Dear Friends,
although I begin writing this message in Oman, I am absolutely sure that I will complete it when I am back in Germany. The two weeks here in Oman passed too quickly and our schedule was heavily loaded.
After leaving our accommodation on Jabel Akhdar we proceeded towards the desert. Meanwhile temperature has risen to more than 30°C. Summer is not far. Unfortunately the air conditioning of our Toyota failed (I think there was only 24 hours the car was completely okay) and we are really sweating.
We camped in the desert, off any civilisation. But even the desert did not bring us real refreshment. However, starry sky was bight, followed by an impressive sunrise the next morning.
The straight road led us to the Wahaybah desert which is known for its huge sand dunes. At its border we stopped at Al Hawiyah, a desert oasis that is still fully functional. Apart from some power supply lines and modern cars, times have not changes here since centuries. Thousands of pretty date palm trees range over about 2 kilometres from the dunes to the flat land. On the other side the village, where small agricultural lots are full of intense green of fresh plants. It’s already spring time here in the first days of March. Fresh green makes a nice contrast to the reddish sands.
It’s Friday and nobody is at work. Friday is the weekly holiday in the Muslim culture, the same as our Sunday. We found a hidden place to prepare our Horus airplane. However, children discovered us and did not stop asking questions about what we are doing here.
We climbed the dune for launch. It was not easy, two steps forth, one back in the steep sand. The launch on the top of the dune was perfect, see picture. It is our twelfth photo flight and the procedure has become routine. Horus climbed to 1200 m as usual and took some overall pictures of the complete oasis. More details can be taken during the slow descent. Andreas Buerkert from Kassel University told me where to fly and triggered the camera. 250 to 300 photos were taken per flight. The only limit was the one Gigabyte memory card of the camera. Twice we exceeded this capacity and the last photos of a flight were lost.
On the way back to Muscat we followed the cost line east of the capital. We stopped again at Tiwi to make our last flight. Here a Wadi (temporary water flow) ends directly into the Indian Ocean, all the time bordered by palm trees.
A few kilometres west we definitely got our refreshment: a beach of white sand, at least 500 m wide, turquoise water under a deep blue sky. Less than 20 people in total! It was a dream to swim here.
We crossed Muscat downtown. It is a 50 km drive from our home at Muscat university and we never had the time to go there. We finally had the opportunity to visit the Souq (traditional Arabian market) to buy some last souvenirs. Apart from the old centre along the harbour and the coast line, Muscat is a modern - and extremely clean - city with wide motorways everywhere. Omani infrastructure is really perfect (except internet access).
We accomplished two weeks of adventure, successful flying and had 2500 aerial photos on our computers. I flew back to Germany whilst the scientists stayed another 2 weeks for additional research in plants and animals. Compared with my former expeditions to Nepal and Bolivia, the two weeks in Oman were a highly condensed stay, equivalent to at least four weeks in the former places.
Before I come to the end of my last report I would like to thank all persons and aeromodelling companies who had supported the preparation of this expedition by sponsoring material or by spending many hours to get the planes built. I can tell you, it was not in vain, we got pretty results and I am sure that this was not the last mission of my Horus planes on behalf of gathering scientific data.
Last greetings (actually from my home in Germany),
Wolfgang