4X4 SAFARI IN THE MOUNTAINS

The Musandam escarpments, seemingly deserted and monotonous, conceal many treasures: mountains, of course, but none resembling the other - sculptures of rock more or less cut, more or less high, more or less round; tangles of massive blocks as if worked by colossi. The guided 4x4 excursion penetrates the heart of this mineral environment to the panoramas and key sights: the Khor Najd and its valley of acacias, the Sayh plateau and its crops, the 2,097-metre-high Jebel Harim. This peak is the second highest in the sultanate after Jebel Akhdar. Unfortunately, the area is reserved for the military and you can't go all the way to the top - you'll have to make do with crossing the pass at 1,572 metres. Fossils abound in the surrounding area, and some rocks even contain nomadic paintings dating back some 4,000 years - snake, spider, woman. The name Jebel Harim refers to "Women's Mountain", a reference to the time when the Portuguese controlled the Strait and locals hid their wives and families high up in the mountains. It's also an opportunity to discover the harsh living environment of the last Khasab mountain dwellers: humble stone shelters on the side of sometimes vertiginous walls, natural pools dug into the rock but now dried up, terraces of grass and fig trees growing right up to the stone.