As we’re winding down our time in Oman we’re trying to make sure we don’t miss out on any of the things that are “must dos” here. The boys and Josh had been out on a boat to go dolphin watching and snorkeling several months ago, but that time I stayed home with Camille because what sane person takes a toddler on an all day boat trip?
On Thursday I decided that I would be joining the ranks of the insane (since I’ve spent plenty of time there already, what’s one more day?) and was going to attempt a dolphin watching/snorkeling/beach picnic day with a child under the age of 2. It couldn’t have gone more perfectly.
She looks concerned, but that’s just the wind in her eyes — the boat was traveling at serious speeds as we headed out to find the dolphin pod.
The ship captains all have radios and communicate with each other when they find dolphins. Our guy went right to the spot, slowed down the boat and the kids went out on deck to watch.
One of my favorite photos from the day
We saw hundreds of dolphins — swimming, jumping, splashing
This one is a little sea-sick inducing, but it shows more of the dolphins. I was too busy watching to get much with my camera.
After we had our fill of dolphin watching the boat turned around and headed to a snorkeling spot — the wind in her face and the speed of the boat jostled her to sleep.
We went to a protected area (not that there are waves to contend with anyway, but we were surrounded by the mountains on all sides) and the boat captain dropped anchor above a coral reef. Josh was going to sit with the baby since she was still asleep, but as soon as the boat stopped moving, she woke up. Now what? Rock, paper, scissors for who gets to go in the water? Thankfully, I had a brilliant idea (if I do say so myself).
Camille had a life vest so we brought her into the water and I was going to swim around with her while Josh snorkeled and then we would trade. But then I thought: since Camille is used to hanging out on my back, why couldn’t she ride on my back while I snorkeled? I realized if I put on a vest I could propel us around using my fins and she could ride along while I checked out the sights below.
Win. Win. Win.
It worked perfectly. She was happy, I was happy, and Carter even snapped these pictures of us once he climbed back on the boat. Taking baby wearing to new places. The fish were plentiful and diverse — as I was swimming through schools of them it felt like I was in one of the tanks in the Monterey aquarium (except I bet the Monterey tank water is much colder). Brightly colored fish only inches from my fingertips, parting on either side as I reached out to try and touch them. We also saw 2 turtles, some big parrotfish, and a bunch of other fish that I couldn’t begin to identify — orange ones, silver ones, striped ones, spotted ones . . .
When we’d all had enough of the snorkeling, the driver pulled up the anchor and brought us to a picnic area on a nearby shore. The best part about my snorkeling partner is that I got tired of the water before she did. Amazing.
We ate, played in the water, the kids all had mini water guns that shot surprisingly far (you never know how well things will work when you buy them here)
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| photo credit: Ross Macfadyen
Before we packed up to leave we were able to take a group photo. Josh’s favorite part about this picture (taken with a timer) is that it caught the jet skier in the background. Normally that would ruin your picture (and we did take another one that was skier free), but this jet skier is unique: If you zoom in you can see that the woman on the back in the orange life vest is wearing jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and a hijab. Of course her male companion isn’t restricted in the same way. :sigh:
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As we packed up to leave the boys were having fun hanging off the bow of the boat and dropping into the water.
I have no idea how many sodas Carter drank that day and I didn’t notice it at the time, but he has a Coke in hand in almost every photo. (The boat came with a cooler full of sodas and water). That kid.
Ready to cruise home
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| photo credit: Ross Macfadyen |
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On the way back the driver let the kids take turns at the wheel. I wasn’t the biggest fan of that. I was sure they were going to hit an extra big swell at the wrong angle and we would capsize. Yes, I know that’s completely ridiculous, it’s just what my brain does. And in my defense, we were going really fast and I was sitting on the side of the boat that was leaning into the water.
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photo credit: Ross Macfadyen
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Carter’s adrenaline rush after giving up command to the driver. Now my heart can go back to beating normally.
My brightest child — he didn’t want to drive the boat. I wonder where he gets that from? (poor thing)
When we got close to this our driver slowed down and we were all able to go out on the deck as we glided through the hole in the rock.
3:30 pm and she was still all smiles as we pulled into the harbor. A perfect day.