Hosted by Pelorus founder Geordie Mackay Lewis, we “curated a multilayered Oman immersion,” writes Alice, “packing in as many experiences on as many social and physical latitudes as possible”.
Over the course of four days, Alice explores a frankincense plantation with her guide, who has lived as a nomad since the age of ten, and drives deep into the Empty Quarter to a remote camp, where “besides our tiny, merry gang, there’s no trace of human life as far as the eye can see”.
She discovers hidden waterfalls and turquoise-tinged pools in Wadi Darbat; “off-roads through empty dunes to a deserted beach, with talcum sand and rocky outcrops sheltering otherworldly blue water”; and goes in search of the Arabian leopard in the Jebel Samhan mountains. On the latter she writes that “the Pelorus team has come up trumps, leaping through bureaucratic hoops to arrange a private meeting with Khaled Al Hikmani, who has dedicated his life to protecting the endangered Arabian leopard”.