Today we took a dhow boat cruise through the beautiful fjords of the Musandam peninsula. This is really the best way to explore the inlets of this area – up close and personal!
We were assigned to a boat that only had 2 other ladies on board! It was like having a private tour! The other 2 ladies who were on the boat with us were from FInland. They were travel journalists doing a piece on Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the Musandam Peninsula! The boat was decorated with brightly colored carpets and pillows – this was going to be a very relaxing day I could tell!! We made ourselves comfortable as we began to explore!
The water was so calm and clear. The rock formations jut right out of the water so our captain took us right up to the cliffs. There were actually some very small villages that exist in these mountains. The families are mainly fishermen and only live in these houses during winter & spring months. During the summer months when it is too hot they move to Khasab the larger town that is inland. During that time they farm – usually date farming!
Our first treat of the day was to ride along with the dolphins that live in the area. Now coming form Florida where we see dolphins all the time I didn’t think this would be such a big deal for us. But the captains steered two boats close to each other and were able to get the dolphins to swim along with us for a bit. It was pretty cool I must admit!
The captain then anchored the boat at Telegraph Island which is only about 500 ft in diameter, is where the British set up the first telegraph to connect Britain to India. We were stopping here for a bit of snorkeling!! I don’t usually do well with the snorkeling but the water was so clear and calm, and I thought, I can’t be here and say I didn’t at least try it! So we all got out of the boat and swam with the fish! Even Sara got in for a bit! The water was cold!
All this activity made us tired and hungry! So we travelled a bit more and anchored again in a small inlet. The captain and his first mate then proceeded to make us lunch! This was too perfect! A small grill had been brought on board before we left the dock and the first mate not only handled the steering of the boat but cooked fresh fish at the same time! The captain then laid out a scrumptious spread of rice, chicken curry, bread, grilled fish and fresh fruit! It was perfect. After the lovely lunch we all just laid back and snoozed for a bit! The water was so calm – the boat never moved! It was so peaceful!
Now for the relaxing journey back to the dock! This was just an absolutely perfect day! We had the boat practically to ourselves, the weather was great, the scenery spectacular, the lunch yummy, and the family time priceless!
Leave a Reply