Oman 7: The Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve, Wadi Alarbeieen Resort, and the end of Oman.

   The only stop we made on the way to the Turtle reserve was to a small, local supermarket, to pick up supplies.  We stayed at the official Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve Hotel.  With a stay at this hotel, you get to go for an evening and early morning tour to see turtles.  Reviews online were mixed.  Some said that it was a wonderful experience, while some said that people crowded the turtles and were inappropriate.  I warned Miles of this, just in case.

  We showered, to rid our bodies of the endless sands.  One aspect of the desert that I may have forgotten to mention, was that everything is covered with at least a thin layer of sand within seconds.  Put your phone onto the table?  Covered with sand.  Open bag on the floor?  Sand.  

  We left for the 8:30 PM tour, and were directed to sit outside, behind the hotel, in the dark.  We sat there for about thirty minutes.  I assumed that someone was out looking for turtles, but no one gave us an official heads up about what was happening until at least forty five minutes in.  They had park rangers out, looking for turtles, and would not walk us out there until someone found one.  This is turtle off season, so there was no guarantee that one would be found.  Eventually we got the message that a single turtle was found.

  We were in group number one, since we were staying at the hotel, and our group of about fifteen was clearly explained that there should be no cell phone flashlight use and we should be respectful of the wildlife.  We then walked one kilometer along a sand road to the beach.  The four or so other groups followed behind us, and once we were able to hear the water, we stopped.  Our guide awaited notification from the ranger that it was time to go on over to the exact spot.  Our guide gave us some more information about green turtles and said that they were waiting for the turtle to be done digging.  Apparently, this was an adult turtle, and not a baby hatching, which is what I had expected.  

  It turned into a good thirty minute wait, and so we were instructed that we could sit down while we waited in the darkness.  There were people that should not have come on the tour, with small children that ran all over and carried on.  One burst out screaming and had to be taken away.  This isn't a zoo, and children under a certain age should have been restricted, in my opinion.

  Eventually it was time to see the turtle.  We were guided the rest of the way, to find a massive turtle digging in the sand.  The scene quickly devolved into chaos, with people crowding the turtle, and of course, using their phone's flash anyway.  On the plus side, we saw bioluminescent plankton, which illuminated where the waves were, it lit up peoples' footprints.  Miles was angry about the turtle situation, and so we decided to walk back, unguided.

  Despite the disappointment, we were clean and comfortable in the hotel.  At first I didn't want to do the morning tour, but then I figured that since I am here already, maybe there will be less people willing to wake up for a 5:00 AM tour.  It helped that I told someone that night that I was planning to wake up in the morning, because, when the alarm woke me up at 4:40 AM, the temptation to skip it and go back to bed was STRONG!

  It turns out that it was the right decision to go.  Only four of us showed up, two from outside the hotel.  The guide brought us to his truck and drove us down the dirt path to the beach.  He used a flashlight to walk us along the water.  He did not mention whether there was a turtle or not, but we followed him.  One of our group took off their sandals, and the guide told them to put the sandals back on because of the dead spiked fish that littered the path.

  We came upon a sea turtle nest, where a fox had dug up and eaten the eggs.

    We approached a wall of rocks, and I still did not know if a turtle had been spotted.  Luckily, it had.  After briefly using a flashlight to show us the turtle, our guide sat off to the side and we all hung out, giving the turtle plenty of space, and observed until sunrise, when the turtle climbed out of the hole and walked back to the sea.  A wave came and the turtle was swept up in it.  I once caught it swimming on the top of the water, but it disappeared before I could catch a photo of it.

  These are some sunrise pictures that are oversaturated because they were taken with my phone.

  These are the rocks and spikey fish.

  Our guide stopped to help these people push their boat to the water with a vehicle.

  The next day, we stopped again at a supermarket, just a few minutes away from the supermarket we stopped at a day before.  This one, however, was part of a giant store, not too unlike a Walmart.  It had everything from pots and pans to toys and food.  Our only other stop was to the Bimmah Sinkhole.  What was surprising was that there were no signs for it on the highway.  It was tucked away within the Hawiyat Najm Park.  It was free to enter, and after a short walk, we came upon the circular sinkhole, with a staircase down to a beautiful swimming area.

  Just ten minutes away was the exit to head towards our hotel, inside the Alarbeieen Wadi.  The paved road eventually turned into a mountainous dirt road.  The resort sent me directions with pictures via Whatsapp.  It was fairly easy to get to.  We had to take a final small descent to the bottom of the wadi area.

  About an hour after we had checked in, we received a knock on the door.  The weather promised rain, and they worried about flooding as the water would run down the mountains.  We drove back up the hill and parked in a dirt parking lot at the top.  After I had walked back to the hotel, the owner walked over and introduced himself and pled with me to sit and drink coffee under a small covering.  An elderly couple from Austria sat down and we ended up chatting for two hours.  It ended up pouring, so after the cover was no longer working well, we moved to a community room just inside.

  By the time the conversation was over, it was too late to walk into the wadi before it would get dark.  The next morning, I woke up before 7:00, and went for a walk.  Unfortunately, like is often the case, there was a lot of pollution in the area.  The typical empty water bottles were strewn about the landscape, but a garbage bag hung in a tall bush highlighted the problem even further.

  After about fifteen minutes of walking, the path ended up flooded, with no way around.  I begrudgingly turned around.  On the way back, I looked down and saw a long, thin snake neck poking out of the water.  I took a few steps back, took out my camera, and tip toed back, but it was gone.  I crouched down and waited, hoping that it would reappear.  It never stuck its head out of the water again.  A tiny, tiny piece of debris floated near the snake, and it ducked back down.  Shortly after, it quickly swam away.

  We waited until the 11 AM checkout time before leaving.  Our flight is at 2:45 AM, the next morning.  Our only agenda was to have the car washed and then drive to the airport.  Luckily, for some reason one of the hotel workers was using a hose to clean all of the hotel guests' cars.  He was going to do mine anyway, but I told him I'd pay him to do it.  I gave him a nice tip, which he seemed unhappy to accept.

  We began driving, passing some local donkeys, and it was easy at first.  The landscape became slightly unfamiliar.  The gps, however, said we were on the right path.  We went over a rocky bump and down a very, very rocky decline.  At the bottom, things did not look right, so I got out of the car and looked around.  I decided to turn around.  I turned on the four wheel drive, but the steep climb and abundance of rocks stalled out the car multiple times.  Miles offered to go out of the car and guide me, which proved to be the solution.  Despite a very bouncy and unsteady climb, we got out.  We decided that perhaps the right way was to the right, which was along a more paved dirt road.  This, was wrong.  After a while, we were unsure again, and the roads looked poor.  Just to our side was a very tiny village of maybe five buildings.  I decided to stop and ask for directions.

  I got out of the car and spotted an elderly woman and young child.  I approached her and said, "Najda!" in arabic.  She shooed the small boy beyond the gate to her house and closed the gate behind her.  Then, she took a few steps up on the staircase that went above the wall, and spoke downwards at me.  She did not know English, and simply pointed back in the direction we came.  I thanked her and returned to my car.

  I began driving back where we came and quickly passed another car.  I stopped and rolled down my window.  There was a young family that did not speak English, and the best they could do, when I showed them a map and where I needed to go, was again to point back in the direction I was already going.  Shortly after, a truck approached us.  This was miraculous, because in our drive to the hotel we encountered noone on the road, and after we departed we saw no one either.  This person spoke English very well and offered for us to follow him.  He turned around and we followed him.  It turned out that we passed a sign that was perpendicular to us, and so I did not catch it.  I had missed the turn here.  After that, the path was effortless.

Once back on the main highway, we eventually encountered this radar installation.

  The rest of the drive was uneventful.  We returned the rental car without issue.  It was about 1:30.  The website for Oman Air stated that you could drop off your bags within twelve hours of your flight.  The bag drop line was empty, so I decided to see what I could do.  The woman made a quick phone call and approved us.  We walked toward security, but when we tried to scan our boarding pass, it said that we were too early.  The woman there directed us back to the Oman Air desk.  

  There is a hotel inside Muscat Airport, past immigration and security.  One booking is good for either six or twelve hours, with two different costs.  I had planned to book it right as we arrived at it.  The Oman Air desk told me that if I showed proof of booking, they could let me in early.  I booked it on my phone and they bypassed the machines to let us in.

  Immigration was a breeze with no line and so was security.  What was interesting about security was that they allowed us to bring two massive bottles of water and didn't require us to take out any electronics, including laptops.  The hotel room is absolutely luxurious with a desk, couch, and bed.  The best part about it was that it includes two meals, which for us was lunch and dinner.  An amazing buffet with a ton of variety was available for both meals, with a different selection each time.  Also, there was only a single other person dining when we went to them.  We now await our flight.