How was your Explore Tour Leader?

We had a team of 4, including the leader, a great cook and the drivers.  They looked after everyone extremely well.

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

I would recommend trying to go a day earlier as we got off the plane and were straight on the road for 3 nights bush camping.  If you need your home comforts this is not the trip for you as there are long drives and also a night spent sleeping on the deck of a very basic dhow (it did have one toilet!). However, you do get to see a varied section of the country. If you want to venture further south you need a longer trip.

Do you have anything else to add?

A great short break, especially after our never ending winter.  It left me feeling refreshed and with lots of fantastic photos.

How was your Explore Tour Leader?

He was fine

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

Shop around

Do you have anything else to add?

"Good to have been loos for women while camping.  A simple windbreak like you have on the beach to get behind would make life a lot easier!

Peter"

How was your Explore Tour Leader?

Ahmed is a very knowledgeable guide and totally committed to his country and to making sure that the tour members sing the praises of Oman. He works hard to make sure that people see all the best sites and answers questions - even the very tough ones! Ahmed is a superb driver and a great ambassador for Oman and its people.

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

The hotels were better than expected. We found that asking for non-smoking rooms was a good move in terms of freshness but also the non-smoking rooms in Muscat were better than the smoking rooms - cleaner and more modern. The camping is in small easy to erect tents. Help is always on hand. A supply of toilet paper is critical - it is rarely provided in public loos (it is available from the guides in camp). The sun is deceptive - bring suitable protection a keffiyer is great and can be bought in markets and souks. If possible take your own snorkeling gear as the stuff on the Dhow is not brilliant - very limited flipper sizes, and leaky masks! Watch out for jellyfish which stung a few of us on the morning swim. Plenty of vinegar on board to neutralize the sting!

Do you have anything else to add?

This trip far exceeded expectations. I don't do camping. Bush toilets and no showers for three days is not my usual choice. However, the Oman trip was excellent and even those features were far less of an issue than expected. I usually felt I could have spend a little longer at the places we visited but that is the art of good planning. Leave them wanting more! We had a turn with each of the 4 drivers and all were great and very safe. Be aware that cars will take 4 passengers each if the trip is full (we had 2 cars with 4 passengers and 2 cars with 3). The middle rear seat is not a great place to be. Make sure people rotate! Finally, those who fly in on day one on the group flight go straight on the road. No chance to freshen up. One poor feature on an otherwise fabulous trip.

How was your Explore Tour Leader?

KHALID OUR GUIDE WAS VERY GOOD AND DESERVES SPECIAL PRAISE FOR SECURING THE DHOW AFTER WE WERE TOLD WE COULD ONLY HAVE IT FOR THE EVENING AS THERE WAS ANOTHER BOOKING FOR EID. AS IT WAS WE HAD IT FOR THE AFTERNOON THROUGH THE NIGHT AND FOLLOWING MORNING AND BECAME ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TOUR.

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

GO ON IT AND ENJOY IT TO THE FULL. OMAN WHAT A LOVELY COUNTRY,FULL OF SURPRISES

 

How was your Explore Tour Leader?

Very helpful and kind. I think he needs to get a little wider experience of the world and consider his views on his religion - which he shared with us at times - and whether this is appropriate. I did not contradict him but others did challenge some of the statements he made.

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

Check the dates. My tour was in the run-up to EID which, whilst interesting, meant that the full day in Muscat was a little boring since museums on the itinerary were closed. Explore need to be careful about this!!!

Do you have anything else to add?

The camping was also a good experience but this is not for every one and the travelling was tiring. I arrived having travelled overnight and the first day was very tiring with the walk in the wadi and the heat. I think this needs to be changed.

When my 5 star-only friend agreed to come with me on the “Arabian Sands” trip to Oman I decided to keep some of the itinerary on a strictly need to know basis. I needn't have worried. 3 days free camping along the coast from Muscat to Sur and on into to the Wahiba sands is simply the perfect way to experience this fascinating and beautiful country. As we journeyed from the modern facilities of our luxurious Muscat hotel to the practical simplicity of the nomadic Bedu lifestyle, from the early morning sunrise on Finns Beach to home cooked campfire suppers in the middle of golden sand dunes, we were immersed in Oman, ancient and modern. The cultural renovation programme under the current Sultan gives many of the sites visited a veneer of newness, but scratch just a little under this surface and Omani pride in their long history is soon revealed. On first sight the “Revlon bronze” walls of the Jabrin Fort at Nizwa seem too pristine for it’s 17th century origins but wandering through the sensitively restored rooms or looking down from the rooftop on the bustling town below soon evokes a sense of what it would have been like to live and fight there 300 years previously. The sprawling Nizwa souq is also newly built but it too conjures up echoes of the past as traditionally dressed men haggle over the price of goats at the bustling, weekly market. Moving inland the breathtaking vistas of the “grand canyon” seen en route through the mountains are worth every minute of the long 4 wheel drive journey on unmade roads and steep mountain tracks necessary to get to the top of Jebel Shams: The Mountain of the Sun. Descending from the mountains back to Muscat, motorways and the 21st century, we felt that in 9 days we had really got under the skin of this ancient and welcoming place. Like every one else I know that has visited the Sultanate, including my 5 star friend, we left with the promise that we would be coming back. (OM- 3rd April 2010)