Turtle Trip in The National

[PR]

If anyone's interested, my latest article in The National: http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/mot ... -isolation

[Saud]

Great article .. on my list to visit ISA .. thanks for sharing these experiences with us Paolo .. wish u all the best.

[Wasif Ahmed]

Superb article as usual.

How many cars were there in your group.

I liked the "packing for camping" article as well. One question. If you are planning a 3 to 4 night camping trip away from civilisation what kind of food would you take and how would you store it?

[PR]

Thanks guys - for food over 3-5 days you can try with shaved ice and a good cool-box (mine is marine-grade); in cool weather it's fine even up to a week, but in summer only if there's a place you can add fresh ice. Every fishing town has cheap shaved ice by the docks, and most gas stations sell ice in plastic bags. Buy a good cool-box and keep it in the shade and open it only for very short grabs.

For long and remote trips we do it differently without ice (and without BBQ sometimes) - we pre-cook meat, so it only needs re-heating, and we cook dry foods like pasta, rice and beans in a pot or pan. Dry bread and long-life milk and jars like Nutella make excellent breakfasts.

[Mpenzi]

a truly unforgettable experience.
Next time bring us with you man.

[Lizzy]

[PR]

Thanks I debate this every trip, actually.

And the conclusion is No Guilt: it's a public place and my job is to report on the trip and hope that readers take the drive and enjoy the experience as I did. Actually, I think that very few people who do not appreciate and respect nature would take the 2,000 km drive to a remote beach in Oman... I doubt anyone would drive so far just to trash the beach, and so it's better that those few get the chance and the majority read about how precious and delicate these places are. It's like the National Geographic and Discovery channels - it's better to combat eco-ignorance by providing information and knowledge, and by raising awareness.

[Lizzy]

You're right that its remoteness is currently it's best protection from the thoughtless and poorly educated. But I do wonder how guilty the publicists of the Hatta pools and Wadi Wurayah feel now. Though I don't suppose those that left litter and ruined them went to these places to purposely 'trash' them; it's more a lack of envirommental awareness through lack of education. Hopefully this isolated spot can remain untarnished for longer than they did.