle of a bowl. The sides of the area are sand dunes and the entrance to the area is built up but not as high as the opposite sides. So it is like driving up a small volcano you get to the peak and then drive right in to a lower section it is a lot of fun to drive and as there are several trees in the bowl it is a great place to camp and have a BBQ. I have also gone there and done some 4x4ing with one of my other buddies. I really like this area a lot I have to say it is one of my favorite easy trips out. You can get tot eh sire in 30 minutes and have a great time.

Jazirah Oasis September 22, 2009 GPS: N24 19 13.3 E56 09 06.7

Well we all had a great time on Monday night and I decided to take them to the Jazirah Oasis for a picnic. Again we have been to the Jazirah Oasis several times as a family but I wanted to show the other families this place as it has a great dam and this makes a great swimming spot. Well the drive to the oasis is very cool too it is not really 4x4 but it does get a bit intense at some points.

We arrived at the pool next to the oasis at about 12 and had a picnic lunch. The kids and adults than swam for a while in the pool created by the dam. Then I decided it would be nice to take people on a tour of the oasis. This lead to a false start by me – trying to take the adults before I had scoped out the oasis, well I decided to tour the oasis without the rest of the adults. After getting lost in the oasis a few times I figured out the path we had taken with the Emirates Natural History Group. Of course I had to get some help from the man who was working the oasis!! He led me out of the oasis on a couple of turns where I had gotten a bit confused –NOT LOST!!!

A great thing about Jazirah Oasis is that the buildings are still made of mud brick and except for one rest house most of them are built using the traditional style of mud brick. Granted on one lives in the village any more but it is nice to see the old style.

After finding my way around I came back and grabbed most of the kids and adults to give them the tour of the oasis. Granted I am in debt to Brien form the Emirates Natural History Group because most of what I had to say I learned from him. Well the kids and adults had a great time on the walk and no one got lost!! Not even me.

If you want to see more on the Jazirah Oasis go to my Blog http://travelingrumptzs.blogspot.com/2009/03/jazira-oasis.html

Well that is about it for now I will be sending out more later in the week

As Sudiyah September 24, 2009 GPS: N24 33.173 E 56 07.539

Mahdah GPS 24°23'57.72"N 55°58'11.39"E

Madbah Wadi September 26, 2009 GPS 24° 5'31.43"N 56° 7'12.99"E

Eid 2009 Holiday Trips

Ok we just got done with Eid (religious holiday afterRamadan- kind of like our Christmas & Easter) and over the week break wewent on a few journeys

If you have Google Earth then you can take the GPScoordinates and check out the sites. If you have Panoramaio turned on (UnderLayers > Geographic Web) Then you can find more shots ? you have to zoom inclose to find some of the shots.

AlAin Oasis September 19, 2009


We really these are shots from the JimiOasis as we forgot to bring our camera on the Al Ain Oasis trip. This was anice trip that we took on last Saturday. It was good to get out and see theworking ?farm? right in down town Al Ain. The thing that surprised me the mostwas the city of Al Ain has 400,000 people. It seems like a much smaller citybut when you consider all fo the workers it is not hard to believe. They haveworkers everywhere. There are guys who put in flowers in all of the mediansjust to come and rip them out and then put new flowers in a month later.

The Oasis in the UAE are all monoculture date palm plantations. Granted there are several variety of date palmsin each oasis. As Brien the leader of the walks explains think of how manyvariety of apples we have.

After the Oasis we went and spent therest of the day at the Hilton. We are starting to sue our membership there morenow. We even spent the afternoon thereon Sunday after we got abck from our scouting trip to Subaitah.

WadiSubaitah, Oman September 20 & 21, 2009 GPS: 24°15'53.86"N 56°9'40.21"E

We missed the walk with the Emirates Natural History groupon Saturday so we decided to do the trip by ourselves. Luckily the leader ofthe group gives good directions and we found the site easily. It was a fundrive with a bit of 4X4 action to it.

Well Subaitah is an amazing oasis. It is truly a wonder toexplore and the real joy is that it is so small. The place is about 100 meterswide by 200 meters long. The walk into the oasis starts with a nice area thatis a tunnel created by over grown trees. After that you are on the cliff of thewadi (ravine) with the Oasis clinging to a small plateau on right side of thewadi. The Oasis is a typical of Oman having several species of plants in growthhere. There are mango, guava, lemon, and orange trees there are even somebanana plants as well, and of course the ubiquitous date palm.

Once in the heart of the oasis you come to a small villagethat has no electricity until now. You find some of the old (ancient) mud brickbuildings, several abandoned buildings and we were lucky enough to find the oneperson who still lives there. A worker from I am guessing Afghanistan orPakistan by the style of clothing worn. As I do not speak much Arabic and he does not speak much English wesmiled and said hello.

On to the falajah!!! The falajah is a blast as it hugs closeto the wadi cliff face. It is by walking this cliff face that you get to theswimming pool. There are some parts of the walk that you have to hug the cliffwall to make it past. It is a bit of a rush the first time but easy after that.It is not a long walk and then you are on level ground again and it is time toswim in the narrow but at times very deep pool.

One of the cool things about the pools are the DR fish. Youput your feet in the water and they eat off the dead skin. It is not unpleasantbut it can bet a bit unnerving as they can fight over who gets to eat you.


More to come!!!!

Jazirah Oasis GPS: September22, 2009 GPS: N24 19 13.3 E56 09 06.7


As Sudiyah September 24, 2009 GPS: N24 33.173 E 56 07.539


Madbah Wadi September 26, 2009 GPS 24° 5'31.43"N 56°7'12.99"E