date: 2021-05-07
link: [track]
The incredible Janel’s birthday was this weekend and Kai planned an outing for the gang to go back all up in Wadi Tiwi for some adventure and food. The weather had its own ideas but it was a very special trip as always with this crowd.
A top crew as you can see. And new friends becoming old friends.
Everyone talks about what a hairy drive it is back all up in the wadi. There are several factors that contribute to the challenge:
And although I had driven the way up before, I was still apprehensive. My nightmare scenario was going down or up the track perched on the side of a mountain and coming to a truck going the other direction. Then as I reverse to get out of their way I back off the road and tumble thousands of meters to the bottom. cue movie fireball 🔥
Actually it is not that bad at all. A 4x4 is a must to handle the steepness but just stamp down on the accelerator and enjoy the ride. The narrow bits are mostly in the villages that are on the way. There are passages between houses that are just wide enough to drive through. The key here is patience. Go slowly so if a car does come around the corner there is time to stop. One car or the other will need to bak cup [sic]. However, these narrow parts are only in the village. If one doesn’t back up properly the car may take some damage on a tree or rock but there is no danger of falling into the abyss. As for the exposure - yes there are some parts that are very high but there is plenty of room and typically you can see far enough ahead if another vehicle is approaching you can coordinate passing in a wide area. Just keep your car on the road exactly like you would all the other times you are driving.
During the week leading up to the Friday we had had some showers and some rain. Oman is prone to flash flooding when there are storms so if the weather is not either hot and sunny or pleasant and sunny one should take note1. A wadi is very dangerous during and after storms due to flash flooding. On Thursday I was wondering if it would be called off but I didn’t hear anything and assumed it was still on (which it was).
First thing, I made a quick trip to Lulu to buy a life jacket because it is nice to have something to float upon. It was a bit damp outside but it seemed as though the weather was finished.
At 08:40 I went to collect the Brazilians, my good family friends. Aline was coming out of the crib with a bunch of trash to take to the wheelie bin. I was going to make a joke about did she really need to bring all that to the wadi but I didn’t get the chance and the moment was gone.
From there we headed to the teachers’ compound to meet with the rest and proceeded to Tiwi directly.
There were some clouds which meant that it was not too hot. The drive up was uneventful, not trouble at all.
We arrived at the village at the top and made our our way down into the wadi. Since the last time we were there, some improvements had been made. The last time we came we walked through a number of agricultural terraces and had to do a bit of scrambling to get to the bottom of the wadi.
This time as we were making our way down we ended up on some stairs. This stairway is completely new and actually takes you right down to the first set of pools. Before this stairway was built you had to continue across the agriculture, and then actually climb down to get to the pools. For Kai and Cecilia, this has ruined the Wadi Tiwi experience but I like it. Climbing down that rock face was a bit dicey for me the last time we came. Actually it was the up part that I struggled with, being at the end of my energy reserves. I’m in much better shape now but still quite satisfied to take the stairs.
After that, we went down to the next part which is where you have to climb down another pretty steep face. At the bottom of this face you end up in the water. Kai brought a rope for this part and we got the rope set up and then everybody climbed down into the water. We then swam to the area where we were going to have lunch. You notice I said “going to have”, not “had”.
As we were swimming down to the place where we were going to have lunch it began to rain. At first it was just a bit of a sprinkle and then it picked up a bit. It never became a downpour though. Since we were down in the Wadi we couldn’t see very much of the sky. At times it was clear above, then a minute later there were dark clouds. In terms of safety, the critical factor is what is going on upstream of us. That we were not able to see. The call was made to not have lunch and make our way back.
It was a very fun time. Thanks to Kai for organising and all the wonderful people who went for making it a great and safe day in our precious Oman.
1 The dominant weather types in Oman are:
Occasionally there is rain and even more occasionally storms.