Camping @ Wadi Sidr/Sana

New Year's Eve: Stayed up to watch the live YouTube stream of the Burj Khalifah fireworks. You can watch it here. It was awesome. The Burj is 30 minutes from our house but the idea of showing up there five hours early to save a spot to watch the fireworks and then fighting traffic for three hours to get home afterward did not appeal to us. That's why we watched it on YouTube. I love YouTube (and Dubai for streaming it there).

New Year's Day: Beach + camping.

 Beach. Too many jellyfish today. Jeremy took them on and has lots of stings to show for it.

Camping. We drove into the mountains in the middle of nowhere (specifically, the nowhere between Masafi and Dibba, called Wadi Sidr or Wadi Sana). I had this picture all set up and then Miriam said, "hey, I can see the ocean!!" It was actually the Gulf of Oman.

 That's better.

The campsite. It was a steep, rocky drive to get there but the site was peaceful and quiet and had lots of kid-friendly exploration opportunities. Three out of the four of us got really cold that night, though. Magdalena inexplicably stayed toasty warm the whole night. Miriam got cold and woke up so many times that this morning she asked, "Why does nighttime last FOREVER??"

 On the drive out, this camel seemed annoyed that we were existing in her same space.

 A scarecrow, Arab-style. That's a kandura it's wearing. I continue to be amazed at the remote, far-flung places that people build villages (and soccer fields*) here.

Masafi, UAE: one of these stores is not like the others.

Camping at Wadi Sidr/Sana was like Oman Lite. The drive was shorter and the mountains were smaller and it was a little warmer but it was a great place to be out in the wild. Happy New Year!

*I actually wrote "football pitches" here and then changed it. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME???