Through the hidden canyons of Al Jabal Al Akhdhar

Last week, my friend Rami asked me if I wanted to join him and another three friends to go camping in Al Jabal Al Akhdhar and travel from Al Khoof to Al Faraa through Wadi Sleila, a tributary of Wadi Qasheh, a main branch of Wadi Tanuf. The last time I visited Wadi Sleila was a few years ago.
I was happy to join them and on Thursday after lunch, Rami picked me up from home. We drove to Birkat Al Mouz to meet our friend Hamood, who would drive all three of us to Al Jabal Al Akhdhar.
It was 6 pm when we reached Al Khoof, where Mohamed, a good old friend of mine, had a small farm.
Every time I go there, we camp at Mohamed’s place.
It was the perfect time to be there at that moment of the day because we could admire a magnificent sunset.
Our two other friends, Lina driving from Abu Dhabi and Sultan from Nizwa, arrived around 8:30 pm.

We had a delicious dinner before going to our tents, not too late as we had to wake up at 5 am to start our trip no later than 7 am, as our journey would be quite long.
Everyone set their alarm for 5 am and we were all up to pack our camping gear in the cars and have breakfast before the start of our wadi crossing.
Sultan had arranged for two drivers to bring our cars to the village of Al Faraa at the end of our trip.
At 7 sharp, we were all ready with our backpacks filled with ropes, climbing gear, food and water for the day.
Our journey started by following an old trail linking the villages of Al Khoof and Al Faraa. The path goes on a superb plateau between two canyons, Wadi Qasheh and Wadi Sleila. After progressing on the flat terrain, we had to climb down into Wadi Sleila to reach a place where I had set an anchor to abseil down a first drop around 10 years ago. This descent is around 25 metres.

I was the first one to go down, followed by the others.
Then we travelled in the wadi bed to reach the second drop of 40 metres. The view from this point is breathtaking. We could see Wadi Qasheh crack hundreds of metres below.
Once we all abseiled this pendular drop, we had to avoid a massive cliff of around 350m and abseil another 3 drops, measuring approximately 200 metres divided into three sections from the left bank of the canyon. It was already very hot at this moment of the day and we were exposed to the sun while we were descending this massive cliff, but we were very happy to see the fresh pools in the wadi bed where we would cool down once we got there.
It was already 1:30 pm when we reached the 'promised' fresh ponds where we had a snack and a long break to enjoy this small 'paradise'. From there, we had to do six more drops to reach Wadi Qasheh.
To my surprise, the first abseil ended in a large empty cauldron filled with gravel brought in by the last flood that happened a couple of months earlier.

In my previous visits to Wadi Sleila, this basin was always filled with water.
Further on, the following abseils ended in magnificent crystal clear ponds.
It was already 5:30 pm when we arrived at Wadi Qasheh. Once again, we stopped for a short break to savour some dried fruits and crackers that Lina had hidden in her bag! From that place, it would take us approximately an hour to reach the village of Al Faraa, where the drivers were supposed to bring our cars.
Walking in the wadi bed was very pleasant. It consisted of traveling between boulders, swimming in a few pools, which was very much welcomed as temperatures at this time of the year were approaching 40 degrees, even late in the afternoon!
We reached Al Faraa around 7:30 pm and it took us more than 12 hours to finish our journey.
For me, canyoning is not a race; one must spend time to 'savour' every place and take lots of pictures to share them later with the world and show how beautiful and unique our beloved Oman is!