Feeling blessed

Yesterday was my birthday and as it fell on the weekend we decided to see a bit of Oman and do something that all of us would enjoy as a family. So we booked a 3.5 hour dolphin watching, snorkelling and coastal cruise trip in a glass bottomed boat. We left Marina Bandar al Rowdha near al Bustan , about 20 minutes or so outside of Muscat, at 0830 with the temperature a balmy 33 degrees (well balmy compared to the 40 plus degrees it was until last week). Not long after leaving the marina and heading out to sea, we encountered a school (or pod, I'm not sure which is the correct term...) of what seemed like around a dozen dolphins. We think they were common or spinner dolphins which apparently are the most common types found in the gulf of Oman. 100 or so photos later and I think that I managed to get 1 or 2 reasonable shots of these amazing creatures, showing just how close to them we were.

A little further along the coast, past a couple of fishing villages and a few big exclusive hotel resorts (I made a mental note to visit sometime!) and we pulled into a secluded cove surrounded by coral reef. Here we spent some time snorkelling in the warm waters which due to high salinity made it seem particularly easy to float, a bonus in my case as I am not a particularly strong swimmer. We saw several different types of colourful fish that are only found in this area of the World such as the Majestic Tang with it's yellow fins and bright blue fringe, the electric blue, yellow tailed Tang as well as an eel-like creature...hmmm wasn't so keen on that one!

On the way back to the marina the captain pointed out places of interest along the coast including the Parliament buildings which looked as if they were practically on the beach and the popular Oman Dive Centre which we plan to visit sometime. All in all it was a relaxing and very enjoyable morning and the perfect way to spend a birthday, feeling blessed!

Finally, I had to include this quote of the day as it did make me laugh.
Husband (pointing to dolphins)' you don't see that in Goring'
Youngest daughter (pointing at the sun) ' no and you don't see that either!'

Qantab Village

Al Bustan village

First impressions

View from the Crown Plaza hotel 

Arriving in Muscat in mid-August it was quiet, very quiet...in fact for a while it seemed as if we were the only people on our compound, there were no lights on anywhere. With so many people away it did however mean that there was less traffic on the roads and so it was a good time to orientate myself and start driving in the Middle East again, a very different experience than in the UK...lots of changing of lanes and weaving in and out and forget it if you leave too big a gap between you and the car in front, it will take you forever to get anywhere. Assertive driving is what's needed but I still needed to psych myself up to get in the drivers seat. Luckily our tank of a car gave me a sense of protection from what seemed like madness around me.

Sunset at Shatti Beach - The cooler part of the day

My first impressions of Muscat and living in Oman

• Muscat - With its beaches, mountain back-drop, palm trees and brightly coloured bouganevillea, Muscat is a beautiful low-rise city with friendly people   
• The heat - I hadn't forgotten from my Doha days what it is like to live with the summer heat in the Middle East; staying inside until late in the day, living with air conditioning and keeping children occupied when it's too hot to run around outside...these are just some of the things I am having to get used to again. I had however forgotten about the humidity, my hair just hates this weather and no amount of product seem to be able to tame my frizz!
• Eating out - How many fast food restaurants?! They are everywhere! I have yet to find a truly healthy hang out even though we have tried a few restaurants already, Thai, Indian, International, Italian etc we have been reasonably adventurous but I'm not really sure they exist here in Muscat. In fact food has been a bit hit and miss for us and sometimes even disappointing even at the more expensive establishments. By far the best food experienced in Muscat was the traditional food served at the home of an Omani. Local fish, herbs and spices, chicken and coconut curry, traditional Omani bread and rice, delicious!   
• Shopping -No more Tesco and Riverford organic deliveries for me. I have found myself making trips to 3 or more supermarkets several times a week. I can't find everything I want but I have found some organic food and a few health food products (which cost an arm and a leg) but for now we are trying to eat more fresh fish and well washed local produce. I have however heard that Organic foods in Dubai make a delivery to the Wave in Muscat once or twice a month so I shall shortly be investigating. Oh and I am trying to summon up the courage to visit the local fish market too, goodness knows what I'll come back with though... As far as clothes are concerned, well let's just say I think I shall be taking a trip to Dubai a couple of times a year!  

View from our roof terrace

Overall, our first 6 weeks in Muscat have felt pretty much like a long holiday, knowing no one and without too much to do except find our way around. However, since school started a couple of weeks ago I have started to feel like I am actually living here, probably due to having more of a routine and the fact that our shipping finally arrived after 2 months at sea. We also now have a list of things we want to do and places we would like to visit here in Oman and so have started to put some dates in the diary; Salalah; desert camping, boat trips and Opera house visits so watch this space for the pics. 

A new life in Oman

Like many things in our lives over the last 10 years or so, our move to Muscat was slightly unexpected and unplanned.  My husband accepted a job offer and left the UK within just a couple of weeks in March of this year. With the school year to finish for my two daughters aged 11 and 9, a nutrition business to wind down and a house to pack up, we followed just over 6 weeks ago and are now just about starting to make a life for ourselves in Oman.
Rewind 5 years and we were in a similar situation moving to Doha, Qatar. At the time I toyed with the idea of writing a blog to record our time in the Middle East and to keep our friends and families up to date with what we were up to. I may have even got as far as writing a couple of posts but that's about as far as it got, but I now wish I had. We only ended up staying in Doha for a year, but that's another story...So here we are again after 4 years back in the UK and here is my blog. I must add to that that I am no writer and my grammar is often awful. There is also no set agenda, although nutrition is likely to feature often, what and where we eat, shop and cook. Travel is also high on the list as we are just embarking on new adventure and plan to make the most of it.