For the past 4 years, Utoy celebrated his birthdays at our homes in Ibra. “Homes”, because we have been moving from one house to another since we arrived here in Oman. For this year though, Utoy requested to have his birthday celebration on the beach. And so who are we to deny his request? Here is our story:
Preparations
- September 5 – videoke session at Tim and Paula’s. Tribe members are requested to reserve October 3-5 for Utoy’s birthday celebration.
- September 12 – we headed to a travel and adventure shop in Safalat to buy some camping gears: CR tent, cooking wind screen, LED lamp, kahwa maker. On the way home, we made plans to test these gears in the wild the next day.
- September 13 – slight problem when Mommy Nomad noticed that it is a Friday, Friday the 13th. After a minor level of debate, we decided to put this issue to a vote. Utoy and I voted “GO” and Mommy Nomad voted for “NO GO”. So, off to the shores of Oman we went. We headed right to Al Shaomookh Guest House, the place where we intend to hold Utoy’s birthday celebration. There is nobody in the office so we called the owner. He came by and because we were previous customers, we were able to reserve the place at a very reasonable price. After closing the reservation deal, we went to do some rock fishing and Utoy got his first hook up using a lure – a grouper. We take this as a sign of good things to come.
- October 1 – final planning for the trip held at The Runway. This is where we planned about the schedule of arrivals as well as the food that will be sponsored by each of our friends.
Day Zero
The Solanos and The Nomads decided to act as the advanced party for this trip. We left Ibra around 3:30 pm and headed south to Sur. The Solanos had to buy something from City Center Sur so it’s just us, The Nomads who went straight to Qalhat. But not to the Al Shaomookh Guest House. We camped on the beach right down in front of the guest house. Our reservation will start the next day.
We had grilled fish and chicken adobo for the night. The kids went playing in the sand under the light of the stars. Utoy trid to fish using fresh bait but there is no strike. The fishes might be asleep.
The Solanos pitched their tent where they slept and The Nomads slept with Alex.
Day One
I got up at about 5:00am and I roused Utoy too. We fixed our gear and I headed to the shore. Utoy got left near the camp site while he is still fixing his gear. With my red head lure on the line, I caught one trevally on my first cast. I called out to the birthday boy, but I guess he is still sleepy. I hooked another trevaly and then Utoy came. But I guess, by that time, the school of fish went away. A few more casts later, I caught one lizard fish. Sorry for Utoy, he caught nothing.
A few meters away from us, I saw one local hauling a big catch. His rod is bent and I saw him having a hard time reeling the fish in. He got one big spotted trevaly. I came to him and checked his fishing gear. I also asked for his Instagram account because I saw him posting his catch. He is using metal jigs. I went back to our spot and cast a few more but there was no bite anymore.
Then the local then came to me, his name is Issa. He gave me one fishing lure as a gift and he even gave me some tips on how to fish. I also met his brother, Ahmed, who also gave me a lure, snaps, and even his catch for the day: 3 queens fishes and one black spotted snapper. My friend, Wally, was proven right once again; the Omanis and really friendly Arabs.
We had our breakfast of hotdogs and eggs. After about half an hour of rest I went back fishing. This time, I used metal jigs. While going to my fishing spot I came across a tourist from Sweden who is also fishing. I caught one fish on my first cast. I saw the guy run and got his gears. He came back to me and he asked for advice on which among the gears can he use to catch fish too. There is nothing good in his gear so I just gave him one lure.
In about ten minutes for this session, I hooked four fishes. The sun is starting to impose his power on me so I decided to take a rest and just prepare and wait for our guest house to become available.
At about 11:00am, the owner informed me that the resort is ready so we packed our things and checked in to our comfortable guest house.
The other guest came just shortly after we checked in: Sir Darwin, Sir Erick, Sir Rudy, Mam Nancy and Mam Dolor.
Tim, Paula, Chennie, Art and Emil came later.
Narz, Sir Balai and Mam Elsie also came and the entourage is complete. We are ready to celebrate Utoy’s 11th birthday — the way he wants it.
After having our lunch, we went fishing again. We are now a full crew of fishermen. David got his first chance to join the fishing expedition.
We went to a new spot by this time and so it took us some time before we were able to find a good spot. At the end of the session, I hooked five groupers and freed a couple of small trevaly. Sir Erick got a big one. And Narz got one too.
Utoy and David have no luck, though. The others who will not be named didn’t have their luck either.
The dinner and birthday party is a feast.
Mam Nancy sponsored this cool sailfish cake.
The Nomads sponsored only the rice. Everything else is prepared with love by our guests.
Shisha, chitchat, story-telling, a homily delivered by Father Donie and a lot of funny, corny, and all kinds of stories shared before we called it a night… or morning since it is 3:00am.
Day Two
My alarm is set to go off at 5:00am but I woke up at 5:10am so I hurriedly went out to check if the guys have gone fishing. I saw the fishing rods still lying around which means we are not late for the party yet. Sir Balai and Narz are still in the kitchen, laying out the finishing touches for our favorite breakfast – cold cuts sandwiches. I woke Utoy up, gave him some sandwich and we headed to the shore to start our fishing session.
Today is Utoy’s real birthday, October 5 and as a birthday courtesy, I allowed him to be the first to pick the lure from our collection. He chose the pink metal jig that I used the day before.
The fishes started to strike early. All of us fishermen who are awake catched some. The ones who are sleeping will not be named. But best of all, the fishing gods gifted Utoy with his own catch: one trevaly and two black spotted snapper. Sir Balai, Narz and myself caught a combination of trevaly, queen fishes, and snappers. It was really a productive fishing session.
After catching his third fish, Utoy got his lure snagged on a rock. We are very lucky though that my new friend, Issa is just nearby. When he saw us in that situation, he came and offered to save Utoy’s lure by diving for it. He is a professional diver, I believe and so he managed to save the lure. Another gift for the birthday boy.
We went back to the guest house after the session and grabbed a bite of the sandwiches. And then we went fishing for one last time before we call it a day and retreat to the mountains.
While on the site, a sandstorm hit our area and the seas went rough. Sir Erick hooked one, Sir Balai also got one. But the birthday boy proved he is the man of the day. He got not one… not two… but three!!! Narz and I got nothing but dust.
The weather did not improve so we headed back to the resort early. Art prepared our early lunch before we broke camp. Just before 12:00nn, we left the city of Qalhat. The mission of giving Utoy the birthday celebration that he wished for, accomplished.
The day did not end there, though. That night, we cooked and feasted on some of the fish that we caught on our usual meeting place – The Runway. Fresh fish, starlight, cool weather, nice friends. What a way to celebrate the eleventh birthday of the youngest member of The Nomads.
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