An uplanned adventure - Khor Kalba

The last time we made it to the east coast of UAE in summer, we enjoyed the beautiful ride and the nature we got to see all around us. You can get to see that post here http://colorsofourrainbow.blogspot.ae/2014/04/highway-destination-khorfakkan.html . We had promised ourselves to pay frequent visits to this side of the country once winter sets in.

An online search brought out many places, and we short listed khor kalba. By noon we had set out on our drive taking dhaid-masafi -fujairah route. As we exited the city we were greeted by the vast expanse of the desert. But once we crossed ras al khaimah, the scenery changed. The stunning hajjar mountains again. How delightful it was to drive in their midst, a change from the rush hour traffic in the city.

Why we decided to go to khor kalba (a part of the emirate of sharjah), we had no idea ourselves. Even after a lot of google search we did not come up with any substantial information on the place, neither was there any information on tourist activities there. All we read was some vague mentions of a beautiful mangrove there, with some marine life. It sounds crazy to take a drive of 2 plus hours with a child in the rear to go just have a look, but  sometimes they are the best journeys taken, though you may risk not finding anything at the end.


As we crossed fujairah , it seemed like we had made a wrong judgement. There were no major sign boards. Driving with our modest sedan onto the unpaved roads with goats loitering around reminded us how ill-equipped we were for exploring without an 4x4.

An hour and half to go for sunset and a bit exhausted with a tired kid, we had steered ourselves to just ride a few more minutes and turn back. We stopped at a place with a few roadside shops , in what seemed like buzzing with some activity , lots of parked cars and fishing equipment on sale. Taking a much needed tea break to see if we could find some information about the elusive place we were looking for, we were instructed to go one kilometer farther and we would reach the place. But the shopkeeper told us there is nothing much there and asked us why were we taking the trouble. Not heeding into his pessimism and with a last ray of hope we headed to one last bit that the we were told to drive.

Fully anticipating disappointment as we reached to the last roundabout, we could see some water body and a few parked cars in what looked like the centre of the small town. Happy to have somewhere to stop , our hopes lifted. It was a a huge lake or backwater with a strip of man made cor niche and grassy areas for the visitors to relax. It did not look like it was worth the long drive. To add into our woes , there was only one boat operator there and a huge queue to get on. We managed to haggle up a price and get on a tiny motor boat.

Now the excitement built up a bit. With a little time on for sunset, the serenity of the lake was great, buzz of insects all around us and the beautiful setting sun. As the lights came on in the city we could see the full moon above us. A beautiful sight indeed. We could have stayed on there all by ourselves if we had more time.

May be it was the tricks of our travel-weary mind, but that was one of the most serene and beautiful boating we had . We missed to locate the mangroves of Khor kalba though :-(. On our way back we took a different route back to sharjah. We could see some wadis (springs) and some long tunnels through mountains. Yet again, we decided to come back to explore more and find the mangrove the next time and have a barbecue near the wadis.

This time around, luck was again on our side and at the end of the day, all we remembered was the being in a boat, in the middle of the water , with sounds of nature, and a full moon above us. It could not have gotten better. We wished to have stayed longer.

Leaving you with some pictures, though they don't do justice to what we experienced...



The Hajjar mountains, again




Pretty little lake




Sunset from the water



City lights



This was the best

ZAIN & FARZ