The Splendours of Dhofar

A pomegranate paradise with the most exquisite of fruit Henna and spikenard with all kinds of frankincense trees of myrrh and aloes and the sweetest of balsam trees

From Musandam to Dhofar, Oman offers the visitors an incredibly wide variety of landscapes. Its 309 500 km square are full of wonder and surprises.
Mountains, sea, deserts, oasis, wadis sculpted by the hand of God, the wind, water and the mysterious forces of the earth into impressive theatre sets. Dhofar to the south of the country covers a fascinating third of the area with 99 300 km square.
Salalah is 1000 km from Muscat. An excellent network of roads links the two cities. However this can prove to be rather long especially in the summer, so Oman Air has several flights a day between Muscat and Salalah. In just over one hour and a half, one flies over high peaks, the canyons of Jebel Hajar, the honey and red dunes of Wahiba Sands, the dark and gravely plains of Jiddat Al Harasis, the vastness of Rub Al Khali with its salt steppes and mysterious grooves, tracks, river beds or dune crests that the wind could wipe off at any moment.

For three months the monsoon changes the Dhofari landscape turning the mountains into pastures, the plains into gardens, orchards and plantations The gurgling water flows in many cascades

When the plane reaches the mountains of Jebel Qara, the magic of Dhofar begins. Depending on the season, the mountains appear brown or violet, bare or deep green, shrouded in clouds and mist like an etching if it is the monsoon. More mysterious than ever, they give birth to a myriad of cascades and springs. At the foot of the mountain facing the ocean, lies Salalah, Dhofar's capital, surrounded by a fertile plain, tropical gardens, lagoons, beaches, a whole world where Africa meets Asia and several climates co-exist and where lush greenery faces the desert. It is in this country full of contrasts that the frankincense tree has chosen to grow.
It is the monsoon of the South West, the Al Khareef, that is the bearer of all these contrasts, of the magic of Dhofar. From the end of June to the end of September, the clouds hailing from India and the Ocean clutch on to the low hills of the Dhofari jebels without ever crossing them letting the desert be on the other side.
The monsoon rainfall, over 100 mm per year, together with a high level of humidity bring forth a real miracle: torrents start rushing in the wadis, cascading over cliffs and crags, transforming the mountain's dry slopes into lush pastures enjoyed by the herds of the Jabalis. Suddenly the jebel with its red roofed farms turns into a Swiss landscape to the delight of many tourists from the Gulf and the Middle East who come to make the most of this scenery while at home it is a soaring 40° C.
The Salalah plain benefits from those miraculous rains too turning into luxuriant gardens. The aflaj controls the water from the streams and springs distributing them to fields, orchards and the coconut or banana plantations. The coconut tree is as precious to the people from the south as the palm tree to the people from the north. Coconut milk is the welcome drink given to visitors when they first arrive. Farmers and sailors make ropes and boat hulls from the trees. Papayas, avocados, lemons, oranges and bananas all these exotic fruit grow in Salalah. Flowers grow too, the brightest of bougainvillaea and hibiscus splash their colours in the gardens against a background of sea and mountains.
The lush landscape easily brings out the poet in the onlooker. The words must fill with colour and scent to render the beauty. But even the poet needs the experts to tell the story of Dhofar, its geography, its climate, animals and flowers.

A coastline that stretches over 560 km, three mountains and a huge desert

Dhofar has three types of landscapes outlining the three main regions: a 560 km long coastline, surrounded near Salalah by a wide and fertile plain (the Al-Gharib plain, 75 km long and 8 km wide), a crescent of three mountains, to the west, the Jebel Al Qamar that stretches to the Yemen and the Hadhramaut overlooking the ocean from its high cliffs, in the centre over Salalah, the Jebel Qara with its beautiful valleys and the Jebel Sahman to the east which peaks at 1800 m. The south facing slopes are covered in vegetation while the north facing ones are dry and bare for want of water. At the foot of the mountains the Nejd begins. It is a desert that starts with stones, gravel and salt deposits. Then beyond Shisr, sand dunes with atap, those strange plants that flourish in the desert.

The frankincense tree weeps tears of gold for the Dhofar.

The frankincense tree, the boswellia sacra carterii, has grown since time immemorial in the stony beds of the wadis, on the southern slopes of the Jebel. It has found the ideal climate in Dhofar. It is a small green leafed tree, seldom reaching the 2 meters which needs warmth and humidity. In spite of its dead appearance the tree flourishes with bunches of golden flowers with purple heart, while the precious sap flows through.
Like for rubber, the tree is slit with a special knife, the mingaf, and the white sap is left to drip slowly on tht1 ground and crystallise. Thc-gum is collected between March and May before the arrival ot the rainy season and kept in caves sheltered from the monsoon before being sold on the markets in September. In the past, two tribes had the privilege and the hereditary right to collect the frankincense, they were the Bait Kathirs and the Al Mahras. The harvest had something sacred about it. Men had to follow certain rites and rules. For example they could not approach women or follow funerals when slitting trees. While they worked they sang a special chant whichwas harsh and guttural and which is now part of the Dhofari heritage. Today, the work is carried out by Somali labour.
Archaeologists are retracing the history of frankincense, the trading routes taken by the caravans carrying spices and the many uses Egyptians and Romans made of them.
Satellite photos have allowed American archaeologists to di.scuver mythical cities long buried in the Empty Quarter. They were wonderful markets where caravans met to exchange myrrh, frankincense, spices and precious silks. A fabulous adventure, traces of which can be found in the mountains and the desert of Dhofar.

The waters of the sea and monsoon merge in the khawrs A sanctuary for very rare and unique animals

However, it is impossible to leave the ocean and the coast out of our quest. The beaches are white, dazzling and endless, dotted with strange castles built by crabs. The sardines form silver shoals and the waves break out the colour of lagoon, although they can be fierce at monsoon time. On foot, on horseback or in a four wheel drive, one can be drawn in by the large virgin spaces with just the gulls for company.
Sea and monsoon meet in a strange way in Dhofar. For three months, the rain runs down the mountains towards the sea. Cascades, springs, rivers all rush towards the ocean creating khawrs, strange lagoons with tall grasses where sea and river water mingle to the delight of the migrating birds. It is the kingdom of pink flamingos, herons, black coots, ibises and egrets who stop there in the spring and in the autumn on their migration. Over 186 different fowl and bird species have been spotted at Khawr Rouri. The flight of the pink flamingos over the reeds is a wonderful sight. It is said that the blue and green waters hide the soul of the country and of the queens who used to send the powerful kings caravans carrying myrrh and frankincense, the famous white gold that was even more precious than the yellow one. These were the harbours of antiquity, sheltering the dhows that transported the precious cargo in their wood hull. Khawr Rouri is the largest of the twelve khwars of the Salalah plain. It stretches over 2 km and covers an area of 54 hectares. It is the least salted of the khawrs. Plants vary according to the salinity of the water: mangroves avicennia grow in the saltiest and reedmace and cat-tail in the least salty.
A great number of sea plants, insects and crustaceans live in these changing blue and green waters. Mullet and milkfish have adapted perfectly to the low salt level of the khawr waters feeding mainly on sea plants, however they return to the ocean to reproduce.
Several of these khawrs have become protected reserves. This is the case of the Salalah Khawr near the Diwan of the Royal Palace. The university together with the Planning Committee for Development and Environment have listed the invertebrates and fish that are unique to these waters.

After the frankincense, the abalone in bringing Dhofar new wealth