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Dhofar
was the name given long ago to the southern part of
Yemen and Oman. Yemen Dhofar was a powerful state that
ruled most of the tribes in the Arabian peninsula until
the 5th century AD. Dhofar of Oman gained
fame mainly because of its frankincense production. It
extends over some 120.000 square kilometers, which is
almost equal to one third of the total area of Oman.
It consists of
three very different habitats: a coastal plain that
stretches from Darbat Ali in the West to El Kahal in the
East, mountainous ridges that enclose the coastal
lowlands and separate this from the Najd desert to the
north.
The coastal plain is the most
inhabited area. One quarter of the plain lies under the
influence of the seasonal monsoon that provides copious
rain and mist during the months July, August, and part
of September. At the time when the rest of Arabia is
suffering the greatest heat of summer, the plains around
Dhofar’s capital Salalah are wet and cool. Most of the
visiting tourists come to enjoy this weather and
participate in the annual Khareef festival. However, the
mountains and the desert have their own attractions.
The mountain
ridges extend eastwards from the Yemen border for some
290 kms. The population is sparse and the mountain
people have their own language known as “jibbali”.
Jebel al Qamr starts on the Yemeni border and extends to
the east, while the lower Jebel Qara forms the middle of
the northern boundary of the coastal plain. To the
northeast the vast area known as Jebel Samhan consists
of a rolling plateau, dissected by deep wadis and rising
to over 2100 meters. It has some of the most spectacular
steep escarpments that drop down to the coastal plain.
Elsewhere the ridges rise to a height of 800 to 900
meters above sea level. The mountains are mainly
limestone with some granite outcrops here and there. The
seaward side of the mountains is covered with lush
vegetation, where the monsoon spills its rains before
drying out as it pushes over the top of the ridges. This
area of lush woodlands is restricted to a narrow belt
that extends from 3 km to 30 km inland, over a total
length of 240 km. The landward side gradually becomes
more and more arid and continues seamlessly into the
great Najd desert that covers 97% of the total area of
Dhofar. This desert is the natural extension of the
Ru’ub al Khali, the Empty Quarter and is inhabited only
by small groups of nomadic bedouin. The main point of
interest of this empty sand and gravel desert is the
city of Ubar, trading center and frankincense capital of
the ancient world, still partly hidden under the sand.
It was rediscovered only recently by an expedition that
had pinpointed the site by means of infrared satellite
photos.
Salalah and its
surroundings give the impression of a tropical country.
Large coconut and banana plantations line the two major
throughways. Fruit and vegetables are the main crops
these days though in the past sugar cane and fodder for
livestock took up much of the production. Since the
coming of oil that enticed many young people away from
the area, livestock is playing a less important role in
the economy. Nevertheless camels are still kept in great
herds, especially in the mountainous areas.
I have visited
the area twice towards the end of the rainy season and
both times I was amazed at how different this piece of
Arabia is from the rest of the peninsula (except
possibly some areas in the southwest of Saudi Arabia).
There are various comfortable hotels in Salalah, some on
the seaside with access to the beautiful beaches.
However, it must be kept in mind that in the cool season
the sea is wild and not suitable for swimming. At
certain times of the year it is possible to see whales
quite near the coast here.
Most of the
interesting parts of the region can be reached by
ordinary saloon cars that are available for rent at the
airport or in town. Exploring the area west of Salalah
takes about half a day. The drive along the coast
towards the village of Mughsail has nice views towards
the Arabian ocean with various tidal pools being
explored by hundreds of wading birds. Mughsail is famous
for its thundering blowholes, where the incoming waves
make fountains up to 20 meters high spout from the rocky
shelf that lines the coast. The water has eroded holes
in the rock in various places and these form the
blowholes.
Further west the
road starts to climb and in the rocky valleys between
the ridges you can see some of the frankincense trees
that gave this region its fame and prosperity many
centuries ago. Frankincense is the fragrant resin that
the tree produces and that was harvested to be sent
north by huge camel caravans or east across the sea to
the Indian sub-continent. The best frankincense trees
are found in the southern part of the Dhofar Najd
desert, where there is the right temperature, a soil
rich in bicarbonates and high humidity due to the
monsoon clouds evaporating when they cross the tops of
the mountain ridges. The frankincense trees grow wild
and the areas where they grow were traditionally divided
into small areas called manzilah (pl. manazil).
Each manzilah is owned by a tribe and passed from
father to son in order to keep the property within the
family. There are various grades of frankincense, each
with different names. First grade frankincense is called
“Al Laqut” and consists of pure white lumps of resin,
grade two frankincense is called “Al Motayab”. Lower
grades are yellowish brown. The largest manazil
occur in the northeastern areas of the Dhofar Mountains
and foothills.
The road now
zigzags through many switchbacks to a height of over
1000 meters. Jebel Qamra is stark and forbidding, with
beautifully weathered rocks and picturesque Dracaena
serrulata trees. At the end of the rainy season the
areas between the rocks are covered with the most
extra-ordinary grasses and flowering plants, such as
Aloë dhufarensis. Over 750 species of plants have
been recorded in the various habitats of the Dhofar
region, with 50 of these being indigenous – that is,
plants that occur nowhere else in the world. Many of the
plants are related to those of the island Socotra and
the drier regions of tropical North Africa. The woodland
is similar to that found in parts of Somalia.
Unfortunately much of this unique flora is under threat
due to human activities. Overgrazed grasslands are
gradually replaced by species that cattle do not like to
eat such as the Sodom’s apple or Solanum species.
Where trees have been removed for their wood, the
rolling mists do not leave their moisture and the land
becomes more and more arid. A wonderful book by Anthony
G. Miller, illustrated with beautiful drawings by
Miranda Morris describes many of the unique plants of
the Dhofar and gives interesting information about
traditional economic and medicinal uses (Plants of
Dhofar, ISBN 0 7157 0808-2).
A tour through
the extensive lower mountain ridges of Jebel Qara takes
a full day, with the chance to explore permanent pools,
meadows full of the most incredible flowering shrubs and
herbaceous plants, bird watching, looking for flints and
fossils and studying the many species of lizards that
live among the rocks of the more arid areas on top of
the mountains. The birds that occur in this region have
affinity with species from Africa. It is possible to see
the rare Grey-headed Kingfisher, the Pheasant-ailed
Jacana and the bright green Didric’s Cuckoo as well as
the more common Rueppell’s Weaver.
The most
spectacular trip, however, is the full-day one to the
top of Jebel Samhan towards the northeast. At first the
gravel plain is flat and without features. Towards the
right is Khawr Rowri, now separated from the ocean by a
large sand bank but once a major commercial port. Nearby
are the ruins of an old castle, the remains of Samhuran
or Queen Sheba’s palace. It is an archaeological dig
that is still in process. As you enter the foothills of
the great mountain there is a turnoff to the left
leading to wadi Darbat. This river has water throughout
the year but after the rainy season there are waterfalls
and a large pool (better not to swim there as there is a
warning sign for bilharzias – a disease transmitted by
water snails). During Eid days the area is chockablock
full of people on picnicks, but in quieter times I t is
a good bird watching site and there are all sorts of
wildflowers and insects to be found. There are hiking
tracks and caves with ancient wall paintings. A bit
further on there are a few enormous sink holes such as
Tawi Attir, over 100 m long and 200 m deep. At the
bottom a system of caves extends for some distance, but
should only be accessed by professional
spelunkers/divers.
The vegetation on
the way up is thick and lush, with mosses dangling from
tree branches and with impenetrable undergrowth in
places. Slowly the vegetation thins out and as you reach
the high plateau the gravel plane is bare except for
some extraordinary bushes, such as the Euphorbia
balsamifera, the yellow-flowered Caralluma
qauadrangula and the thick-stemmed Adenium obesum.
Often huge herds of camels are encountered here. The
road peters out on a part of the plateau that is close
to the edge of the escarpment of Jebel Samhan. During
the monsoon you can stand at the edge and look over the
top of the clouds that hug the cliffs. A month later the
view to the sea is clear and you can look for miles up
and down the coast.
Jebel Samhan was
declared a nature reserve in recent years, especially to
protect the very rare Arabian leopards. Intensive
research with remote controlled cameras and satellite
tracking of leopards with special collars has revealed
that there is still a viable population of these small
beautiful creatures in the Dhofar Mountains. There are
quite a few other rare creatures around that are not
quite so spectacular, such as the Golden spiny mouse,
various species of lizards and snakes. The rather
hard-to-find Dhofar Museum in Salalah can provide you
with a map marking various sites of natural history
interest.
The Dhofar can be
reached by road, but the trip across the central desert
is long and arduous. If you travel in the wet season the
steep road down the mountain towards the coastal plain
is dangerous because of being very slippery. The reward
of the long trip is a stay in the lush greenery of
another Arabia! | 
