Oman: Wadi Shab

Mrs M had arranged a day trip to Wadi Shab as she said it was too hot to camp overnight in Tiwi. Mrs M is always right, so we drove on the old road to park at the building site at the end of the wadi whose natural beauty is being thumped by the concreteness of the new road.

The absence of other vehicles in the car park suggested that it might be getting a bit warm to do this sort of thing, but the temperature had dropped from 44C earlier on to 39C, so we started out in the midday sun like proper Englishmen. There was les water in the wadi than usual which seemed to enhance the greenness of the remaining pools connected by baked white mud. Half an hour later I chatted with locals from Tiwi while mother continued up the wadi with Duncan to swim through the keyhole and into the cave, assisted by another local with supernatural climbing skills.

When they returned, we glugged water and walked with squelchy shoes back to the car which was cooler than expected thanks to some cunning parking under rare shade. I then drove back home to the sound of gentle snoring from Duncan and curious head movements from mother.