December 2nd was the UAE’s 51st National Day Celebration. The event is celebrated across the UAE in the days leading up to the 2nd and the following weekend. We checked out the activities in our apartment complex. Mila got a henna design on her hand, made a bracelet with UAE colors, touched a falcon, and had a staring contest with a mascot. There was music, and traditional donuts called luqaimat.

We had a full-day celebration at school. Kids dressed in the colors of the UAE flag or wore traditional dress. The girls went all out with makeup, fancy jewelry, and dressy gowns. Some boys wore white traditional Kandoras and carried dancing canes. Some wore military costumes and carried toy guns. A graffiti artist painted a UAE-themed mural on the school wall with the help of some secondary students.

There were student performances throughout the day. Mila and some of her non-native Arabic classmates made speeches in Arabic introducing themselves and their home country and sharing their favorite places in the UAE. Mila said her favorite place is the desert.

Each class spent a couple of hours on the field participating in various crafts and activities. There was henna and face painting, an opportunity to meet a falcon, and a chance to get a photo with a camel. Afterward, families were invited back to the classroom for a potluck. We had quite a spread of Arabic food, savory and sweets, and of course a box of dunkin donuts. One of my favorites was the balaleet, a sweet and savoury breakfast dish of vermicelli spiced with rose water, saffron, and cardamom, topped with an omelette.

For our long weekend, we decided to take a road trip to Oman. Our drive out of the UAE was smooth, and the border crossing was much easier than our last experience. We hadn’t booked a hotel because we weren’t sure how far we’d be up to drive and we figured it was a Wednesday so weren’t worried about finding a hotel last minute. We didn’t realize that Omanis also had a long weekend. Their National Day was November 18th, but days off were granted for this weekend. After our fourth try, around 11 pm, we found a hotel outside of Muscat.

The next day, we went to the marina outside Muscat, where we met our captain for our dolphin-watching and snorkeling excursion. We saw an impressive number of dolphins swimming together in pods. I brought along my dad’s camera and had fun trying to capture shots of the dolphins as they leaped out of the water.

After chasing dolphins, we headed back to the shores of Muscat. We saw the Sultan’s palace from the shore and then found a quiet inlet to anchor for some snorkeling. The water was a perfect temperature, and the visibility was great. We swam amongst schools of vibrant fish and saw lots of interesting coral formations, home to many black spiky urchins and popular gathering spots for small crews of fish.

We headed south to the small town of Tiwi where we stayed at a beach hotel called Tiwi Sunrise. The shoreline was happening! Locals had set up tents for BBQ and camping all along the shoreline. We settled into our hotel and had some biryani in the back garden while watching the World Cup, which the owners had projected on the back wall.

The next morning, we packed up for our adventure at Wadi Ash Shab. We had hoped to visit the wadi last winter break when we visited with my family, but a rental car snafu made it undoable. By the time we arrived, the lot was full, but we easily found parking along the road.

The hike started with a short boat ride past a forest of lotus flowers to the shore where the trail began.

We walked past small farms along the local falaj (irrigation channel) into the rocky canyon.

The canyon eventually narrowed, and we climbed on the cliffside trail with views of emerald pools and cool rock formations like this skeleton head below.

At last, we made it to the first pool where we left our backpack and changed into our water shoes. We swam across the pool and then walked along a shallow pebbly stream to the second pool. We carefully crossed some slick rocks to the final pool, where we swam through a tight crevasse to reach a small cave with a waterfall.

On the way back, the boys jumped off some rocks into one of the deep pools.

Being a holiday weekend, the trail was at times crowded, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the spectacular views. We witnessed quite the “traffic jam” when a couple of local farmers with donkeys were trying to get through a narrow portion of the trail, as a seemingly endless train of oncoming tourists blocked the way. Eventually, someone stopped the group and made way for the farmers to pass. We hiked back to the trailhead, where we waited for a boat to take us back across. Though I can imagine how magical the wadi would be on a quieter day, the atmosphere was festive, and the hike and swim made for a memorable experience.

In the evening, we explored the seaside town of Sur. We walked by the maritime museum and up to the dhow yards, before having a seafood feast in a cushioned open air room next to the sea. An aggressive but cute kitten meowed at us throughout the meal.

For our last night, we wanted to camp and had considered many different options. Wild camping is allowed pretty much everywhere in Oman. We used a cool app called iOverlander to find some possible spots and decided to camp outside Nizwa. On the way, we stopped at another Wadi, Wadi Bani Khalid. This wadi was a short walk from the parking lot and a nice spot for a picnic. A group of young Omani men were picnicking next to us and were quite hospitable, in typical Omani fashion, offering us chips, watermelon, and chocolates. Mila brought over some cookies to share with them. At first, they politely declined, but I guess her insistent smile won them over.

Our campsite was just outside of Nizwa, nestled behind a rocky hill with a view of the mountains. We enjoyed campfire-roasted hotdogs and s’mores and some seymichki (sunflower seeds).

The next morning, we walked around Nizwa which was also festively decorated for National Day, and visited the date souq where we loaded up on samples and bought a bunch of dates and tahini. We love the very informative and specific signage on stores in Oman.

We headed towards the border, stopping for an Omani breakfast, fresh juice, and Karak tea in the town of Ibri. After a few more hours including another smooth border crossing, we made it back to Abu Dhabi.

We are so happy to have such adventurous kids who entertained us on the road with Mad Libs (where all blanks were filled with the word “butt”- it’s funny, you should try) and samples of DND adventures. I am not allowed to reveal our DND personas, but I wonder if you can guess who is who: a Dwarven Fighter named Smirken, a Halfling Rogue named Rosabelle, an Elvish Bard named Delphina, and our Dungeon Master.

Stay tuned, for our next adventures in Turkey and Greece in less than a week!