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Ol n' Ben around the world
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Location Date Europe 1492297200 Africa 1492297200 Asia 
1462662000 North America 1126393200 -
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Packing
After breakfast, Marco gave each of us two waterproof bags to store our stuffs for the 4-day kayak trip. Basically: one waterproof bag for the sleeping bag and the other one for the clothes. It is more than enough considering, at that time of year, the weather and the air temperature even at night. Of course one shouldn't have taken his -10°C sleeping bag since it will too big and completely useless for the trip. O* had a Millet Baikal 750 which was perfect for the trip.
If ones wonder what to wear, the trip technical sheet from Oman Nature (pdf in french) is pretty good. It has to be emphasized that cotton t-shirts should be avoided since with salted water it quickly becomes rigid as cardboard.
Loading the kayaks
Then, with the minibus, we all went to the shed, in Khasab city center where the kayaks and other equipment are stored.
The company owns 6 tandem touring kayak from Prijon (Excursion model) and a solo touring kayak from Prijon (Touryak model) for the guide.
We were given self-inflating air mattresses and a tent for two.
We took everything we needed and we loaded four kayaks at one time on A* SUV towards the port where we would start our trip around 15:30 after having a quick lunch.
Paddling
We paddled out the Khasab bay toward Sham bay. We paddled for about 1h30.
Marco taught us how to kayak and gave us some tips and tricks. Actually in the group, except two persons that were completely new to kayak, we all had, at some points, already done some kayaking.
On the way to our first campsite we met cormorants, hawks, flying fishes and dolphins. And of course dhows, the typical Oman boats.
The first day was actually a short route to go to our first campsite on a long sandy beach. The full route (in .kmz Google Earth format) is here.
Most of the group went swimming to enjoy the overly warm temperature of the water. People in the group that had traveled a lot said they'd barely experience such a water temperature at sea. We were not the only ones: at a swimming distance of the beach, some dolphins were tranquilly passing by.
On the beach, due to the warm temperature of the air, we didn't put up the tent. We decided to sleep under the stars.
At 18:00 night was already here. Just before we could enjoy some nice colors from the sunset.
We had dinner altogether until around 20:30.
That's about when one of us found an hermit crab whose shell was a bottle red plastic cap! And if you happened to remove its "shell", it would, in a very nimble gesture, put it back on it. S* did a nice movie about it. Enjoy, it's pretty fun!
- comments
aakbar3022 Hi there,Your blog is very informative and will help in our upcoming kayaking trip in Musandum. We are two friends on two kayaks and will be doing pretty much the same route you guys took, however I wanted to ask you if guys made a list of things to take or have any suggestion for us for the trip. I would appreciate your input. Regards.
O n' B Hello and thank you for your comment!Concerning logistics, everything was taken care of by "Oman Nature" which provided the trip. Nevertheless, here is a non exhaustive list of what we took with us on the kayaks during the trip : tent (not necessary at the end of october!), sleeping bag, a thin self-inflatable mattress, snorkeling gear, cooking gear (plates, forks, knives, gas stove), food (fruits, rice, vegetables, pasta...), water for the beginning of the trip (you can find tanks in some villages in the bay where you can refill your bottles), pills to purify water if you fear to be sick, a small pharmacy (aspirin, sunblock, dressings), swimsuit, cap, sunglasses, camera and a spare tshirt! One or two waterproof bags are mandatory to keep your personal stuff dry during the trip. Hope it will help. If you want more information, I suggest you go on the website of any travel adventure company organizing kayak trips in warm waters and you should find what you're looking for.Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy your stay in Musandam as much as we did.