The month of November is almost over and the month of Christmas is fast approaching. We went to Shinas looking for crabs but we didn’t know it was not the right time for catching them. The catch is not as what we expected but the joy of “hunting” them and camping in the beach is the real catch.
The Crabbing Team
The usual suspects: The Nomads, The Solanos, and Art. Our navigator is our friend, Mr. Saud, an Omani who is always keen on taking us to the beautiful places in Oman. Our accomplice in Shinas, Lyn, together with her husband and son, hosted us and joined us in our weekend adventure.
Snaps Along the Way
We took a two-hour travel from Ibra to Muscat and another three-hour trip from Muscat to Shinas. Here are the snaps that we took on the loooonngggg trip. Interesting roundabouts and architectures below.
We took our lunch in the grandiose Safeer Mall and yeah, we are Pinoys, so Kodak… Kodak… Kodak…
The nuts, sweets and spices section is so nice to see.
We took another meal of rice and crabs cooked in coconut oil upon reaching Lyn’s residence. I guess this is one huge mistake for us. Will tell you about that later. After a few minutes of rest, we headed for our tour of Shinas.
Our first stop is on the fish port here.
Here we they are at the beach of Shinas.
During this time, Lyn’s husband is playing in one basketball league. He joined us later.
The sands of the beach was so fine. The beach so clean, the children just ignored us while we are having this picture taken.
Football is the national sport here and this picture below is a proof of how these guys love this sport.
Before dark, we headed to our target camping site. It was like a lagoon that gets saltwater during high tide which is also the time when crabs came to feed on the mangrove forest there.
We pitched our tents and prepared our dinner.
We ate our dinner in the dark. Lyn’s husband came and joined us for the hunt.
With our flashlights, we waded into the knee-to-waist deep water of the lagoon. Note: it’s knee-to-waist for me and Art, for Donnie it’s waist-to-chest.
We patrolled the waters looking for signs of movement. It took us some time before we were able to see one and some amount of time again to catch one. You can only spot those crabs while they are in motion. But once they see your lights, they will scramble, and scratch the sand and they will immediately blend with the sand and stones and the light that is so confusing for us with untrained eyes.
It is the month of November and the water is really cold but we didn’t mind it because we are eager to get those crabs. But there is only so few of them. We were able to catch a few big ones and also small ones but not really the amount that we can consider a catch. How could this be?
Then a spark went inside my mind. Maybe it was our meal before we went hunting those crabs. They could have picked out our smells even before we put up camp and so they have taken precautions not to be caught by these “predators”. Who knows, they could also be the ones responsible for the water being so freezingly cold. Well, those are just my thoughts.
But anyway we still ended up having some crabs as our trophy. We spent all night hunting and we are so exhausted by dawn. But this sight is so nice and peaceful and so energising.
There’s nothing in this world that I would trade for a morning like this: A peaceful place in nature, the beautiful rising sun, the calmness of the waters and of course the warmth of being with the people I love.
Yes, we would love to come back to this place again. Next time, we’ll make sure not to smell of crabs before hunting again.
That’s it for today fellow Nomads.
Thank you for reading.
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