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Philip Game | all galleries >> Arabian Gulf (3 galleries) >> Sultanate of Oman > High above Fossil Valley, outside Buraimi
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High above Fossil Valley, outside Buraimi

High above Fossil Valley, outside Buraimi

Oman

Soon after taking up a posting in Abu Dhabi, booming capital of the United Arab Emirates, I began to look for opportunities to explore beyond the city limits.

The stalwarts of Abu Dhabi's Natural History Society were enthusiastic companions with access to suitable vehicles. Whilst some took the opportunity to catalogue hitherto unknown desert plants or 5,000 year old grave sites, others of us revelled in the prospect of exploration pure and simple. Our excursions into the Hajjar Mountains or up into the Musandam Peninsula usually crossed the loosely-defined border with the Sultanate of Oman.

At midday on a typical Thursday, as the city clocked off for the Muslim weekend, we would set course for the mountains.

Our journeys had the lure of the true unknown, as maps or guidebooks were rarely unavailable. At best we could pore over a simple chart drawn up by the electricity authority; we compiled sketch maps and track notes as we went.


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stephanie 27-Aug-2011 08:07
i am the person who lived at hilli sheep farm, just past fun city , my husband alasdair is buried in the cemetry , past fossil valley then swing right over bridge , cemetry used to be there. alasdairs grave had sheep around the border of the grave stone
Philip Game 27-Apr-2011 01:00
Sounds like you knew Fossil Valley even better than we did. I haven't been back since 1985, never came across anybody's sheep farm in those days.
Guest 26-Apr-2011 08:42
had many great times in fossil valley, my husband buried just down the road in the aloha cemetry, seeing those pics makes me want to come back, we were originally from hilli sheep farm , aussie x pats who ezplored every inch of the desert , do u know of salem bin khabbi who has a large farm high up in the hills turning left thru the pass I hope I hear from u , who ever u are
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