Relaxing at the Wadi Dhum mountain pools

English Teacher in Oman

Wadi Dhum 2008

After nearly 6 months working in Sudan, I decided on a change of scenery. I got a teaching post at the Ibri College of Applied Sciences in Oman through the Council for British teachers. Shortly after our arrival, the 6 of us who were allocated to Ibri, colleagues and I were invited by Baxter, a seasoned teacher, and traveler to a Wadi deep in the mountains with clear mountain pools for an afternoon cool down in the cool pristine waters of mountain pools way off the beaten track. 

En route to Wadi Dhum pools

Oman is a Gulf country, known for temperatures between 40 and 55 degrees Celsius, and as Ibri had no swimming pool, we grabbed the opportunity for exploration, but mostly to cool down. Baxter had a jeep, so we took the drive to the starting point from which we had to hike probably a good 3 km up to the pools over rocky and slippery terrain in extremely hot temperatures. The effort was worth our while as we arrived at a cold clear pool for swimming and relaxation.

Wadi Dhum is wadi (dry river bed) located in the Al Hahirah region of Oman. 

En route to wadi Dhum pools - Baxter, Steve, Camilla & Fran

About Oman

Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Holding a strategically important position at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the country shares land borders with the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest, and shares marine borders with Iran and Pakistan. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam exclaves are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz (which it shares with Iran) and the Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries.

From the late 17th century, the Omani Sultanate was a powerful empire, vying with Portugal and Britain for influence in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence or control extended across the Strait of Hormuz to modern-day Iran and Pakistan, and as far south as Zanzibar (today part of Tanzania, also former capital). As its power declined in the 20th century, the sultanate came under the influence of the United Kingdom. Historically, Muscat was the principal trading port of the Persian Gulf region. Muscat was also among the most important trading ports of the Indian Ocean. Oman is an absolute monarchy. The Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said has been the hereditary leader of the country since 1970. Sultan Qaboos is the longest-serving current ruler in the Middle East, and sixth-longest current reigning monarch in the world.

Oman has modest oil reserves, ranking 25th globally. Nevertheless, in 2010 the UNDP ranked Oman as the most improved nation in the world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years. A significant portion of its economy is tourism and trade of fish, dates, and certain agricultural produce. This sets it apart from its neighbors' solely oil-dependent economies. Oman is categorized as a high-income economy (Wikipedia).

The hike up to the mountain pools

Fransisca, A fellow South African friend and colleague

Scenery en route to the mountain pools -  Wadi Dhum

En route to wadi Dhum pools - Baxter, Steve, Camilla & Fran

Scenery en route to the mountain pools -  Wadi Dhum. 

These irrigation canals are called a falaj

The Wadi Dhum mountain pools

Scenery en route to the mountain pools -  Wadi Dhum

Baxter and Camilla enjoying the pool

Steve and I Swimming in the mountain pools -  Wadi Dhum

The wadi where Baxter parked the jeep

Mountain scenery nearby

Khartoum Street scenes

English Teacher in Sudan

Khartoum 2008

I spent nearly 6 months in Khartoum, Sudan, as an EFL teacher during 2008. Sudan is not your typical tourist destination. Most of the expat community either work for NGO's or for oil companies. There are rarely tourists who visit Sudan, due to safety considerations. This does not detach from the unique experience it offers. It is not a place where one can freely walk and happily snap away pictures. I was arrested twice for what they thought 'spying' activities. I had to be very careful in taking pictures, most while in a moving car, others by trying to be inconspicuous while walking......no time for setting up a tripod and take still life photos. They were paranoid in Khartoum and feared that any photo could end up in the hands of rebels to gain strategic access to the city.

Sidewalk tea 'shop' - Downtown Khartoum. It costs 1 SDG for a tot shot of black tea extremely high in sugar.

About Sudan

Sudan (Arabic: السودان Al-Sudan) is the third largest country in Africa and sixteenth largest in the world, bordering Egypt, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Libya, and South Sudan.  Sudan is afflicted by civil wars which have been raging, on and off, for more than 40 years. When the colonial map-makers divided up Africa, they included in Sudan the predominantly Muslim people of the north (including Nubians), who share much of their history and culture with Egyptians and Arabs, and the largely Christian and Animist Nilotic and Bantu people of the south, who have more in common with the rest of sub-Saharan Africa than with their northern neighbours (Wikitravel).

About Khartoum

Khartoum (Arabic: Al-Khartum) is the capital of Sudan and is located where the Blue Nile and White Nile Rivers merge. The huge, spread-out city is actually made out of three distinct cities (Khartoum, Khartoum North or Bahri, and Omdurman) which are divided by the Nile and its two arms (Wikipedia). The Three Towns—Khartoum, Omdurman, and Khartoum North—together comprise the political, commercial, and administrative center for Sudan. Located where the Blue Nile and White Nile join to flow north toward Egypt, the capital city is the largest urban complex in the country. Khartoum, the political capital, means "elephant trunk" in Arabic (encyclopedia.com).

Yellow taxi in downtown Khartoum during a haboob (sandstorm)

Delivery truck, Khartoum

Street scenery in Buri, the neighborhood where I lived

Bicycle repair 'shop' on the sidewalk, Khartoum

A vendor selling sweets and nuts in a very poor part of Khartoum

Fruit & veg stall

Sudanese boys near my house playing with car tires, a very African child play activity

South Sudanese boy, probably a refugee, near my villa

Bookshop, downtown Khartoum

Tea lady on the sidewalk serving very sweet tea....more sugar than tea

Sidewalk tea shop - Downtown Khartoum

Small neighborhood supermarket in Khartoum

Water stop for the traveler. Have not seen anything like it anywhere else

Approaching sandstorm

Teenagers out on a joyride, Buri, Khartoum

street vendor

Sidewalk shops

Donkey car - Buri

Chicken shwarma stand on the sidewalk - was my staple food

The Syrian restaurant had the best schwarmas

The fruit and veg shop I frequented in Buri

Outdoor restaurant - Khartoum

Sudanese women

Khartoum roads

Take away restaurant

Home accessories shop......everything plastic!

Scene in a supermarket

Colorful street scene

Furniture shop display on the sidewalk

Hanging out to dry....neighborhood scenery

View of a neighborhood from the house of a Sudanese man
who gave me a lift and invited me to his house

Livestock for sale at the side of one of the main roads in Khartoum

Sudanese boy in one of the poorer areas near Buri posing for me

Sami, my driver - Downtown Khartoum

Sandra exiting a shop in Buri

Donkey car transport

Posing with locals on one of my walks - Bahri, Khartoum

Exploring Tuti island - The island in the Nile River

English Teacher in Khartoum

Sudan 2008

I taught English as a second language in Khartoum during 2008. Sudan with its huge UN and other NGO presence is not really a popular holiday destination for anyone. I prefer working in these undiscovered developing countries where one can still find the real culture, unspoiled and untrampled by tourists and tour buses. I explored Khartoum mostly by foot, sometimes in searing heat, taking pictures for which I got arrested once. The president at that time Mohammed Al Bashir was indicted by the World Court for crimes against humanity. At that time civil war still existed between the North and the South, the oil-rich South seeking independence from the Arab North. 

The bridges across the Nile into Khartoum proper were perfect insertion points for the Southern rebels. I wanted to take pictures of the bridges, and other Khartoum street scenery, which was considered an act of espionage. Fortunately, after lots of prayers, I was released after my true identity was discovered. Hence taking pictures was quite a challenge for a snap-happy chappy like myself. To continue my obsession I had to devise plans not to be seen. Most of the pictures I took of bridges and other politically sensitive positions had to be done from the hip, like a gun-slinger.

Tuti island - across the river, Khartoum proper

About Sudan

Sudan (Arabic: السودان Al-Sudan) is the third largest country in Africa and sixteenth largest in the world, bordering Egypt, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Libya, and South Sudan.  Sudan is afflicted by civil wars which have been raging, on and off, for more than 40 years. When the colonial map-makers divided up Africa, they included in Sudan the predominantly Muslim people of the north (including Nubians), who share much of their history and culture with Egyptians and Arabs, and the largely Christian and Animist Nilotic and Bantu people of the south, who have more in common with the rest of sub-Saharan Africa than with their northern neighbours (Wikitravel).

About Khartoum

Khartoum (Arabic: الخرطوم Al-Khartum) is the capital of Sudan and is located where the Blue Nile and White Nile Rivers merge. The huge, spread-out city is actually made out of three distinct cities (Khartoum, Khartoum North or Bahri, and Omdurman) which are divided by the Nile and its two arms. The Blue Nile flows between Khartoum and Bahri, the White Nile between Khartoum and Omdurman, and the merged Nile between Bahri and Omdurman. The confluence of the Blue and White Nile, known as Al-Mogran, lies just north of the bridge between Khartoum and Omdurman (Wikitravel). Divided by the Niles (Blue and White Nile, which confluence at Tuti island), Khartoum is a tripartite metropolis with an estimated overall population of over five million people, consisting of Khartoum proper, and linked by bridges to Khartoum North called (al-Kharṭūm Baḥrī ) and Omdurman (Umm Durmān ) to the west. (Wikipedia)

About Tuti island

Tuti Island (also spelled Tutti Island) is an island in Sudan where the White Nile and Blue Nile merge to form the main Nile. It is surrounded by the "Three Towns": Khartoum (the capital of Sudan), Omdurman (the largest city in Sudan), and Khartoum North (also known as Bahri, a large industrial center). Despite this, Tuti is home to only one small village (founded in the late 15th century), with grassland being the main makeup of the island. In the past, the only approach to Tuti Island was via several ferries that cross the river every so often, but now the Tuti Bridge, a modern suspension bridge, has been completed and can be used instead. Tuti Island is mainly agricultural and where Khartoum gets most of its supply of fruits and vegetables and therefore, you can find many farms situated all around the island, many of them still using manual methods of farming. You will find acres of green fields and lime groves. Its eight square kilometers (three square miles) of fertile land is covered in citrus orchards, vegetable farms, gorse hedgerows and narrow muddy lanes where donkeys and rickshaws are the main source of transport (Wikipedia).

Crossing the Nile from Khartoum to Tuti island

Crossing the Nile from Khartoum to Tuti island - the suspension bridge into Tuti

Sudanese ferry passengers

The Nile ferry that took us across

Sudanese truck at arrival point on Tuti island
Burj Al Fateh hotel in the background

Horse cart - Tuti island & Burj Al Fateh hotel across the Nile

My local guides and Raksha driver on Tuti island

 

Local fisher boy -Tuti island

My Raksha driver posing on an old 'rust bucket' with farmland in the background

Donkey car - Tuti island

Ferry arrival spot....not sure whether these goods were 'import' or 'export' goods

Ferry arrivals - Tuti island

On Tuti island

I took a ferry from Khartoum near the Burj Al Fateh hotel. The rust bucket took several with us....without life vests.....across the Nile. A Raksha driver approached me on the other side and offered to show me the island....for a price of course. Other Sudanese joined in to aid in the tour. I took some pics and a couple of hours later he took me to the ferry departure point. It was not expensive at all and I had a good couple of hours experiencing rural life.