Our anticipated 4 hour road trip across Oman turned into a ridiculous 7 hour jaunt that ended in darkness and the youngest one puking for the final 2 hours. So, as expected, it went pretty much as planned. Ugh. Does it ever?
Some of that is on me. We got away late. Our hotel in Nizwa had a pool and in the 45 degree heat, it was nice to be spending time in it. Just chilling, really. Plus Max had learned how to dive the day before and was wanting to squeeze in as much of that as he could.
We finally hit the road with full bellies and spent energy. And that was part of the problem. I was wiped. So there were a few stops that involved push-ups, burpees and jumping jacks, to get my blood flowing, adrenaline running and keep my eyes open. Oh and Coke, that too. I'd later regret drinking too much Coke, but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. Again, as has been the theme so far in Oman, there were lots of wrong turns and missed turns and stopping to ask people for directions who couldn’t speak english and to be fair to them, we can’t speak Arabic either. So it was pointless. Google Maps wasn’t much help either. Especially through the desert when there wasn’t any reception. It was a frustrating drive and thankfully, Max was tucked into a book and well Sully was getting caught up on current events. Yep, 11 going on 61.
We were still hours away from our destination as the day slowly turned to night. The playlist eventually changed in my favour from Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift to The National, Nathaniel Rateliff and Ryan Adams (singing Taylor Swift songs - which messed the boys up completely).
And then Max.
This is maybe the 4th time on the trip that it’s happened, but he started puking. There's never really been any rhyme or reason as to why it happens. But it's usually only a short burst and then he's over it. Maybe he's just completely over tired? Who knows? He continued puking for 2 hours...into a plastic bag. Yes, I didn’t want to stop every time he had to puke, or we may still be driving. Sully was his caregiver and I made sure Max gave me a verbal, 'I'm ok daddy' every time he finished hurling (gawd, I'm the worst). But!, this process allowed us to continue on our not-so-merry way. The car smelling worse and worse as we went. Finally we arrived at our guest house. Upon exiting the car, Max forgot he had a bag of puke in his lap and half of it ended up all over him and the other half became soaked into the seat. (Which made for a lovely eau de gross the following morning). Sully freaked. I took a deep breath and stripped Max. The woman at the front desk had to be wondering what kind of hot mess had just rolled in...and whether or not to even rent us a room. Eventually we all made it to our beds. It was after 10 pm and knowing we had to get up at 3:30, the boys went right to sleep. I was wired from drinking too much Coke and stayed up later than I should have, planning the next few days.
But. But, BUT. Although it was hell getting up (and btw, Max was a champ) we arrived at the site by 4 and realizing we were the only ones there, we got very excited. And then when our guide drove us to the beach and we saw all the turtle tracks and previously dug and camouflaged nests (there were LOTS), we became more excited. It was still dark when we saw our first turtle. The last time we saw this happening was in Costa Rica, less than a week into our trip. And we were in a large group of 20 people surrounding one turtle and nest. Oman was so much better and different. And it clearly helped we had the entire beach to ourselves. it was a pretty incredible feeling. Especially when the sun started to appear and we realized what a beautiful spot we were in (watch the videos). Essentially the most easterly point in Oman, watching 5-ish turtles lay their eggs and then exhausted, make their way back to the sea. It was pretty much perfect. And made the road trip from hell seem like nothing. I say pretty much, because I’m still dying to see turtle hatchlings appear from their nests and race to the sea. It hasn’t happened yet…I’m determined to make it happen. But time is running short.
