I woke up Christmas Eve morning to waves crashing on the shore and little voices singing “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” outside my tent. Calvin pointed out that last year we were at the Pyramids, this year we went snorkeling in the Arabian Sea/Gulf, and who knows where we’ll be for Christmas next year?
One of the problems with a trip like this is that the pictures can’t capture how beautiful and quiet and peaceful everything was. In Oman it’s legal to camp anywhere — you can even pull off the side of the road and throw up a tent if you like, but we went to a friend’s favorite spot on the beach. Plugged in the GPS coordinates, and we were off.
Fins beach is less than 2 hours from home — things get rural very quickly once you leave the city limits. Goats galore.
driving along the coast
approaching Fins. The water really is that color.
Following our coordinates — roof rack packed with tents and firewood
Hello donkeys!
Our home for the next 24 hours. Josh and I decided we could live here permanently (as long as we had internet).
The kids explored the tide pools and found crabs and shells.
Time to set up camp.
A huge lobster tail picked clean by birds.
She wasn’t sure about the cold water on her toes (it wasn’t that cold — I went swimming the next day so you know it was plenty warm).
I couldn’t believe this seaweed was florescent green
Calvin caught this huge crab and then set him free.
home sweet home
The water was warm enough to get out the boogie boards as the tide started coming in
An Omani family came down to walk on the beach at sunset.
Our Christmas 2011 photo
lighting the tiki torches as the sun sets
At night we sat around the campfire, ate hamburgers, drank coffee and hot cider and tried making Smores. Did you know that “normal” marshmallow are made with pork gelatin? Me neither until we moved to the Middle East. They do make marshmallows with beef gelatin, but they are not good. We had heard they weren’t good, but saw them in the store and decided to risk it. Let me reiterate: Not good. They are extra sweet and chewy and don’t get soft and melty like they are supposed to. Ick. The idea that marshmallows are made with gelatin and gelatin is made from bones is ick too, but let’s not think about that part. We have good marshmallows coming from the states for our next camping trip.
Anyway, it was a fun night. Defective Smores and all. Not too cold and going to sleep with waves crashing only a few feet away was lovely.
I woke up to Josh making scrambled eggs for breakfast.
I realized I didn’t take a single picture of myself except for this one that I took with my “high-tech mirror” to see if my hair was sticking out all over the place after I woke up. I think it has been well established that I am not a morning person.
After breakfast we swam for a bit, packed up camp, and headed home. Merry Christmas!