OMAN GEOLOGY TOUR 14-DAYS / ITINERARY

ACCOMMODATION: Grand Hyatt

MEALS: L / D=Welcome dinner at the Hotel

08:30 AM -10:00 AM Visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. Opened in 2001, the traditional style and quality of the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque make it an extraordinary building. The design and decoration appear simple from a distance; however, a visit reveals an exciting layout and detailed, high-quality decoration.

11:00 AM- 12:15 PM Oman Botanic Garden. Then we visit the new Oman Botanic Garden, a groundbreaking project developed by the Diwan of the Royal Court in Oman. Situated on 425 hectares, the garden is designed to cultivate, study and conserve Oman’s rich native flora. It includes large-scale (indoor and outdoor) native habitat displays ranging from dry desert to rich monsoon cloud forests. Currently, still under development, the garden will also showcase the traditionally cultivated crops and the many ways that people use plants in Oman. When completed, this ambitious project will be one of the world’s largest botanic gardens.

12:30 PM – 01:00 PM visit Omani art Gallery.

01:30 PM – 02:30 PM Lunch Muscat Hills.

03:00 PM Back to the Hotel for rest and get ready for the opera performance.

05:20 PM – 06:40 PM Early dinner Ubar

07:00 PM – 09:00 PM  attend a performance at Muscat’s Royal Opera House. The classically shaped auditorium has a seating capacity of just over 1,000. Immerse yourself in this building and experience the power of performances from baroque chamber music to Jazz fusion and more.

ACCOMMODATION: GRAND HYATT

MEALS:  B= Buffet at hotel / L= Muscat Hills / D=Ubar

08:15 AM – 09:30 AM Visit the National History Museum.

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Visit the National Museum, which gives an overview of Oman’s history. The National Museum is the Sultanate’s flagship cultural institution, showcasing the nation’s heritage from the earliest human.

12:30 PM View the remarkable Geoheritage feature at Al Bustan village. The rocks are of three different formations. The long linear stretch of the south-western side of the road is a grey colored Triassic limestone formed some 230 million years ago. Opposite it is uplifted formations of creamy colored Eocene limestone which is much younger at only some 50 million years old. To the northeast is Al Bustan ophiolite, the chocolate-colored igneous rocks which dominate the coast.

01:00 PM – 02:00 PM Lunch at the Marina.

02:20 PM – 03:40 PM Sea trip in the sea of Muscat to view Muscat from the sea as it viewed by the sailors in the past.

04:00 PM – 04:30 PM Visit the place area (the Old Muscat), which includes the official Sultan Palace (Oman’s monarch) and the old forts of Al Jalali and Al Mirani provides a relaxing and picturesque walk.

04:40 PM – 06:40 PM Visit Mutrah Sooq, one of the oldest Souqs in Arabia, is a labyrinth of small shops selling an eclectic mix of products, naturally including gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

07:00 PM Dinner at Muttrah Corniche.

ACCOMMODATION: GRAND HYATT

MEALS:  B= Buffet at Hotel / L= Sidab Ladies D= at Muttrah Corniche

Drive through the new Muscat/Batinah Highway to the north-west of Muscat

09:30 AM – 10:30 AM Wadi Al Abyadh. Here you can touch the “Moho” (Mohorovicic discontinuity) which separates between the crust and the mantle. Oman is one of the few places where this Geoheiritage feature is exposed as, usually, the tremendous forces which move the Earth’s crust and continental plates around our planet have resulted in this boundary being pushed up from many kilometers below the ocean and the continental plates, resulting in its exposure within Oman’s mountains.

11:00 AM-12:00 PM Visit Wadi Bani Kharus. It represents over 600 million years of geological time: from. The mouth of the wadi where Cretaceous rocks are exposed (90 Ma) to the Late Proterozoic rocks at the end (more than 600 Ma). It’s also offering the opportunity to see all but one of the oldest prior to the breakup of Gondwanaland and the opening of the Tethys ocean.

These wadis have occasional villages to the sides of the wadi’s bottom, creating a splash of green against the hues of brown. Where springs of water trickle down there are a few villages high above the wadi with a mix of date and other fruit trees.

01:00 PM Picnic Lunch

02:00 PM Visit the Local Honey Keepers.

02:30 PM visit Wadi Al Sahatan. The entrance of the wadi cuts through the conglomerate of the former wadi bed. The smoothed stones lying at the base of the wadi indicate more abundant and continual water flow in the past.

03:30 PM Visit Al Kasfah hot spring.

05:30 PM Reach Barceló Mussanah Resort and check-in

ACCOMMODATION: Barceló Mussanah Resort

MEALS:  B= Buffet at Hotel / L= picnic D= at Hotel

10:30 AM Visit the billow lava at Wadi Al Hawasnah.

Wadi Al Hawasnina is unique in Oman, because it offers an unforgettable journey, taking you back to the oceanic floor. Wadi Al Hawasinha has a remarkable verity of rock formations which creates a beautiful and interesting drive toward Ibri. The coastal plain is part of the alluvial outwash from Oman’s northern mountains. The area has a variety of ophiolite features including 0.5-1.5m pillow lavas with some intrusions by Dykes, turnover pillow lavas, and ophiolite for the lowest sequence, the mantle; the separation between this and the Gabbro is the Moho.

01:00 PM Pinic at Wadi Al Hawasnah.

03:00 PM Our next stop is the village of Al-Ayn; in the distance rises Jebal Misht (‘Comb Mountain’) one of Oman’s most majestic landmarks with its southwest wall rising over 1000 meters. On a ridge with Jebal Misht as its dramatic backdrop, are a series of beautifully preserved stone ‘beehive’ tombs which are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The settlement and necropolises of Bat form the most complete and best-known site of the 3rd millennium BC. They reflect the increasing sophistication of settled life during the Bronze Age when copper mining in Magan (the ancient name for Oman) was an important source of revenue

ACCOMMODATION: Jabal Shams Resort

MEALS:  B= Buffet at Hotel / L= picnic D= at Hotel

Walk in the Grand Canyon W6 Picnic at the canyon.

Overlooked by Oman’s highest peak Jabal Shams is the Grand Canyon of Oman, more correctly Wadi Nakhar. It’s an extraordinary sight as from top to bottom the wadi is up to 1000m deep. At the top of the wadi, where it’s possible to stand and look down at the bottom, are numerous fossils embedded in the rocks from Natih formation which is about 95 million years old. Descending to the base reaches even older rock Sahtan formation which is around 170 million years old. The method by which this deep, relatively short wadi was formed could be either very quick uplifting of the mountains (causing speedy erosion) or a more gradual erosion.

ACCOMMODATION: Jabal Shams Resort

MEALS:  B= Buffet at Hotel / L= picnic D= at Hotel

09:00 AM Visit Wadi Al Nakhar.

11:00 AM visit Al Hutah Cave. Named after Al Hutah settlement on the mountain. This is Oman’s most famous show-cave with the upper entrance a few hundred meters east of the village and the lower public entrance just under three kilometers downhill. The public entrance is well signposted with modern reception buildings and an informative Geoheritage exhibition hall. The rock from which the main cave has been formed is limestone of some 95 million ago, underlain by a layer of shale that is largely impermeable to water. Using the well-constructed walkways inside the cave visitors will see stalactites hanging from the roof and below them stalagmites. Both are formed by the mineral Calcium Carbonate as a result of contact with the cave atmosphere. Over many thousands of years. Hidden away the cave is a lake with fish that have so long in the dark they have become blind.

01:30 AM Picnic Lunch at Wadi Tanuff

15:00-16:00 Visit to Nizwa’s great 17th-century fort, one of the most impressive in all of Oman. The massive crenelated tower was designed to withstand the vibrations of its 24 cannons. Nizwa was Oman’s seat of government for some 300 years. Nizwa Fort was designed with various ingenious devices used to repel invaders. Among these were ‘murder holes,’ slots through which defenders could pour boiling date syrup on the heads of attackers as they climbed its stairs. From the top of the tower, there is a superb panoramic view of the city and the surrounding plains with their extensive stands of deep green date palms. Nizwa remains an important center for Omani date farming, where some 40 varieties of dates are cultivated.

16:00-17:00 We will explore Nizwa’s Souq, renowned for its intricately hand-carved khanjars (Omani silver daggers) and ornately designed silver jewelry. The Souq is also well-known for its goat market, which operates on Friday mornings. 

ACCOMMODATION: SAMA HOTEL

MEALS: B= at hotel / Lunch= Picnic / D=Hotel

09:30 departure the Hotel to exploring spectacular Jebel Al-Akhdar. This region is dominated by the great Saiq Plateau, 20 00 meters above sea level. It is punctuated by a labyrinth of wadis and terraces where the cooler mountain air and more significant rainfall support the region’s famed market gardens and orchards of pomegranates, apricots, and other fruit.

We take an extended walk through the terraces and village es from Al-Aqr, famous for its roses, to Al-Ayn and Al-Shurayja h, perched on cliffs that afford spectacular views of the wadi below. As we walk, we will see the falaj that brings water to these luxuriantly fertile fields. Walk to visit ancient terrasse and mountain villages.

11:30 AM Visit Jabal Al Akhar Extinction. A geological marker of one of the Earth’s great mass extinctions. The abandoned Quarry cased a massive excavation in of the north side of the area where a thin weaving dark strata, which was exposed by chance, This represents one of the periods during the Permian-Triassic event of perhaps 251 million years ago when 50% of the animal life on Earth become extinct. The cause of the extinction is unclear, possibly a large comet, and associated volcanism.

12:30 PM lunch with a local family

02:00 PM Afternoon Wadi Al Muayden. An excellent wadi in which you can examine 3 major rock groups in well-exposed contact with each other. These are the Mesonic carbonates of the supersequence (Ac), the deep oceanic sediments of the Harmrat Duru Group (HD), and the intervening Aruma sediments (Ar): sediments deposited during the closure of the Tethys ocean and the emplacement of the ophiolite.

ACCOMMODATION: SAMA HOTEL

MEALS: B= at hotel / Lunch= Picnic / D=Hotel

08:00 PM Short drive after dinner to view one of Oman’s best skies.

10:30 AM Visit Oman’s first oil well at Fanhood.

12:30 PM Reach the mother of the poisons (the Quicksands) flat salt forms by the deposit of the salts and the sand from the floods of the Hajar Mountains. When these lands get wet by the floods or the underground water it can be very dangerous to walk or drive on it can swallow an entire car. Continue to reach the massive dunes.

02:00 PM Picnic lunch & set the camp -Your help is required-

Afternoon, explore the desert or probably climb one of the world’s highest sand dunes to view the vast desert and the breathtaking sunset.

07:00 PM Barbeque dinner and enjoy the silence and the fresh air around the campfire.

We strongly recommended going to bed early and walk-up midnight to view one of the epic star skies you will ever see and not to miss the breath-taking change of colors before the sunrise.

ACCOMMODATION: Basic Camping at the Empty Quarter. We use high-quality Australian tents, camping beds, sleep bags, inflatable billows, picnic tables, and picnic chairs.

MEALS: B=Buffet at hotel / L= picnic / D= Barbeque at camp.

09:30 AM Visit Abu Tabool water well. The water bushed up due to the pressure on the Groundwater. Although the water is full of sulfur, the Bedouin used to mix it with their camel milk to drink it due to the smell and the test of the sulfur.

11:30 AM Visit Qarat Al Kabrit. One of Oman’s ‘salt domes’ which to today are associated with oil exploration. The original overlying pre-Cambrian rock has been forced to the surface by upwelling salt. Over many centuries these outcrops have also been key elements in the economy of Oman as their salt was mined and sold. This was the reason for the man-made cave created by the removal of salt.

04:00 AM Reach Bar Al Hikman for Camping. Bar Al Hikman is the delta of the Hajar Mountains and it’s declared as a national reserve.

ACCOMMODATION: Basic Camping at Bar Al Hikman. We use high-quality Australian tents, camping beds, sleep bags, inflatable billows, picnic tables, and picnic chairs.

MEALS: B=Buffet at hotel / L= picnic / D= Barbeque at camp.

10:00 AM Visit the dunes of Ras Al Ruwais with sand dunes cascading into the Arabian Sea, Ras Ar Ruways marks the southern edge of the Al Sharqiyah Sands. The cliffs of this peninsula are crated from ancient Aeolianite Sand Dunes that underlie the more recent sands. Though older than the current dunes, this Aeolianite was formed recently in Geoheritage time between 40 and 20 thousand years ago.

11:30 En route we stop briefly to view an example of Dhofar’s standing stones, known as triliths, due to their construction from three stones. Standing in groups of three to fifteen, each one consists of three stone slabs approximately 2 feet high, standing on end and leaning against each other with their base forming a triangle. Dated to between 400 BC and 300 AD, these archaeological structures are widespread across the southern and eastern areas of Arabia; their purpose is still unclear.

12:30 PM Our next stop is to view the ruins of the huge mud-brick Fort and Mosque of Rashid bin Hamouda located in the town of Jalan Bani Bu Ali. Today the town retains a decidedly old-fashioned atmosphere and comprises a conglomeration of watchtowers, old fortified houses, forts and ancient plantation walls, all of which lie crumbling in various states of dereliction. Elaborately painted metal doors and traditional carved wooden gates sported by the town’s residences are a feature of the region.

01:30 PM Picnic lunch.

03:30 PM Reach the camp for check-in and late afternoon at the camp.

Al Sharqiyah Sands stretching to 170km from north to south, this area of sand, formed by the prevailing south-north wind direction; that in the north created vast liner sands dunes over a distance of 55 kilometers in the desert form the northern edge. The northern dunes are primarily Silica in origin with a multi-hued golden sheen caused by surface oxidization, while the southern dunes are quartz-rich and carbonate sand, pale in color. The sands in the north overlay gravel dated to about 110,000 years ago while the Aeolianite Sands Dunes that underlie the more recent sands have dates of approximately 10,000 years old.

ACCOMMODATION: Sama Al Wasil Desert Camp

MEALS: B= at camp / Lunch= Picnic at wadi Tiwi / D=Camp.

11:30 AM Rech Majlis Al Jin Cave. This immense chamber, at around 4 million cubic meters is amongst the world’s largest cave chambers. Formed of fossil-rich Eocene Limestone, these mountain rocks are around 45million years old. Majlis Al Jin has 3 entrances located in its roof; the main entrance shaft has a free drop of some 160 meters. The Salama plateau also has 4 other vertical cave entrances (known as Arch Cave, Funnel Cave Three Windows Cave, and Seven Holes) as well as a horizon output (Kahaf Tahry); these connect from the longest known cave system in Oman which is around 11.5 Kilometers long.

12:30 Picnic Set for an afternoon walk to explore the entrance of the Tahri Cave

06:00 PM Rech Wad Shab Hotel and check in

ACCOMMODATION: Wadi Shab Resort

MEALS: B= Buffet at camp / Lunch= Picnic / D=Hotel.

The limestone mountains southeast of Muscat rises from the sea up to almost 2000m. Over the millennia, they have been deeply cut into, and today, steep-sided narrow valleys, locally called wadis, cut into the slopes. Springs of water allow small intensive agricultural farms to grow dates, citrus, mangos, and other tropical fruit. The traditional villages within it are surrounded by lush plantations of dates, citrus, mangos, and bananas, crisscrossed with a network of gurgling aflaj (man-made water channels).

12:30 PM – 01:00 PM Visit Bimmah Sinkhole.

Bimmah Sinkhole, set on the first of several ‘wave-cut terraces’, created by changes in sea level at the base of a mountain. The ground beneath sinkholes typically consists of easily dissolved rocks such as limestone, carbonates, and salt beds. When the roof of one of these caverns collapses, the land above it falls, leaving giant holes. The Bimmah sinkhole is one impressive example of this geological phenomenon of Oman.

01:00 PM Picnic at Al Mukala Beach.

02:30 Visit Wadi Mijlas.The wadi is an outcrop of Jurassic strata on the wadis northern side. The formation is perhaps 170 million years old, and the strata clearly show a great deal of deformation with it now laying at up to 45 degrees and in some sections having a wavy appearance which has been created when the rock unit was placed under pressure perhaps 90 million years ago during the cretaceous period.

05:00 PM Reach Muscat and check into Crowne Plaza OCEC

08:00 PM Farewell dinner and departure or depart the next day

Accommodation: Crowne Plaza OCEC

Meals: B= Buffet at the hotel / L=Picnic / D= Hotel