A fearless expedition to Lulu Island

After nine months of yammering about buying a kayak, we took the plunge, with a used inflatable kayak on Dubizzle (the Craigslist of the middle east, minus the racier sections).  We can't wait to explore all of the mangroves, inlets, and islands suggested by terrific sites like this one.  But we wanted something less ambitious to start with. 

And so we set out for Lulu. Lulu island is a long man-made piece of land directly across from Abu Dhabi's downtown, and is only accessible by boat.  For a few years, there were restaurants and talk of serious development (not a unique story).  But now it lies empty, with big red dunes and rows of palm trees.  

The set-up took a bit longer than expected...

...but eventually we figured things out.

Margaret is ready to launch, and hoping that the thousands of little fish don't nibble her toes before safely in the boat.

After a half hour of rowing (and looking neurotically every time we heard a motor boat) we made it to our destination.

We discovered some creatures hiding under rocks.

And made it back in time for a dip in the gulf!

A quick jaunt to Oman

 

We should go to Oman more often, we concluded after our trip last weekend. It has everything. Huge rock formations....

 

 

Dinky towns that boast multiple castles.

 

 

Carpeted boats....

 

 

....fit for a young sultan....

 

...or even his lady.


These gentlemen are probably closer to being sultans than we are. When asked how many children he had, the man on the right first said he didn't know. Unsettled, the Dutch man who had asked inquired again, and got a vague mumble: "dozens." Nick had a brief conversation in Arabic with them, which involved much laughter.



We were on the Musandem peninsula, at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Though it is surrounded completely by the Emirates, it is part of Oman, a vestige of the tribal affiliations. And, unlike the northern emirate of the UAE, Ras al Khaimah, it is wonderfully empty.

Look carefully, and you'll see a tiny fishing town. No signs. No fancy hotels. Want to get there? You'll have to take your own boat, and you'd best speak Arabic.



There are other, more accessible towns, but they are almost as small and quiet as this one. And that means that their beaches are even quieter, though some are surrounded by little fishing boats. You can camp on many of them, including Bukha beach, with no questions asked. We will be back soon, sand tent in hand.


And when we do go back, we will take our new kayak, and will likely skip the carpeted boat. But the boat trip was marvelous. Here are butterfly fish (or so we're told), swarming to eat little pieces of apple.

 

And here are the peninsula's famous dolphins, playing nearby.

 

 

 

Perhaps they were more exciting in person.

 

The boat took us to Telegraph Island, which the British used to string wires to India in the 19th century.

 

 

We had a lovely hour of swimming in the coral reefs surrounding the island. We saw starfish, sea slugs, all sorts of medium sized fish, and a few different kinds of coral. And then it was back to Khasab, where there is a wonderful beach, just outside of town.

 

 

...with little huts to shelter in...

 

 

 
...lined by jagged rocks.


And populated by small children, a few people intently doing calisthenics, and some goats.

We ate dinner in the most beautiful parking lot on earth, surrounded by craggy cliffs, a crescent moon overhead, and calls to prayer ruffling the crowd mid-way through our meal.

 

 

We were happily reminded  of Washington's core strengths on the trip up.

 

 

No other apple comes close....but Oman's beaches will give Seattle's a run for their money.

 

Sweden & Scotland Reading Lists

Sweden

Mary Wollstonecraft's Letters Written in Sweden, Norway and Denmark (1796). Full of interesting observations (one, "it may be delivered as an axiom, that it is only in proportion to the industry necessary to acquire wealth that a nation is really benefited by it," might resonate with Abu Dhabi residents). 

Selma Lagerlof. The Saga of Gosta Berling. First woman to win a Nobel for literature. 

Tomas Tranströmer The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems (contains his 1954 17 Poems, for which he won the 2011 Nobel). 

Stieg Larson. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Perfect plane reading....we can find out what all the fuss was about. Henning Mankell is also on the list, should we run out of material. 

Scotland

Samuel Johnson. Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775).  

James Boswell. The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1785). Yes, these are straight off of Margaret's lists for oral exams. Did she read it then? She can't remember. Will she read it now? Definitely.

Robert Burns, Complete Poems (includes his 1786 Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect).

All things Walter Scott. All things. But perhaps his 1802 - 1803 The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border is best for evening reading, and lolling beside lochs, and huddling over tea to avoid summer rain. And John G. Lockhart's Memoirs of the Life of Walter Scott (first published 1837 - 38) - but very selectively. There are ten volumes -- that's at least nine too many, for carrying purposes -- in the second edition.

Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped (1886). Loads of Scottish landscapes, and loads more adventure. 

And tour books, but we haven't got those yet. If we splurge, we will go with Eyewitness, as usual, but if we find extremely cheap, older guides in our favorite Abu Dhabi used bookstore, we may be tempted into roughing it with those. Suggestions -- on reading of any kind -- are very welcome.