Whoosh… upon our return to Sohar we were greeted by a sandstorm. But what have we been doing?
So, this week we embarked on a dangerous journey. We travelled over enormous boulders and endless narrow paths, between deadly cliff drops and thorny forests… okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, although its true that this year’s grade 11 class went on the first ever ABIS grade 11 Oman week trip: a trekking trip in Misfah which we independently organized as part of our IB CAS project. We left school at 9:00 am on Sunday 10th Feb, and returned at 3:30 pm on Tuesday 12th Feb.
Misfah
The village we went to is called Misfat Al Abriyeen. According to Oman Tripper, it’s located in Al Dhakhiyla Governorate on the mountain foothills that surround wilayat Al Hamra, at about 1,000 meters above sea level. Recently it’s become a tourist destination due to its agricultural terraces and its old houses, traditional mud houses with palm frond roofs. The terraces grow a variety of plants, from bananas to citrus trees and traditional palm trees, that are watered through the falaj system which has been carved into the mountain rocks. By following a short track along the falaj, it is possible to reach the spring source that provides the necessary water.
Other than that, Misfat offers 3 walking routes and the entrance of the W9 to L8 trek. Walk W9 is a walk through the historic part to the beginning of the falaj, you will be led to the water reservoir of Old Misfah which also serves as a swimming pool for the local children on warm days and will then walk down the gardens and to the small mosque. Walk W9a is the staircase walk, it is important to be cautious here as the staircase is very steep and small, with only the handrails providing security. It leads you through the main entrance, past a very old house the locals refer to as ‘Bait al Ambah’, the house near the mango tree, and crosses a small wadi. Walk W9c is the garden and wadi walk, it leads you from the new sablah back to the campsite. Last but not least there is the W9 to L8 trek, this is the trek we took (or at least tried to take) on our second day at Misfah.
First day
The day began at 8am, as we struggled to fit all our bags and food into 2 cars and the roof rack. It’s truly still a mystery to us how we managed to fit everything inside, but I believe we’ve got Hannah’s dad to thank. We finally departed from school at around 9am on Sunday 10th, and (thanks to our trusty navigator Taif) we arrived at the camping grounds about four and a half hours later. The camping grounds were completely different from what we had expected, with a small shop positioned right next to the tentish sleeping quarters and a playground. The sleeping quarters were (ironically) split into 4 little areas, one for Karen, Nicole, Grace and Emma, one for Hannah, Sara, Shamma and Taif, one for the boys, and one for Ms. Simpson. Paul decided to camp on the gravel outside, in order to insure there was no monkeying around. At 4 pm we went in search of water, because unfortunately the shop was closed, and took advantage of the situation to walk to Old Misfah to look for the start of our trek. Between our camping site and Old Misfah there is a 5 minute or so walk, and along the way we saw children throwing stones into the water, the entrance to the graveyard, and another shop (also closed). We successfully found the way to the trek starting point, although we had a little issue with donkey droppings, and decided to reward ourselves by going to Misfah Old House, a hotel and cafe, and shrinking some refreshing lemonade. Whilst returning to the campsite we stopped at the other shop to buy some water and the guys kindly offered to carry it for us, unfortunately they thought it would be funny to carry it on their head and this way Akram broke 3 bottles… it was rather irritating considering the fact that some of us were still very thirsty because we didn’t have water at the camp. Thankfully we survived and bought some more water at the campsite shop. After taking a quick rest we went in search of wood to start the campfire and Akram decided to socialize with the local kids by playing football, it was heartwarming seeing how quick the kids started liking him. In the evening Sara and Hannah cooked us burgers over the campfire, and we finished the evening by eating dampers and marshmallows under the stars.
Second day
Everyone was up before 8 and got ready after they ate scrambled eggs and turkey bacon for breakfast. We also packed our own sandwiches for lunch that we will be having in the middle of our trek. We left the camping grounds 20 minutes later than we were supposed to because we had to clean up the place where we cooked at. Other than that, we were on our way! Finding the trek was easy as we did a little scouting on the first day so that we would not waste our time looking for the right way. The trek we took was mostly uphill with stairs made out of rocks which made the trek a little tiring for everyone as the stairs never seemed to end! We split into groups based on our speed and it worked out well as no one was left alone. Emma, Rafael, Akram and Paul encountered a difficult pathway which they investigated to make a decision on whether or not we should go on. Upon further examination they found that although it wouldn’t be that hard to go up the path, it was too narrow and would be too dangerous to come back from. So we found a shaded place and ate our lunch there. After eating, we started coming back to our campsite. But! Nearing the end of our trek, we realised we went on the wrong trek! We were supposed to follow the flag but somewhere in our trek, we ended up following arrows instead. So half of us stayed and rested at one place while the other half went and did the actual trek we were supposed to go to. After that, we went back to our campsite and some jumped into the showers we were longing for. After showering, we prepared for dinner and Emma light up the campfire for the first time! Some of us were hungry already and so we grilled our own sausages and ate hotdogs for dinner.
Last day
It was finally the last day. We woke up before 8am and started our day of interviewing. We had delicious french toasts and turkey bacon cooked by Karen, Emma and Nikki for breakfast. Then Taif, Shamma, Sara, Akram and Rafael left to the village for interview. Also Mr.Healy and ms. Simpson went to the falaj system and explored. Hannah took down her tent, while Emma, Eunhye, Karen and Nikki cleaned up, packed and organized all food stuff and kitchen supplies. After, the people who stayed in the campsite got ready to go and by 10am the students who went to interview came back. As soon as they came back, all of us loaded the car and headed back!
