We were invited by our friends from ICT to go on a fishing and camping trip and of course, being The Nomads that we are, we said yes. Here is our recollection of the adventure
Our group took two cars in this adventure. We left our village of Ibra just about an hour after our day’s duty. We took the route that passed thru the city of Muscat. We went by the Muttrah Corniche and took a short stop at the park for a few minutes of rest.
After a couple of minutes of rest, we hit the road again. It is almost dark and we cannot see the road signs clearly. None of us were familiar with our place of destination and we are navigating our way using a smartphone.
After a few wrong turns, we arrived at our destination. The screenshot below shows our campsite which is located between the villages of Qantab and Yiti. The famous Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa is just nearby but we prefered to do it in a Survivor-ish manner and so we went past it and headed to the fishing area.
It’s already dark so we pitched our tents and prepared our dinner of sorts. We had chicken and beef biryani that we bought from a restaurant. Ma’am Dolor served her special chicken-adobo-with-a-touch-of-India. It is our world-renowned adobo mixed with a spices that came from India.
The fishermen were so eager to fish that immediately after the dinner, we started casting our lines.
To be honest, this is my first time to cast a line using a fishing rod. After a couple of tries, I learned the proper way of using the rod.
Sir Darwin is first to snag a fish and a few minutes later, I caught one too. The two fishes looked like father and son. Sir Darwin caught the father and I had the son. So maybe you have the idea of their sizes right. We slept under the light of the stars hoping for a better catch in the morning.
After an hour or two of fishing, we gave up. We slept under the light of the stars hoping for a better catch in the morning.
A beautiful dawn started our morning. Only then did we realize that we are in a little paradise. The calmness of the sea and the serenity of the surroundings are just so calming and relaxing.
Coffee, bread and hotdogs for breakfast and then it is fishing time again. We met some locals and some expats in the fishing area who also spent the night there. We even met two fellow Pinoys who came from Muscat.
I was wondering why is there a marina in the place but there is no resort, or hotel, or any commercial building nearby. The Pinoys told us that some investors started building a golf course in the place way back in 2008. But due to the Stock Market Crash, they stopped the constructions and so they scrapped the project and lucky we, they left a very nice fishing and picnic area behind.
Did I say a nice fishing area? Well, maybe I’m wrong because the sea has not been that friendly to us. Yes, we enjoyed her beauty but she won’t let her children bite our baits and hooks.
We called it quits and so we just went on to dip in the water. We can’t catch them, so we just joined the fishes in the sea. The water is so calm and we, especially Utoy, enjoyed the water a lot.
By 10:00am, the sun started to let us feel his power. Summer in Oman has started and now we have no choice but to break camp, say goodbye to Al Qantab and start on our way home. Not home really. We took a side trip to Muscat and did a little shopping before going back to our homes in Ibra. It is such a nice trip to a nice place with a nice group of people. An experience that we won’t hesitate to repeat if we will be given a chance.
More Snaps…
Trip Notes:
- The path to the beach area isn’t paved, it is made of dirt and some sand. A sedan can go through, but you have to drive with a lot of caution.
- Bring your own food since there is no restaurant or coffee shop within the vicinity.
- No source of freshwater nearby so bring a lot of water for your washing and bathing needs.
- The Nomads would like to thank Sir Eric, Sir Darwin, Sir Rudy, Mam Nancy, Mam Dolor and Mam Elsie for inviting and sharing this wonderful trip with us.
That’s it fellow Nomads. Thank you for reading. Feel free to express your thoughts on the comments section below.
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