Today was only the second day I didn’t fish since I arrived in the Middle East on April 3. Though my friend Nick Bowles, owner and founder of Ocean Active, offered to take Granny and I fishing, we decided it was time for a rest. And rest we did. We arrived in Dubai almost … Read more
Granny’s and my last Omani sunrise was a good one. Instead of enjoying it from the camp chairs I made coffee and watched as we headed north for Muscat. We arrived at Ray and Kerry Montoya’s house around noon. It was sad unpacking our RAV4 rental. An epic chapter in our lives has come … Read more
Sleeping in the wadi last night seemed logical to escape the dew that’s woke us up many a night here in Oman. We were a few miles from the ocean so the air was dry and there was a perfect breeze. But fifteen minutes after we put our heads down the breeze stopped and the … Read more
I definitely lost my mind for a few hours after the Africanus episode yesterday. Granny and I ended up in Salalah, Oman. The trip there happened because I kept driving south looking for rocky points and a rematch with an Africanus. Eventually I accepted that the occurrence was a rare one that may never happen … Read more
A tough night sleep here in Oman. It’s much hotter than our first few nights. And the dew! The dew has you soaked by 1 AM and it’s like sleeping in a sponge for the next four hours. Top that off with the fact that we haven’t showered in six days and salt and sand … Read more
I awoke at 5:45 AM to the Call to Prayer coming from Sharbithat. I sat up in my dew covered sleeping bag just in time to catch the sun popping up behind a distant mosque. The sights and sounds were almighty. We really are on the other side of the world. Then I turned to … Read more
We survived the spring high tide last night. The highest waves dampened the sand under the front tires of our RAV4 at 10 PM. We had a scary hour or so and we were lucky. We were also lucky because we had much less dew and once that tide started dropping we got a great … Read more
Granny and I had a clammy night of sleep our first night camping on the beach in Oman. We were on cots under the stars in our jungle (lightweight) sleeping bags. At about 1 AM I noticed we were getting covered in dew. By sunrise it was so thick we both were drenched from head … Read more
I’m not a fan of driving in traffic and I’m definitely not a fan of renting cars because it means double trouble – driving in traffic and usually driving in an area I’m unfamiliar with. The idea of renting a car in Muscat, Oman and cruising around has had me terrified for a month! … Read more
Saltwater fly fishing trips beat you up in the “good” way. They can be exhausting. Add in some rugged weather and bus travel across a place like Sudan followed by a four hour flight back to Dubai – I was wrecked today. To add to yesterdays big travel day from the Scuba Libre in … Read more
The wind never let up and now the temperature has dropped to the 60’s here on the Nubian Flats for our last day. It was so cold up top the boat where I usually sleep in my superlight sleeping bag that I moved down into sleeping quarters for the first time in two trips on … Read more
Weather hasn’t just been tough on the East Coast in the US, here in Sudan the Tourette – Fight it in Africa team has been struggling with unusually high winds all season. In case you haven’t saltwater fly fished, there’s almost always wind to contend with, but the last two weeks it’s been terrible, consistently … Read more