Full Day: approximately 9.00am to 5.00pm
Strap yourself in and hold onto your hair! With your heart in your mouth and your stomach in your shoes, the dune bashing start to this tour is the best big dipper ride you’ll ever have.
Your jeep stops at the Tawi Nizwa camp where you can ride one of the camels wearing tasselled saddles and bell bridles lumbering across the gentle sand slopes. You won’t fail to be amazed by these incredible creatures – did you know a camel has three eyelids to protect their delicate eyes from the harsh desert winds?
The route then takes you past the Big Red sand dune down the bumpy gravel path to Mahdah. The road passes along the Hajar Mountain range, which dates back about 200 million years. The mountains themselves rise to a height of up to 3.000 metres and run from the UAE south into Oman. The landscape is characterised by scree-lined valleys, rustic date farms, and ghaf trees, whose mighty roots extend as far down as their branches extend upwards.
A bumpy ride along the trickling river bed of Al Shuwayhah leads to Wadi Khamees in Oman. Concealed in a barren-looking valley, you would never guess it was there! You can jump nearly 4 metres into a deep, sparkling grotto of fresh water.
The village of Hatta is overlooked by two towers, referred to as The Two Rocks, which were built in the 1880s. Guards used to climb ropes to enter the doors and climb the semicircular stairways to reach the look out post. The Hatta Fort was also built around the same time from mud bricks, mountain stone and palm trunks and fronds. The last stop is the Hatta Clay Heritage Village which re-enacts traditional life in 300-year-old houses and has a fascinating exhibit on old fortresses of the region.