Oman
Jebel Qamar
Forest-softened escarpments drop through hidden wadis towards Dhofar's western sea.
Jebel Qamar's western slopes hold wooded gullies, sea cliffs and paths that disappear into cloud during khareef. In winter, clearer air exposes the scale of the coastal escarpment.
Jebel Qamar, the Mountain of the Moon, is Dhofar's far western escarpment, where wooded gullies drop towards the sea and wild frankincense trees, Boswellia sacra, stand on the slopes that made this coast rich. Khareef wraps the mountain in cloud each summer and leaves it green into the walking season, November to February. A licensed trekking operator runs the mountain as a four-day programme, three to five hours of walking a day with camps and transport carried in the plan, because the terrain is remote and the exits are few.
Solo
The four-day programme takes single walkers, and the guided format means the remoteness is the experience rather than the risk.
Couple
Four days of escarpment, gullies and camps make this Dhofar's proper walking holiday, booked as one piece.
- Boswellia sacra, the frankincense tree, grows wild on these slopes, the same species that built the Dhofar trade.
- The escarpment drops through wooded gullies to the sea, greener than Arabia has any right to be.
- A licensed four-day trekking programme walks the mountain in three-to-five-hour days, camps included.
- November to February is the walking window, after the khareef cloud lifts and before the heat.
The licensed trek is full board, its kitchen carried up the mountain with the camp.
From day-one lunch to the final breakfast, the camp kitchen is the mountain's only table.
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