In the field, finally!

This story is written by Marike.

I cannot recall the last time I was in ‘the field’ to collect some research data. It may have been the trip to Nicaragua two summers ago. Or possibly it was to conduct the final interviews in the Dutch municipalities before writing up the PhD thesis. One thing I do know, however, is that I haven’t done any field work yet since moving to Oman. And that I was impatient and eager to change that. So some weeks ago I was in higher spirits with the two-day field trip with my colleague Heba to study the tourism development in the area east of Muscat.

This coastal stretch of land has undergone tremendous changes the last few years, with new hotel resorts under construction in various locations. We were curious to see the scope and progress of these developments and we eventually want to understand how the nearby villages and their communities are affected by it. Our first step is to map the area, here is a first rudimentary impression of what we encoutered: villages (red), tourism resorts (blue), tourism construction sites (purple) – and this is all taking place in an area spanning 40 km…

To give an idea of the type of tourism development, see the picture below. The government attracts (foreign) investment companies that develop a site, and the new destination area is usually transformed into a mixture of hotels, a marina, a golf course and residential homes. Once sufficient cash is generated by the sale of the homes, construction then takes off, and investors outsource the hotels to hotel operators such as Intercon or Four Seasons.

Above is Jebel Sifah, a resort in development some 45 km east of Muscat, that will eventually consist of luxurious villas, four 5-star hotels, 2 smaller hotels, a marina, a shopping & restaurant area. Oman tourims development seems to be grounded in thinking BIG…

Although it was hot and despite Ramadan we still managed to talk to some villagers

 

 (“what is that bulldozer doing on the other side of the bay, yet another development?”)

 
…and appreciate the local public art (definitely another subject I’d like to research!)
 

The Al Bustan village deserves some special attention here. The entire village was relocated about 1 km west to make room for the prestigious Al Bustan Palace, probably the most iconic hotel of the country. We wonder what this has meant for the villagers. Have they continued their fishing activities? Have they adjusted to their modernized, standardized homes? And to what extent do they find employment in the nearby hotel and does the hotel purchase their agricultural and fishing products? The outcomes seem promising.

Al Bustan village relocated 1 km west to make room for the Al Bustan Palace (in the back)

A rather sad story is that of Yitti beach. What used to be a popular weekend destination for the people of nearby Muscat, had become the location of a massive tourism development of a ‘lifestyle resort’ by Dubai investors. But when Dubai went bankrupt, so the Yitti project stalled. What remains is the 3 million cubic metre of rock and sand placed onside, and an unfinished marina.

Popular beach turned into a abandoned construction site

And whereas the Al Bustan villagers were relocated in 1984 to a beach setting – similar to what they were used to, the future move of the Yitti people is to what seems to be a suburb amidst the mountains:

Moving fishermen to the mountains: where do I catch my fish?

Doing field work is never a burden, but doing field work in a tourism area is especially attractive! Here are some impressions of all the beauty we admired:

Matilda's 1st birthday!

Matilda celebrated her birthday in style. Together with a large group of friends, she took the time to reflect on her first 12 months, and look ahead on the year to come. Jet-set girls like Matilda do not hesitate to fly Muscat-Amsterdam to throw a party and her 'entourage' just has to follow.

As Matilda's social agenda is overflowing, she convinced her oncle and auntie to plan their wedding 2 days after the big day so she could combine things.

The event was set in the new Cardozo Mansion in picturesque 'Kortenhoef', a venue big enough to host all of her 36 guests in style and still have enough room to play.

Matilda measuring the venue size, checking couch softness, and crowd controll measures. The devil is in the detail!

The party in full swing, with friends Yorick, Plien, and Maartje.

With everything arranged, and personally inspected by Matilda, nothing could go wrong. Such a special occasion deserves a special cake, with a personal touch. The 'I can say bird'-society, proud to have Matilda as member, wished her a happy Birdday.

A special Birdday cake

And a candle!

As a real socialite, Matilda was spoiled with attention and overloaded with presents. Special arrangements were made to make sure that the flight back to Muscat did not have too many passengers so she could quietly do some bedtime reading.

 

Still, one crazy fan managed to get past the tight security measures, and just had to get in a picture with Matilda, fortunately, she was fast asleep!

Closure of the visitor season

Before Oman would turn into a heat oven, with summer approaching, some brave people still visited us in March and April. This also marked the closure of the visitor season. We have had visitors for 10 weeks spread out over 5 months. Who will visit us next season to beat this record? Mi casa es su casa!

Our dear friends Liesbeth and Stef and little Yorick came to Oman in March.

The weather was still lovely, although on our trip to the desert we were all suprised by the heat, to say the least. We spent much time together in the garden, on the beach and at the swimming pool. Matilda and Yorick seemed to enjoy each other's company very much:

The desert was stunning as always. On the journey we had lunch alongside the road:

We spent the night in the palm leafed huts of the Nomadic Desert Camp, and enjoyed a wonderful sunset:

Two weeks later, Aline and Sophie took the journey to Muscat. And couldn’t return due to the volcanic ash clouds that paralised much of Europe’s air traffic. Consequently, we had the luck to have them stay with us for another five days! The time was spent sightseeing in Muscat, dune bashing, motor crossing, snorkeling, exploring forts and wadis and many visits with friends, friends of friends, and more friends. We also went on a day trip to the Jebel Akhdar (see our post of last October when we visited the mountain as well), where we hiked on the “village walk” and pick nicked in style in a brand new gazebo.

 

Now, it is quiet without our visitors, the house is empty, will routine life finally start for us here in Oman? We will wait and see. And in the meantime, we can only hope to welcome more visitors in the next season!

Matilda Mania

Here is a brief update of little Matilda, who is turning 10 months in a week. What does life look like?

Eating forms a considerable part of her daily routine. There is always room for rice cakes in her stomach!

Playing is of course another major activity - whether 'behind bars' or with books!

Crawling is getting better every day, she is challenging herself to cross some difficult boundaries...

...and even more challenging ones!

At times she will encounter a smurf on her journeys...

Or she will just be charming to the max:

And the latest addition in this list is that she started to climb over objects, including daddy:

Of course, there are numerous other Matilda activities, including riding the stroller, playing in the garden, and sleeping. But that wasn't caught by the cameras! 

A stroll on the beach

Matilda has encountered her first cold, and yesterday she was in desperate need of some salty ocean breeze to clear her nose. So we went for a stroll on the beach. It was a Thursday afternoon, which is the weekend here, and it was one of those days that Omani and expatriates alike walk, picknick and play alongside the ocean. The sunset and the afternoon light were so special that we’d like to share some pictures with you.

Matilda getting her spa treatment on the seaside

Sunset on Shatti beach

A view of Qurum Heights, our area of residence.

Football everywhere

We finished our walk in a nice cafe where we drank something we have recently discovered in Oman: Zatar tea, or thyme tea. Delicious! All of this was to pursue the glorious healing of Matilda's cold, of course!

Happy New Year!

The picture above shows how we entered the 2010. With good friends, we 'jumpstarted' the new year! Erik and Marija came for a one week visit. They spent a long time preparing the trip and had a very busy program. Their experiences may inspire other readers to come and spend some time in Oman.

On December 31st, we all left for the desert to camp and celebrate new year.

With two cars we went into the desert, the Jeep was having some trouble getting through the sand....

........But the Pajero loved it!

Matilda does not really care about cars

Our camp in the desert, trying out the roof tent!

The next day, we visited Wadi Bani Khaled, and took a swim in the pools.

The second night, we stayed in Misfah, in a bed and breakfast. The accommodation is unique but quite basic.

The B&B has a lovely roof terrace where we spent the morning lazing.

The castle of Misfah.

A walk through Wadi Ghull.

A visit to Bahla Castle, the oldest and one of the largest forts in Oman.

And a visit to Jabreen Castle before heading home. This castle is not the oldest, nor the largest, but certainly one of the most beautiful!

  

After our trip, Erik and Marija spent 5 more days in Muscat. Our guest car was in repairs, so transport was  by taxi. Erik showed his true globetrotter skills and negotiated diplomatically with the drivers to get the price down from 6 to 2 Rials!

The Oman Dive Centre is a good place to do a day on the beach.

A visit to the fish souk.

Marija with Matilda in our garden.

And a visit to the hot springs of Nahal.

A Middle Eastern wisdom: "don't make fun of the rosewater guy or you may get more than you asked for!"

What a great week, Erik and Marija thanks for the great company!