Echoes of the camel trail

QUOTE: ‘The khatla is a school of life. It teaches respect for nature and patience — something our modern world has forgotten'

Nora Schweitzer, 
Freelance journalist and photographer

As dawn breaks over mist-draped mountains in southern Oman, camel bells echo softly through the emerald valleys. Herders gather in small groups, readying their animals for the khatla — Dhofar’s centuries-old seasonal camel migration that marks the end of the Khareef Dhofar Season.
For French freelance journalist and photographer Nora Schweitzer, the khatla was more than a story. “It felt like stepping into a living chapter of Arab history — raw, rhythmic and deeply human”, she says.

Of Moroccan origin and fluent in Arabic, Nora has long been drawn to desert cultures. Before coming to Oman, she travelled with Tuareg tribes across Algeria and Mauritania. Her connection to Oman began years earlier in France, when she watched a documentary about Omani seafarers and dhows. “That story of crossing cultures stayed with me”, she recalls. “Oman is where sea and sand, Africa and Arabia, tradition and modernity meet”.
Her first visit to Dhofar came in 2021 on assignment for GEO magazine, where she was stunned by the lush green hills and waterfalls below her plane. “I never imagined such greenery existed in Arabia”, she says. The resulting 40-page feature captured Oman’s landscapes and spirit, but Dhofar lingered in her mind.

Introduced to the khatla by Dhofari poet Ali al Maashani, Nora became fascinated by the jabali tribes and their annual migration that follows the natural rhythm of rain and pasture. Her curiosity took her deep into Wadi Darbat, where members of the Maashani tribe shared stories of their forefathers and their camels’ journeys through mist and mountain.
She returned in 2023, convincing GEO to send her back to document the khatla. For two weeks, she lived among the herders, camping under the stars and walking alongside camel caravans that crossed the green highlands into the plains. “They gave me a jabali nickname — Nour Esh Aazhi”, she smiles. “Nour is my name and Esh Aazhi means ‘Ali’s daughter’ in the jabali language — a gesture of trust and belonging. Their generosity was overwhelming”.

Her journey took her through four wadis and several tribes, spending days in the mountains before moving slowly on foot with the herders. “It took two weeks because I wanted to live their rhythm — slow, deliberate and deeply connected to the land”.
To Nora, the khatla is far more than a pastoral practice. It is a cultural bridge between generations — a living rhythm that binds Dhofar’s people to the land. Men lead their camels along ancestral routes known only to elders, while evenings are spent around campfires, sharing food, music and tales that preserve collective memory.

“The khatla is a school of life”, Nora says. “It teaches respect for nature and patience — something our modern world has forgotten”.
Today, local photographers and cultural advocates are calling for the khatla to be recognised as intangible cultural heritage, ensuring its lessons of humility and coexistence are passed to younger Omanis. Nora’s 14-page feature in GEO and Le Figaro helped bring international attention to Dhofar’s nomadic traditions and the delicate balance between heritage and change.

For Nora (@schweitzer_nora), the journey remains transformative. “Dhofar is a landscape of wonder — where the past still walks”, she reflects. “Every caravan that disappears into the hills whispers the same ancient promise — that heritage, when lived, never truly fades”. “As the first rays of sunlight spread across the mountains, the camel bells grow distant once more — carrying the echoes of Oman’s enduring nomadic soul”, she adds.
Photographs by Abdullah al Maashani and Nora Schweitzer