We managed to get away for a day trip at least. We went to Hatta Pools, right on the Oman border but only a 90 minute journey from home.
The drive to Hatta is pleasant, past the Big Red sand dunes and into the mountains. At Hatta village we turned off into the mountains and then off the tarmac road to a well used track to Wadi Hatta, where, amazingly, there is a mountain stream that always has water. Where it has cut deeply through the surrounding rocks and formed a gorge, it has also formed deep, clear, cool pools that are very popular for swimming in.
We arrived at 9:30 am to find a large party of overnight campers just departing, leaving ouselves and a Japanese family of four in sole attendance.
We were surprised by the extent of the large pool, which was crystal clear and populated by shoals of little silvery fish. We waded in - the water was refreshingly cool, but still warm enough not to take your breath as it reached your stomach. I might have been more astonished by this if I'd gone in prior to our sojourn in Puerto Rico, but I'm used to non icy mountain streams now!
As we swam, we soon got out of our depth, but could still see to the bottom, as we progressed through the winding gorge. After about 200 metres we reached a gravelled shallows and beach. The pools the extended further on, but we decided to return to our bag of belongings and swam slowly back.
The gorge rose about four metres above us, creating cool shadows where it was narrowest, and dancing reflections of sunlight on the rippling surface against other walls. It was lovely.
I had opted against wearing a swimsuit, and had swum in my shorts and T shirt, so when we emerged I was nicely air conditioned against the increasing fierceness of the sun.
We decided to walk downstream and try to follow the river a little way. We reached a point where we couldn't go further without swimming again, so tried the top route. We explored for some time. The rock formations were incredible and I took some interesting photos.
By the time we returned to the large pool, a party of young men were playing in the water, jumping in from the clifftop and splashing happily.
We returned to the car and went to Hatta Fort Hotel resort for a leisurely lunch, before making our way back to Mirdif.
frankofyle
Fascinating. Wonderful experience. Incredibly jealous.