Frankincense in Oman for Christmas

The Historical Association of Oman publishes a Calender each year .  Most images are usually of northern Oman, as thats where the Association is based . This year as a bit of balancing I was happy that a couple of my pictures of the Salalah area could be used.

Incising the Frankincense Tree for the Gum

Here is one,  a Frankincense Tree, appropriately the month is December, being cut for its Gum, by a friend of mine.

Picnic in Yemen

After a very nice drive through the Dhofar mountains we arrived in Yemen – where if anything the scenery is more dramatic than in Dhofar.

Enjoying the Yemeni sun

on small beach we had a simple Picnic before turning around, for the drive back to Salalah.

Fortunately we managed to arrive in time for a nice dinner in town.

Wilfred Thesiger and Oman’s Desert

I arrived at Aiyun around Sunset. The mountains were cracking as they cooled down after the day’s intense heat and, in answer, birds called .

Wilfred Thesiger first arrived here in the Autumn of 1946, descending through the same pass as I had taken. The place hasn’t changed since his visit. The beds of Reed still flourish and the water in which, he was told, a monster serpent lived and would sometimes seize a goat when it came to drink, is still deep and suitably mysterious & dark.

Wilfred Thesiger stayed here in 1946

The next morning I took a few photos – of a magical place, serpent or not.

Returning to Muscat I took in the Aeolianite Coast – the fossilized sand dunes of Oman that underlay both desert and sea bed . Here they form cliffs which crumble into the sea, probably retreating meters every year.

Wahiba Aeolonite

Frankincense Trail in Oman

As the Monsoon Season draws to a close in Salalah it will soon be time to start the Frankincense Harvest.

Camels and Tent

A crew for the BBC filmed in Oman a piece about the Frankincense Trail in June last year. From Oman they went to The Hadramout and beyond, mixing fable, modernity and a bit of history as seen through Kate Humble’s eyes.

in the desert

Apart from the fact that Frankincense is a living legend – the thing I really like about the tree is the culture that surrounds it.

Droplets of Frankincense resin

The smoke from the small pebble size pieces is used in Oman as a welcome to guests and the fragrance will scent clothes for a long time .

Oman’s Birds

Skirting around Jebel Samhan in Dhofar we had two wonderful experiences . Over the coastal region two Verreaux’s Eagles cavorted in the sky above. These are probably the largest Eagles in Oman and since they pair for a long time – I assume this was a male and female.

Verreaux’s Eagles in the skies of Dhofar

Larger still – a flock (if that’s the appropriate name ) of 8 Griffin Vultures glided away over the mountain plateau. The Griffin, along with the Lappet Faced, is Oman’s largest Raptor .

One of a flock of 8 Griffin Vultures over Dhofars Mountains