I’m very happy with the new Duikamagzine (Dive Magazine) that just came out, a four page article on one of my favorite subjects of 2008: the Turtle beach at Ras al Jinz (check here for an earlier article on this website in English ).
Oct 092009
360 Degree super Hi-res view over the Grand Canyon from Sab Bani Khamis.
It’s called Jabal Shamss, which translates to “Mountain of Sun” and what a fitting name it is. At an altitude of approximately 3.000 meters (10.000 feet) it’s majestically situated under an almost allways blue sky with the intense Arabian sun shining above it, casting it’s deep shadows into the depths below.
The hiking path of Jabal Shams.
Jabal Shams is not really a mountain as you’d expect, it’s a mindboggling crevasse of immense proportions, therefore the name “Grand Canyon of the Middle-East” is way more fitting. Not only is the viewpoint [Google Earth] at the road through the Al Hajar Mountains range one of the nicest stops in the region: an actual hike through the Canyon is even better as the path is situated halfway up the cliff face of about a thousand meters.
Tiny village 600 meters below us.
In order avoid the worst shadows we leave early for our hours-long trekking, the sun will be nice above us for most of the trip so we’ll be able to enjoy the best of the views. And boy, are those views amazing! From the early start till the final bits it’s hard to keep your eyes on the small but pretty manageable path. At points it gets close to the edge and one viewpoint is just simply breathtaking when we can see a tiny village more than 600 meters below us. Even with my biggest telelens it’s hard to get it fully visible. Apparently the few kids that live in the dozen or so houses are picked up daily for school but it’s just hard to imagine living there.
Mill stones in the deserted village of Sab Bani Khamis.
Even harder is imagining living in the deserted village Sab Bani Khamis [Google Earth] that we come across after an hour or so. It was abandoned after a dam closed off their water supply that made it possible to live there. Just simply imagine a rocky ledge of no more than thirty meters wide with a deadly drop to the depths of the canyon. A couple of terrasses where they managed to grow crops and a few mud houses underneath a hanging ledge that towers above for hundreds of meters. Now that’s remote living!
Fresh water in a hidden lake near the deserted village of Sab Bani Khamis.
After hiking through the tiny place and visiting a fantastic small mountain lake it’s time to hike out: not by going back but by taking the Via Ferrata [Google Earth]. Definitely not as simple as hiking to the village is this climb out while being secured to metal ropes which are placed so falling down is not an option anymore (while scrapes and bruises still are though!). The climb under the deep blue sky is exhilarating: not too easy but not too technical either. And what a great feel looking over your shoulder or between your legs: the massive stone canyon that goes on to the horizon. This is truly one of my favorite vies of the world.
Out of the Grand Canyon through the Via Ferrata.
The Amazing high-altitude sunsets at the Jabal Shams Resort (at 3.000 meters/10.000 feet).
Click here for the full photo-gallery on Flickr (27 images).
Links: Oman Tourism, Jabal Shams Resort (Great sunsets!)
More on Oman at Fotograferen.net here.
More Favorite views of the World on Fotograferen.net here.
Imagine a beach where you can see turtles. Nothing special you say, just go to a warm place and you might get lucky. But what if there was a beach where you can see wild turtles every day? Laying eggs as well, every day! There is such a place and it’s called: Ras al Jinz and You’ll find it at the most eastern tip of Oman.
It’s 4:00 AM as we walk through the dark sands, trying not to fall as it is still pitchblack except for the incredible starlit nightsky above us. Our guide, this is a nature reserve, points us the way with a red light as one of his colleagues brings the word “we’ve found one just digging its nest!”. Our group, three journalists, three German biketourists and our Omani guide for the week halts with excitement. Bad news though: she’s just started digging so we’ll have to wait for the egglaying to start. This will take about an hour, would we show up earlier we’d scare the turtle away. As long as the egglaying itself hasn’t started the turtles don’t like to take chances.
An hours wait at this hour is a long one, still cold, wet and chilly we gaze upon the countless stars above until the time has come to advance.
But what a sight and what a worthwhile wait! A massive Green Turtle has dug herself a massive hole and is slowly but steadily laying her 60-100 eggs for the night. Every female does this every year for three years in a row and is then gone for four years before returning to the same beach for her whole productive life (age 35-80).
It’s an emotional moment to see the turtle working hard, we can even see the eggs: small golfballs without the dimples. Then it’s over, with her backfins she carefully covers up the eggs, moves forward and starts filling up the hole. Quite a task as it’s almost a meter deep. It takes ages and while the sun slowly advances to the horizon she finishes up her task in about 45 minutes.
And just when the sun is about to show it’s time for her to get back into the sea. It’s a short crawl as she dug her nest quite close to the shoreline. And while two small hatchlings advance as well to the safety of the water (for now, the seagulls have awoken for breakfast as well) the first wave hit’s the massive turtle shell. A wave later and she quickly disappears in the sea, she’s deserved her rest now! And then, the sun comes up. What a great way to start the day!
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