GREETINGS FROM … are short field notes. Friends of OLLI send us their impressions from their travels.
Southern Oman. We spentthree months traveling here—Douwe and Karlijn, our four children, and two cats, in our custom-built truck. Oman combines desert, mountains, coastline, and oases within a small area—it’s precisely this diversity that makes the country so special.
Hello, everyone!
For the past three months, we’ve been traveling through Oman in our truck. We’re Douwe and Karlijn, along with 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. The best time to visit southern Oman is roughly November through March. Oman is rich in history and culture and boasts a very diverse landscape. Of course, there’s the desert. But there’s 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 lie hidden in the foothills of the mountains. Some wadis carry water only after rainfall. Others are fed by springs and groundwater, forming breathtaking, lush green oases with clear pools of water that can be enjoyed year-round. For the Omani people, these year-round wadis are a vital source of water for their villages and farms, channeled there via their ancient aflaj system.
💡 Did you know that the aflaj system channels water from the mountains to the villages using only gravity—a practice that has been in use for over 1,500 years and, in some cases, continues to this day? Five of these canals are designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Every wadi is different. Some are very easy to reach. Others require either an off-road vehicle to get there or can only be reached on foot. Some wadis offer hikes stretching for kilometers, 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 simply 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 eager 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’s 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’s 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. Tucked away 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. Wadi Ash Shuwaymiyyah in southern Oman is a green oasis—a basin of clear water nestled beneath a high mountain wall. The water flows directly from the wall, trickling down into the basin and forming a unique, cool pool perfect 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 already 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 world 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 South Africa! But one day, we’ll return to Oman.
Best regards, Douwe and Karlijn
Once upon a truck
More about Douwe and Karlijn
