After a near-miss at the Immigration office for want of two 2x2 photos of Lyra and Russell, I did eventually get both of their passports. It was close going for a while! And now they both have official resident status in the UAE.
So, finally at around noon we were on our way to Oman. We had heard that the border crossing can be quite jammed and can take several hours to get through, but luckily we didn't run into that. I think that by leaving on Thursday (the day before the weekend) we avoided much of the rush. However, we did find out when trying to enter Oman that we neglected to get exit stamps on our passports from the UAE, so had to retrack about 5Km to the UAE border patrol to get these stamps.
Most of our time in Oman was spent exploring by car. We had a marathon set of days to get to all the places we planned to go. Our main destination was Turtle Beach where there are several breeds of sea turtles that come to lay their eggs on the beach. The peak season to see the turtles is in June-August, but the guide books had told us that turtles come up to the beach most every day of the year. We were lucky enough to see a turtle laying her eggs. We waited in the dark on the beach for nearly 30 minutes. If the turtles are spooked or disturbed, they will return to the sea. But once they start laying their eggs, then they will keep laying until they are done. The poor girl was a bit disoriented from all the attention. I was amazed at her size.
The next morning, we returned to the beach to see in the light what we had struggled to see in the dark. The whole beach is covered with holes about 5 feet across and 2 feet deep that the turtles dig. We could see several tracks from the previous night where a turtle had dragged herself to the beach. Probably about 7-8 turtles had visisted the beach the previous night.
If we return again, we know to bring lots of mosquito repellent and mosquito netting for our beds. I am still scratching the bites on my feet, legs and arms. Lyra had over 9 bites on one cheek.
Oman is definitely worth a return visit. Lots of hiking and exploring still to do.
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While your enjoying sand, beaches, turtles and I assume warmth, we're enjoying (?) SNOW ! Probably 10 inches in the last couple of days, snowed last night. It's a Winter Wonderland out there!
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