Wadi Bani Awf, April 2009

Wadi Bani Awf, first canyon around 6-10 km.

Better to be out of shape and have a good job than to be in shape and have a bad job. This is engineer versus geologist, Ali versus Carlos, and, like always, friendly disagreeing. But who really has the best job?

This would be tested on a field trip to one of the famous canyons of Oman, Wadi Bani Awf. In April temperatures are still bearable, around 30 degrees Celsius, unlike the summer heat of 40-45 degrees Celsius.

Last week it rained and the wadi still had a lot of water. The main gravel road was closed for a few days by floods and parts of the road was washed out.

In the wadi it was busy, a car every few minutes. Many were Omani families from the city taking the opportunity to see the floods and have a dip in one of many pools.

The first canyon has excellent rock exposure and here we would concentrate. Although the rock exposure was good along the road, geologists always want to climb up, must be a natural instinct. We went up some 150 m, partly along 3^rd degree rock faces. We had a nice view over the valley.

A motorcade of many 4WD rushed through the valley. They were in a hurry. We counted 20, they were labelled number 20 to 39, carrying older people, probably cruise ship tourists. One day in Oman, must see the fort in Nakhal, this wadi and the cattle market in Nizwa. A lot of driving, some 8 hours, and few stops. They came back after 2 hours, spending at most 30 minutes in Bilad Sayd the large village deep into the valley, at the foot of the Jebel Shams plateau, rising up with a one km high rock face.

Geologist live their great fantasy, in the office you may not believe them but when you are in the field looking at real rocks you may change your mind.

Basin ward syn-sedimentary slumping based on small structures in the beds is one thing. More impressive are the km scale pieces of crust thrusted over the other rock, now forming these mountains by doubling the crust, using evidence from folded and faulted rocks on a meter scale.

The evidence seen in the rocks make their stories come alive, like in science fiction movies.

So who has the best job, a geologist living his fantasy in the vast natural world and stay in shape, or the engineer living in his small, steel and concrete world and out of shape?