Last summer I planned to go to Saqa in Jabal Akhdar to explore the possibility of reaching the village of Saqa al Sufla without using any climbing material.
The last time I visited this magical place with my son, I spotted a wadi that can possibly be reached at the bottom of a 140m waterfall without using any ropes.
No one wanted to wake up early that day so I decided to go on my own to check out the canyon. I reached the village of Al Manakhir, near Saqa, around 9am.
When I stepped out of my car I saw Said whom I met around three years ago in Saqa with his brother, Masood.
“Long time no see Khaled. Where have you been all this time?“ asked the young man.
When he saw that I was alone, he offered to accompany me to visit his “domain”. We agreed to meet at Saqa after one hour. I took the donkey trail and reached Saqa in 45 minutes. Said was already there as he took a short cut in the cliff!
I wouldn’t believe that there was a way to cross this cliff without ropes until I saw Said do it ! These guys are just Super Men!
From the abandoned village, I followed my guide, climbing down the wadi until we reached a pool the locals call “Al Gaba al sawda” (The black pool). It lies at the bottom of a “sublime”, extremely beautiful, 140m waterfall fed by the stream of Wadi Aswad. There, Said offered me some luscious black grapes from his garden.
After a short break, we started climbing back to Saqa, taking another route. My friend wanted to show me a 500 kg, unexploded aerial bomb, a remnant of Jebel Akhdar war in the 1950’s. The shell penetrated halfway into the ground but did not explode. It is huge and still has a copper plate describing this terrible weapon!
We hiked up to Al Saqa where we stopped under a tree to have some snacks. While eating, Said told me many old stories about the life in his village, where his family lived until 1979 before moving to Al Manakhir.
His parents used to grow wheat and garlic, and trade garlic for dates. It took them three days to reach the market in Samail and return to Saqa. Said’s uncle got married to a woman from Wakan in Wadi Mistal. He brought his bride to Saqa on donkey back.
Once we finished eating, we started hiking on the old donkey trail to Al Manakhir. Along the way, Said told me the names of the places we passed through. “I learned everything from my father. He knew every single stone in the whole area. During the war my parents used to travel through the mountains at night, taking routes that only they knew existed. Even today, the elderly won’t tell anybody about the location of these routes”.
On the way back, my guide called his wife to ask her to prepare lunch for us !
We were served a delicious meal composed of rice, meat and vegetables.
After Qahwa, my hosts wished me “Maa’l Salamah”.
I arrived back home in Muscat late afternoon, ending one of my best adventures in Jabal Akhdar.
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