Tag: Masirah

Checking stored backup files.

Checking all my backup files after the external drives had been in storage for about five months and the long sea voyage.
I did bring one drive home in hand baggage which was fine, two others packed separately from my computer (PC) along with two 1TB hard drives which hold a complete ghost image of everything on both my laptop & PC. not taking any chances with lost boxes.
A lot easier with my negatives; a good thing because I have rather a lot and all filed (not very logically 😉  ) in ring binders & archival storage sheets.

 

 

Salt flats – near Shannah.

Gathering sea salt.
These were made near Shannah (Ferry port for Masirah) actually just a sleepy little place with a few buildings serving the ferry: although it has grown in size over the last year or so & soon may even have a coffee shop & what purports to be a hotel !

The pink tinge seen is from Halobacteria   they are a rather interesting form of Archaea  so are not actually bacteria and very dependant on salt, freshwater would kill them instantly. Confusing ! hence the links which give a better description than I ever could. Because even belonging to the Archaea family, they don’t follow the rules and are a branch with behavioural characteristics all of their own.

Ho and the reason I got these images is because I made a quick road trip to Masirah (work) so was lucky enough to catch this salt flat at its best. I have only once seen the whole area pink, in all the years I have made the trip (no camera – typical) but at least I got the salt this time.

Hilf – Masirah.

Hilf Masirah ramadanRas-Hilf:   as you can see, a thriving metropolis ! being fair it is Ramadan – made at 13:48.hrs.
I know, I never seem to have people in my images – I do try sometimes, honest  🙂

The mud on the road is because of a recent storm: around 250 – 300mm in a few hours, wet……..

Three little stones.

Three little stonesThree little stones.

“I like the Walrus best,” said Alice, “because you see he was a little sorry for the poor oysters.”
 “He ate more than the Carpenter, though,” said Tweedledee. “You see he held his handkerchief in front, so that the Carpenter couldn’t count how many he took: contrariwise.”
 “That was mean!” Alice said indignantly. “Then I like the Carpenter best—if he didn’t eat so many as the Walrus.”
 “But he ate as many as he could get,” said Tweedledum.

 This was a puzzler. After a pause, Alice began, “Well! They were both very unpleasant characters—”
From: Through the Looking-Glass.

 

Masirah beach.

Black sand MasirahA less windy and brighter part of the day compared with the last two images.

This is not pollution you see here, its dark almost black sand deposited after the last storm.
About 250mm of rain had fallen in a very short time several days before this was made.

Abandoned grave site – Masirah.

Note the scallop shell.

Ancient grave site on Masirah Island with mostly a Nne. Ssw. orientation – I have no idea of age, but it has not been enclosed with a wall  by the government so almost certainly pre-Islamic, although there is a mixture of styles.
No indication of an adjoining settlement and so far nothing from my search on the internet.

Several have very old crumbly scallop shells placed on them & vary in size from child to adult.

Masirah – just another day at the office.

New Masirah ferryShock, horror – Masirah has a new ferry that actually goes when advertised !
In a previous post I mentioned how the Masirah ferry is disorganised and chaotic – the boats are not exactly following any health & safety rules (in fact European H&S would have an apoplectic fit !) they go when they feel like leaving (no time-table, that was tried and ignored) and boarding is a free for all.

Not any more – look at the above picture, a catamaran with a time table & tickets no less. Safety video, air-conditioned seating the whole nine yards  🙂

Fishermen shacks Masirah

Fishermen shacks MasirahNikon 35Ti – Tmax 100

Fishermen shacks Masirah Island.

Walk along most of the beaches in Masirah and eventually you will come across these shacks built of anything that can be scrounged; either from the sea or abandoned by the military.

It can be quite interesting rummaging around, looking at what has been used – oil drums filled with sand were quite popular after the departure of the RAF in the early 70’s.

I remember a rather large pile of abandoned materials disappearing within less than 24 hours after our American colleagues  left,  at the end of the ‘first Gulf War’ .

Mind you I did get rather a lot of ‘MREs’ or (meals rejected by Ethiopians) so should not be that critical of the local fishermen.  🙂

Innerdale Monument Masirah.

Innerdale MonumentInnerdale Monument.

From an account by Tommy Hazell  Saltford, Bristol.

In 1943 a group of airmen built the monument on the North-East tip of Masirah near the airfield. It commemorates the massacre of the captain and 21 crew of S.S. Innerdale, a vessel of 3,340 tons, that had run aground on the Kuria Murile islands on 2nd August, 1904. The party left their lifeboat seeking help, and probably thought they had landed on the mainland. A tragic misunderstanding with the natives resulted in the deaths of captain and crew. The ship’s boy was the only survivor. The ringleaders were later executed by the Sultan of Muscat’s forces. The inscription on the monument was misspelt “Inverdale”, and seems to add a unique touch to an unusual piece of history.

A more official account:

The only survivor was a cabin boy who was taken aboard the Dalhousie. Whether the captain had deliberately decided to land, or had simply been driven ashore by the monsoon will never be known, but it appears that on landing, the crew were met by the local sheikh. The Arabs were friendly at first, but at some stage in the proceedings one of the crew fired a pistol. Whether the crew feared for their safety in some way or there was simply an accident cannot be ascertained, but in the resultant fight twenty-one of the seamen were killed. The Arabs buried the bodies in the sand near Ra’s Qudifah, close to the Northern most point of the island. The ringleaders were later captured and punished; some received the death penalty and were also buried on the Northern tip of the island