Bar al Hikman – the halfway point of Oman 3165

From the beautiful, but isolated salt flats of Bar al Hikman, sheltered from the seas by Masirah Island, Mark has reached the midway point of the expedition. After an amazing couple of days back in the kayak and 40 days since he started paddling, Mark has reached the halfway point of his journey along the coastline of Oman.

Tim, Marks land-based support, has headed inland to circumnavigate the salt flats leaving Mark alone for a few days. Always the avid birdwatcher, Mark saw a huge flamboyance of flamingos on the salt flats along with thousands of other birds and moved in closer for a look. But Flamingos wade in very shallow water and the falling tide caught Mark out. But always one for an adventure within an adventure, Mark took advantage of the water drying out around him and explored the mangroves.

As well as some of the wildlife he came across old wrecks, ruined shelters, a crashed aircraft and a haunting sight, hundreds of turtle shells. Eating turtles is forbidden in Oman today, but this was clearly a site of turtle hunting in years gone by.

After the tide came in Mark refloated his kayak and kept on paddling for a few hours into the darkness to find somewhere camp.

After 38 kms paddling today he is elated and well rested at the halfway point of the expedition.

Discover more about the expedition and track Mark at Oman 3165

The Oman 3165 podcast is produced in Scotland by Adventurous Audio

Sandwich Tern recorded by David Darrell-Lambert and used with permission under Creative Commons licence

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Episoder(23)

Oman 3165 Expedition update considering events in the Middle East

Because of recent events in the Middle East, Mark updates us on the Oman 3165 Expedition and why it has had to be paused until Winter 2027.Safely back in the UK there is still lots of work to be done ...

5 Mar 27min

A living legend in Oman’s climate community – meet Aisha Al-Balushi

Meet Aisha Al-Balushi: activist, educator and environmental impact officer Asyad Container Terminal’s Environmental Officer Aisha Al-Balushi shares her passion for helping the shipping industry and ot...

6 Feb 30min

Back on the water, back on the move with an old friend

Now the unseasonally bad weather has abated, Mark is back on the water again and continuing south west towards the port of Duqm which is about 3 days paddling away. He is joined on the expedition now ...

3 Feb 24min

Rain stops play! An opportunity to explore Oman’s maritime heritage with Captain Khalil bin Ali Al Hooti

Oman has been hit by unusually heavy rainfall and high winds so, while Mark waits patiently for the weather to allow him to pick up the journey where he left off at Bar Al Hikman, he takes the opportu...

28 Jan 18min

An oasis within an oasis

Having reached the south west corner of Bar Al Hikman, a site of international importance for migrating and wintering wading birds, Mark catches up once again with Jonathan Turner, CEO of Masirah Mari...

21 Jan 20min

From the shores of the Sharqiya Sands with Nigel Winser

The coastal waters Mark is paddling through are blooming into life. The upwelling cooler water is bringing with it nutrients from the deep, providing the fuel for the phytoplankton soup that plays suc...

12 Jan 31min

Andy Willson – Future Seas and the paddle ahead

As Mark launches into the next stage of the Oman 3165 Expedition he drops into see marine ecologist Andy Willson in Muscat. Andy set up Future seas, an Oman based marine research and conservation comp...

8 Jan 21min