Okay so this whole blog thing is way harder than I
anticipated… This last week we had a
group of about 30 kids from a German school in Abu Dhabi. I helped lead the rock climbing and helped do some team building and
campfire time. It was super fun, despite the language barrier. The last day
they were here we did a dhow trip and they did some snorkeling and swimming.
Here’s a picture of Courtney relaxing on the boat ride out… we have a tough
job…
And this upcoming week we
have three school groups coming, so it will be crazy busy. I guess it’s a
balance, we had a while off where we enjoyed some vacation time and just
explored the area, now its time to actually buckle down. But before they come
on Sunday (the weekends here are on Friday and Saturday, so Sunday starts the
week), we’re going to Dubai for Octoberfest to blow off some steam.
So that’s the newest update
of what the past few weeks have been like. But here are some more pictures and
bits of information about the area and what I’ve been doing.
Here is a picture from the top of the wadi looking
down.
It’s so cool seeing it from
below when we drive through it and then from up top after we trek. It really
brings in some perspective of the power of nature and how little we matter in this
big world.
During our trek up Jebel Quiwi, the second highest
peak in the Munsandam, we found some really cool fossils…
Another popular and
challenging hike we do is called Smugglers’ Bay. It is a trek right outside of
Dibba. We walk to the trail head from our headquarters. It’s a steep climb up
and over the mountain and down into Smuggler’s Bay. The water is incredibly
clear and beautiful.
It is called Smuggler’s Bay
because Iranian immigrants are smuggled in a speed boat from Iran to here and
many of them get dropped off in this bay. They then have to hike up and over
into Dibba, a lot of the time without food or water. During the trek, we find a
lot of the smuggler’s clothing. They change during the hike so that they are in
clean clothes when they get to town to look less conspicuous. Many of them
don’t make it and they die from exhaustion or from a snake or scorpion bite.
There are a few skeleton’s along the trek also. It’s a very interesting place.
It usually takes about 5-6 hours with clients,
but Dev, Rob and I did it in about 3 and a half hours the other day. I
have never been pushed like that and the heat really takes a toll on your body.
But I was psyched for the physical and mental challenge, let alone the fact
that we get to be in this incredible and beautiful area with such a dark and
haunting history.
Another one of our training
days included an incredible trip called Acaba-Lima. Basically you take a speed
boat out to this remote fishing village called Acaba. Here’s a picture of Courtney
and Micah enjoying the somewhat choppy boat ride out…
Then from Acaba, we hike up
and over the mountain to the other side of the peninsula into Lima. On the way
there are some amazing ruins of an ancient village. You can still tell where
the mosque was, their schools and their jail and really get a feel for the life
they created up there. In Lima, Yousef, one of the owners of Absolute
Adventure, has a date plantation. There we had lunch and relaxed in his pool.
Ram particularly loved it…
After lunch, we hiked to the
Lima harbor to catch our boat again. From there we did some snorkeling and deep
water soloing. Seb caught some awesome pictures of Kyle climbing and jumping off
some fun climbs…
(I actually had a bit of a freaky experience when I
broke off one of the top holds of a climb. Needless to say the fall was a bit
of a surprise, let alone the huge rock falling next to my head… I’m a lucky
girl!)
After climbing and snorkeling, we had an amazing
sunset ride back to Dibba.
