Moon Watching

Moon watching was the plan, the haze got in the way but the evening was one to remember. Ramadan has been set for 2009, a month of religious celebrations for Muslim people from all over the world. Days of fasting from dawn until the sun has set, nights of feasting and celebration. It's a big deal, especially here in the Middle East. Even as an expat.

I'm really looking forward to experiencing my first Ramadan. I'm not sure how I'll manage not being able to eat or drink in public, including at work, from sunrise to sun set. I'm hoping I won't forget and dig into my handbag for the ever present drink bottle. I'm sure in this place of peaceful tolerance that someone will gently remind me.

The moon sighting last night was special as it would set Ramadan for the UAE. On top of Jebal Hafeet the elders were watching for the same phenomenon we were, the new crescent moon rising and setting as the sun does, very low on the horizon.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Lunar calendar and the holiest of the four holy months. It begins with the sighting of the new moon after which all physically mature and healthy Muslims are obliged to abstain from all food, drink, gum chewing, any kind of tobacco use, and any kind of sexual contact between dawn and sunset.

The end of Ramadan is marked by a three-day period known as Eid ul-Fitr, the "Festival of Fast-breaking." It is a joyous time beginning with a special prayer, and accompanied by celebration, socializing, festive meals and sometimes very modest gift-giving, especially to children.

Read more about Ramadan here.

The photos are of the camp fire, a primeval ritual when out in the wilds; the mosque dome at Buremi; the group waiting and watching and the sun setting through one of the few trees around.

Exploring Khabbayan, Oman

I must keep saying yes, it suits me. When Anne told me about the Emirates Natural History Group, I thought it sounded like my type of group. When Stephen offered to take me on one of their outings, how could I refuse. The thought of a long walk in the heat appealed for some reason, even after a night out.

We headed out through the border post, waved through because we weren't going deep enough into Oman to cross through the second border post, an interesting situation possibly because the border is a line on a map by someone. This is not at all like the sea border that I'm used to. The group arrived, some with 4wds that we managed to squeeze into. Off we went, off the road and into the moon like landscape stopping at a deep ravine carved out of the rock, yes that's where we were going.

We scrambled down the scree slope onto the rocks into the Khabbayan wadi. The water had all but dried up but it was clear that the wadi carried fast flowing water at other times of the year. The photos show this, with the water sculpted sides and small pools amongst the rocks. The wadi walls were sheer and made up of what looked like a mix of small rocks and sand but was in fact naturally cemented together to form a stable cliff face.

The group leaders Brien and Brigette were very knowldgeable about both the area and geology and were able to answer the many questions that came their way. The photo of the cliffs and one of the group gives some perspective to how impressive they were. There were also many different types of rocks, all carved and smoothed by the water.

In the remaining pools were tadpoles, toads, water scorpions and other small fish. The pools were drying out and we saw some where the tadpoles had died, trapped by the evaporating water, a dried black carpet of these small fish. The rocks had white tide marks showing the gradual receding of the water in the dry heat. We also got up close and personal with geckos, a viper, wadi runners (thin brown snakes) and the Omani lizard. I can now tick seeing a snake in the wild off my to do list.

It was hot, cooler in the wadi, but still hot so a dip in one of the pools was a welcome respite. Actually there was no choice but to dip in the pool, we had to get through it to progress down the wadi. The walls had closed in making the sheer cliffs even more impressive. I was left wondering how we were going to get out, just as well I was too impressed with my surroundings to be bothered by the thought. I was also very confident that the group leaders had this figured out already, and of course they had. I will elaborate in the next post.