Page 126 - RSDG Year of 2023

124 EAGLE AND CARBINE
AT IN OMAN —
A COUNTRY OF EXTREMES
From the high Jebels in the north to the rolling dunes of the Wahiba sands, the expansive ancient sea bed in the empty quarter to the lush, jungle like wadis - Oman is an incredibly diverse country. The scenery changes at a bend in the road; one moment you are driving through a Martian space-scape with trains of camels picking their way over fossilized coral reefs that protrude from the waves of golden sand, the next you are twisting down a steep escarpment to the shining jewel that is the Oman sea, the waves breaking on pristine palm lined beaches. There are jagged mountain peaks higher than any in the UK, where the temperature plummets to a chilly 10 degrees at night. Crystal pools of turquoise water lie in the depths of a wadi, the walls of the canyon towering up to the blue skies overhead and date palms and banana trees hanging low over the water. There are plains of nothing but gravel and sand as far as the eye can see and so flat that you could watch your camel run away for three days straight, abandoning you to the misleading mirage that tells you that you are on an island in a glassy sea.
It is a country that has built itself on the coast and the influence of the sea and the sustenance that it provides is evident — its two largest cities, Muscat and Salalah are port cities. If its not the sea, its the wadis that provide the critical water to allow life to exist in a climate this harsh, and the variety of life is astounding. There are the camels, which when first encountered appear as a majestic, other worldly giant that nonchalantly does as it pleases and
roams the desert where it sees fit. They are well aware of their place within the hierarchy of society and are not opposed to walking down the middle of the road into oncoming traffic if it so pleases them. Then there are the donkeys, antelope, wild cats and perhaps the most hotly discussed; the many varieties of venomous snakes and spiders.
A wolf spider inevitably appears no matter how carefully you select your sleeping spot and although snakes are seen less often, their presence is always at the back of your mind — a desert cobra’s venom is strong enough to kill an adult within two hours of a bite if the correct anti-venom cannot be acquired. The sea is just as diverse; turtles can be seen in abundance, surveying the coral reefs below which are
Lt Rory Edwards