Even more reason to smile ...

For those among you with a sweet tooth who may have been interested in EXACTLY what delights the Dream Cream shop has to offer, here is the menu in all it's glory. Enjoy ...

Stormy weather

As the grand finale to our epic journey across Oman last weekend, we spent the last hour driving into and through the best storm that I've witnessed since arriving here - as we drove down from the mountains with a glorious sunset behind us, we had dark clouds, rainbows and a lightening show ahead. And it just got darker and darker and more and more fun ...

(note the interesting use of hazard lights ...)

And when we got home, we had the joy of a beer on the balcony to enjoy nature's very own 'son et lumière' show ...

Making new friends

Another magic moment when diving in the Dimaniyats a couple of weeks ago ... Oman is home to many turtles, large and small and four different species. They are normally quite shy creatures, but every now and then you come across a curious one, often one of the smaller 'teenage' turtles (unfortunately no mutants or ninja masters yet ...). This one saw us coming, came over to check us out and let us have a little stroke - fabulous ...

"Well, hello there ladies!"

"Down a bit ... left a bit ..."

Strike a pose!

"Does my bum look big in this?"

Thanks for the photos, Antonia!

There's always a reason to smile II

One for the gourmets among us - the dream shop, selling all things cream-based (shakes, cakes, ice creams, floats and cheesecake all represented) ... genius!

Mamba country ...

For various reasons, I ended up doing the marathon journey from Salalah in the south to Muscat by car this weekend - a 1000km journey through the desert inland of the country. This really is MAMBA country - Miles And Miles of Bugger All ...


View Salalah to Muscat Road Trip in a larger map

But having said that, and against all expectations, this was not a long boring journey - I had good company, but there was also plenty to keep the senses engaged, even if the landscapes didn't change very fast - it's amazing how exciting it is to spot a lone tree or a settlement when the rest of the view is so empty, and with all the road signs to read and holes in the road to avoid, it actually involved a certain level of concentration ...

The sign warns us to beware of ... nothing

cracks appearing in ... nothing

A single large set of dunes in the middle of ... nothing

Sand dunes encroaching ...

A lone tree and tracks to ... nowhere

Some landscape!

scrubby nothing (variation on a theme)

The mirages in the desert also gave the journey a surreal twist - following lorries gliding in mid-air and driving past floating sand-dunes.

floating dunes ...

follow the floating lorry

an oil field transformed into a magical city ...

And then every now and then, there's something bizarre that leaves you wondering ...

Blofield's new lair?

Sensational Symbiosis

Out diving yesterday, I stumbled across a cool example of two species appearing to live together quite happily - a hole in the sand on the sea bed, with a shrimp inside busily excavating, and two small goby fish just by the entrance looking like they were guarding the hole. When I got nearer, all three dived into the hole, so I backed off a bit and watched them get back to work - the shrimp beavering away, the gobies keeping an eye out.

So, because I am officially a fish geek now, I came home to find out if this was a normal thing to see ... and it turns out that yes, the gobies and shrimp do indeed have a symbiotic relationship, with the shrimp bringing digging skills to the party while the gobies make up for the shrimp's poor eyesite. Cue Lord? Sir? Attenborough ...



But wait, it gets even cooler. I noticed that my little shrimp had one claw much bigger than the other, and again it turns out that this symbiotic relationship is particularly common between some types of goby and the snapping shrimp or pistol shrimp - a contender for 'loudest animal in the sea'. This is an animal that produces killer soundwaves - really! And the soundwaves are so powerful that the pressure of the collapsing bubble from the snapping claw produces heat of 4,700 degrees C (the sun's surface is about 5,500 degrees C) and a quick flash of sonoluminesence - invisible to the naked eye, but light nonetheless. A tiny shrimp that can kill small fish with a sound - you can't make this stuff up ...

Sometimes life's a beach ...

I've been busier than a one-armed bricklayer in Baghdad recently (to quote the great man Kenny), but life has also taken me to Salalah quite a bit, and on my last trip I FINALLY managed to get a full weekend in to head out of town properly and explore the coast. Diving season hasn't yet started, so I'll have to report on the sea life at a later date, but for now let me introduce you to the coastline itself ...


View Larger Map

First we headed west, towards the Yemen border. Not far out of Salalah, the mountains that ring Salalah meet the sea, with amazing cliffs, rocks tumbling into the sea and some beautiful little hidden coves ...

Cliffs overhead

A future camping spot, I think ...

Rocky coastline

At several points, the coast flattens out and leaves space for some really beautiful and blessedly quiet beaches ...

Vassia beach

Crab hills and a happy pooch looking for dinner ...

Colours and textures that dreams are made of ...

On a different day, we headed east out of Salalah, which has a completely different coast - the hills are further back, the sea is smoother and shallower, and at this time of year the kelp and seaweed brings a completely different ecosystem and palate.

A lonely landscape between the beach and hills...

... but the sea brings colour and life

A seashore resident

Shells encrusted on the rocks

But whichever kind of desolate stunning coastline you visit from Salalah, the end of the day brings the same rewards - a nice cold beer, sunset and smiles ...

Life is hard ...