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ARCHIVES
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Reinventing the Abaya
There is a big divide between what is Western and what is Arabic. My abayas bridge this gap
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Win, Lose
Exploring Yitti, Banana Beach, Khayran, Wadi Zekt and Sifah “It could, if you close your eyes long enough, almost be like old times
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Chasing the Sun |
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Tony Walsh, 01 Jun 2009 |
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Crossing northern Oman on the maps is the Tropic of Cancer, one of the five great circles that enclose the Earth. This tropic represents the most northerly position of the sun in the entire year. Feeling that such a significant route would be worth exploring, I set out to discover the places that lie on the sun’s path as it will travel through Oman on June 21 – that special day when the sun follows its most northerly line in Oman, from sunrise to sunset. In many respects Quriyat, my first destination, is a quintessential Omani coastal town.
Fishing boats speed out to sea in the darkness and return after daybreak loaded with fish. At the core of the town is a small fort; date plantations encircle the fort and town and the ever-present mountains tower over them all. Daily, Quriyat is treated to the sight of the sun rising out of the Gulf of Oman and beginning its westward journey across Oman.
But on June 21, Quriyat will be due west of the rising sun for somewhere along its shore is located the magical number I am looking for – latitude 23.2622 N, the Tropic of Cancer.
In the first of a series of remarkable places, I find my spot next to Quriyat’s much-photographed coastal watch tower Burj al Seera, where at 5.19am on June 21, the sun will rise from the sea due east of the tower’s entrance door.
Burj al Seera sits on a small island that rises sharply out of the sea; perhaps there was an earlier tower in the same location when Alfonso da Alburque’s general Antonio do Campo ransacked Quriyat in 1507. At the beginning of the Yarouba dynasty’s rule in Oman, the Imam Nasir bin Mushid built the current tower and in the 20th century Sultan Taimur bin Faisal restored the tower.
Today it is surrounded by the sea defences of Quriyat’s new fishing port. It is tempting to linger here and watch the sun pass directly overhead this historical tower – but the journey is long and the day short.
Setting off in a westerly direction, I pass through the foothills of the Eastern Hajar mountains. My next stop on this journey is beside a small group of houses at Maqfah, which is home to Khalfan Abdulla’s family in Wadi as Sarin.
Sharing the latitude with Burj al Seera, Khalfan’s family also share their mountainous valley with one of Oman’s special animals – Arabitragus jayakari or the Arabian Tahr. The tahr is listed in the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species as ‘endangered’.
With possibly less than 5,000 tahr in the world, probably all of which now live in Oman, it’s easy to understand why it is a protected animal in Oman. Tahrs live in small family groups of about three animals as they move through the mountains feeding on vegetation.
This means that in some places where they live, they compete with the domestic goats that feed on the same plants. Though the youngsters in Khalfan’s family knew about the tahr, they hadn’t realised how special their location is as it sits under the Tropic of Cancer sun.
Passing south of Muscat’s main residential areas, the Tropic crosses the Nizwa road south of Sumail and through the peak of Jebel Ghubra at the mouth of Wadi Mistal, before it arrives in Wadi Bani Auf.
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Reader Comments
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Posted by
Brian,
Al Ain
on
22 Jun 2009
I know the area well, unaware of how significant it is at this time of year. A nice read. Thanks very much.
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