Jerry Buzzell

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JERRY BUZZELL

Part 3: Musandam Journey

The mountains here are like those further inland, with numerous stratifications tilted in all directions, huge boulders broken away and lying in the water or at the shore, deep crevices and gullies and caves resulting from erosion. In some of the small caves just above the water's edge were stored piles of fishing.

We chugged along for about an hour, heading toward a small rocky island topped by. This is Telegraph Island, which the British used as a base when they were laying cable between India and Iraq in the nineteenth century. It has an Arabic name as well (Jazirat Maqlab), but everyone (including the local Arabs) know it as Telegraph Island. It is small and abandoned, except for three goats. We anchored on the lee side.

Laurence and Josette had brought snorkeling gear and we'd all worn our bathers under our clothes and so the three of them jumped into the water. I was less eager to swim because I was concerned about getting back onto the dhow. That problem was soon solved, as another tourist dhow pulled up alongside and tied onto us. That dhow had a ladder, which was hung over the side. With that reassurance, I went in for a swim as well.

Laurence and Josette, with masks, snorkels, and flippers, circumnavigated the island. They reported fish were colourful and there was lots of coral which, however, was badly damaged by crown of thorn starfish. Lots of sea urchins, sea cucumbers, tunicates, etc.

My swim was brief, although the water was nice. Eventually, we all were back aboard and the ladder was returned to the other boat. Then we up-anchored and headed further into the khor, to another anchorage spot.

This time there was no other dhow with a ladder, and both Linda and I decided not to go into the water. Laurence and Josette did and raved about the sea life there. From the boat we could see brain corals, spiny sea urchins, and iridescent blue and orange fish. The snorkelers reported no crowns of thorns (which was a relief) and lots of interesting sea life. But after a while, they had to get back on board.

Not easy!

The makeshift 'ladder' was a loop of rope tied to a line and hanging over the side of the boat. A monkey might have been able to use this to climb aboard without assistance, but the length of the rope and the curvature of the hull of the boat made this very difficult for a human being. Josette was the first one to try it and, with Hassan and me taking her arms and pulling her over the gunnels, she made it but was (and still is) convinced that she cracked a rib in the process. Laurence is somewhat heavier and couldn't have managed alone either. If Linda and I had gone in, we would probably still be there.

But finally we were all aboard, had a bite of lunch, and weighed anchor.

We were headed toward a small village on the north shore of the khor when we saw the first dolphins. Hassan changed course and soon we were in the middle of a pod of about half a dozen. We were with them for a few minutes as they surfaced, leaped, and dove, and then they were gone.

Soon after that, we decided that we'd had enough sun and sea for the day and asked to be taken back to Khasab. We were getting baked and had had a good time and were satisfied with the day's activities. We were back at the pier around 2 o'clock (by which time the loading of the smugglers' boats was well under way) . We left Khasab and the Musandam the next morning and returned to Al Ain.

Best,

Jerry & Linda
Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

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