Greetings from Oman
GREETINGS FROM … are short field notes. Friends of OLLI send us their impressions from the road.
Southern Oman. Oman combines desert, mountains, coastline, and oases within a relatively small area—it is precisely this diversity that makes the country so special. And particularly attractive to overlanders. During their three-month stay, Douwe, Karlijn, and their four children fell in love with the often idyllic wadis, each of which is unique in its own way.
Hello everyone!
Over the past three months, we’ve been traveling through Oman in our truck. We are Douwe and Karlijn, our four children Sophie, Tobias, Pepijn, and Olivier, and our two cats Izzy and Fox. Oman is an absolute overlanding paradise and a haven for wild camping. That is, if you go during the right season, roughly from November to March. Oman is rich in history and culture and boasts a very diverse landscape. There’s the desert, of course. But also a magnificent and expansive coastline, some imposing mountains, and best of all: breathtakingly beautiful wadis.
A wadi is a dry riverbed or a natural gorge. Many of them are hidden in the foothills of the mountains. Some wadis only carry water after rainfall. Others are fed by springs and groundwater and form breathtaking, lush green oases with clear pools of water that can be enjoyed year-round. For the Omani people, these year-round wadi streams are a vital water source for their villages and farms, channeled there via their ancient aflaj system.
💡 Did you know that the Aflaj system is a millennia-old irrigation and water supply system in Oman? It transports water from springs via canals to villages, oases, and fields—mostly using only the force of gravity.
Every wadi is different. Some are very easy to reach. To get to others, you either need an off-road vehicle or they’re only accessible on foot. Some wadis offer hikes stretching for miles, where you alternate between climbing over rocks and swimming through crystal-clear pools. Those were the ones our family liked best! They gave us a real sense of adventure, so we lost track of time and just enjoyed the adventure together. Every wadi is unique, so you never get tired of exploring them. There’s something new to discover around every corner. We were always excited to see what awaited us around the next bend, behind the next rock, or further down in the gorge. We spent so many hours in the Omani wadis during our three-month stay!
Wild camping is possible in some wadis. These spots were among the best we had. Often we were almost completely alone for days on end. However, there is a catch. Camping in wadis can be very dangerous. If rain is forecast—whether in the immediate vicinity or one to two hours away—there is a serious risk of flash floods. So always keep an eye on the weather! Some wadis have higher spots where you can camp that are safe even when it rains.
The wadi in the pictures is one of the most extraordinary ones we’ve visited. Hidden in a small corner of a very arid landscape in southern Oman, we found Wadi Ash Shuwaymiyyah. To get there, we had to drive up a very steep ramp to reach a higher plateau. What we found there completely surprised us. As we entered the green oasis, we suddenly came upon a pool of very clear water beneath a high mountain wall. The water flows directly from the wall, trickling down into the basin and forming a unique, cool pool for swimming. The kids couldn’t get enough of it. The place was so special and idyllic, and we had it all to ourselves the whole time.
We thought that after visiting so many wadis in northern Oman, we’d seen it all. But this one was completely different, and our time here together as a family was so special. It reminded us why we’d embarked on this journey in the first place: adventure, exploring our beautiful Earth together, and spending precious time as a family.
For now, we’re saying goodbye to Oman and its beautiful landscape, as we set off on our next adventure: exploring East and Southern Africa! But one day, we’ll return to Oman.
Warm regards, Douwe and Karlijn
Once upon a truck
More about Douwe and Karlijn
