Friends and neighbors

White-cheeked bulbul, one of my favorite birds, outside my window

Caliie, the pregnant street who has adopted me.

Cormorants and flamingos in Muscat. The flock of flamingos contains birds of all ages and colors, from fuzzy gray and white juveniles to cotton candy pink and black adults. I love watching them feed; the way they shuffle their feet to stir up the mud makes them look elderly arthritics. The sight of a line of them overhead is amazing, so long and slim that they looked like colored string caught in the wind.

Friendly and curious donkey encountered in Wadi Dank. Lots of friendly and curious folks encountered that day, including the family (4 generations, 12 or 13 people) who invited us in for coffee and buckwheat pancakes with acacia honey.

Friendly and curious three-headed, multi-legged camel encountered the same day.

Charlie, the other homeless cat who's taken up residence on my porch.

More flamingos in Muscat.

The "new" village of Al Sulaif.

The new village of Al Sulaif is directly alongside the ruins of the 1140 village. The falaj (irrigation) channels, said to have been introduced by the Perians c. 1000 BC, still function and the water is used to grow bananas, figs, papayas, corn and flowers. It's an amazing sight in what seems like an endless, featureless desert.

As we wandered through the new village, we were greeted by several women who gave us a tour of their gardens and invited us in for coffee.


One of the few areas of dunes in our very rocky desert seen from the top of the ruins of Al Sulaif.

Al Sulaif (c.1140) abandoned only 20 years ago

Al Sulaif (c.1140)

More Salalah

I stayed at Mr. Kumar's villas on the beach. Wonderful to sleep with the roar of the waves and step out the door for a swim at dawn. Mr. Kumar was a very genial host, and he's a fabulous cook. The meals I ate at his table were the best I've had in Oman (and that includes expensive 5 star hotel meals.)
Birding from the balcony and the roof was excellent. Many types of terns, gulls, waders and even a few masked boobies.
Salem, my knowledgeable guide for all the birding hotspots, and the only cautious driver I've met in Oman. It's difficult to imagine a better companion for conversation and outdoor activities.
An interesting plant seen frequently in otherwise barren areas. Some kind of succulent?


Despite this ominous sign, several people were swimming in the wadi.

More scenes of Salalah

I don't normally think of camels strolling on the beach, but there were dozens in Salalah. I often saw the police exercising their horses on the hard sand just at the edge of the water, with the occasional donkey, camel or goat in their midst.
This was taken with a zoom lense. The donkey had just emerged from a cave high on a sheer rock face. How did he get up there?
This wadi was a great spot for birds (African paradise flycatcher, African rock bunting, Ruppell's weaver, Palestine sunbirds and many more) and nursing baby camels.
Fabulous spot for Tristram's grackles with their gorgeous orange wings, steppe eagles, imperial eagles, Eygptian vultures, desert crested larks and fan-tailed ravens. No sound but the wind and the birds.
This tree, the name of which I've not been able to discover, was described as useless...."not even goats or camels will eat it." They make a beautiful pattern of the steep sides of the sink holes.

Semester break in Salalah

Khor Rori viewed from the site of the ancient city (1000 BC) of Sumharam, in its time the greatest city of southeast Arabia. The harbor is partially silted up now, but once the Queen of Sheba's ships carried frankincense from here to China and India. The sand bars at the mouth of the khor are now full of flamingos, herons, terns, gulls, oystercathcers and other shorebirds.