Ma Salama!

by  | 18. März 2020

We are back in Germany – green, rainy, well-organised, toilet paper deprived Germany – oh how we missed you, or did we?! I`ll admit it dealing with the thought that we might not be able to get back was pretty unpleasant, but I can`t say that I felt particularly homesick over the last two weeks and I hope neither did the other fieldtrippers. Letting go of the excursion routine, the great outdoors and the people that surrounded you non-stop is easier said than done. So, to make our transition back into our everyday lifes a bit smoother and to say goodbye to our readers, I am writing one last blog.

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in agricultural farm, Bronze Age, copper, crust, desert, dunes, goat, mangrove, Moho, Muscat, nomads, oasis, salt, sea turtle, souq, toilet paper, tsunami, wadi   , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0

A song of bronze and frankincense

by  | 15. März 2020

Oman is a wealthy state. We have seen various expressions of this wealth in the last two weeks. They come in form of prestigious development projects like the botanical gardens or the university, in form of a rather wasteful usage of water and in form of cheap fuel, I mean when did you last fill you 120 l tank for 45 €? For Omani citizens the governmental welfare is almost limitless. There are no taxes, free healthcare, education, and a piece of land to build on for every married adult. All of this wealth pours from a single source: oil. One can discuss the sustainability of this situation, but that is not where I am going with this.

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in Bronze Age, copper, mangrove, Moho, sea turtle, souq   , , , , , , , , 0

The Old Men and the Sea

by  | 7. März 2020

At our beach camp of the last couple of days two things are very obvious. First, Gösta always makes us park in “direction of escape” and second, if you wish to avoid the toilet-tent and instead use the beach – better do it early, otherwise you risk to become amusement to the many fisherman that pass you by on their speedboats.

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in mangrove, Muscat, sea turtle, tsunami, Unkategorisiert   , , , 0

Welcome to Muscat – the capital of mess and the seedling of sustainability

by  | 3. März 2020

The day has come. In dribs and drabs our newly minted Oman-travellers arrived at the hotel in Muscat. A hotel that conveniently changed its name and 1/4th of its facade over the last couple of months, but otherwise, from staff to breakfast, remained exactly the same. From the standpoint of the arrivals, something else probably changed its facade over the last 24 hours and that is Oman itself. The country went from a blank shape on a map to a real place with character, colours, sounds and smells.

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in Muscat   , 0