Mark Evans, British explorer and adventurer, whom I accompanied on both my Arctic expeditions, successfully attempted to kayak the entire 1700 kilometre coastline of Oman - "The Around Oman Challenge". Chris and I were his land-based support crew driving a sponsored Landrover. As well, we raised funds for a charity in Oman - the "National Association for Cancer Awareness" and also promoted Oman as an adventure tourism destination.

For more details on the expedition go to www.aroundoman.com

The expedition was divided up into three phases, mainly because we all had to earn a living, so each phase was squeezed into the school holidays (Mark was a geography teacher in UK - but transferred to the British School in Muscat after Phase Two, and Chris was a school teacher in New Zealand).

Expedition dates were as follows:

Phase 1: 6 December 2004 to 11 January 2005

Phase 2: 22 March 2005 to 20 April 2005

Phase 3: December 2005 to January 2006

Phase One
The journey started high on the Musandam Peninsula and followed down the northeast coastline past Sohar, Muscat and Sur, around Ras Al Hadd and terminated at Ad Daffah. Throughout the journey, occasional sidetrips into the mountains provided a change of scenery. During this phase I had my wife, Chris, with me to assist. The first 26 images below were selected from the ~1300 taken, for an exhibition in Muscat at the end of phase two in April 2005.

Phase Two
Commenced in much warmer conditions than Phase One with temperatures climbing into the 40s. Chris was unable to help on this phase, but Madeleine, Mark's wife was there to assist. From Ad Daffah, we made our way south down the coast, through the Sharkiha Sands (Wahiba), past Masirah Island, around Barr Al Hickman, on down to Ras Madrakah, and ending on a remote beach near Al Juwayrah. The next 11 images depict aspects during this phase.

Phase Three
Mark and Madeleine were now living in Muscat. Within one hour of of Mark finishing school, we were driving south in a brand new Landrover to find our remote starting point in the darkness. Overall the remainder of the journey down to Salalah and on to the Yemen border was straightforward, highlighted by scorpion stings, minefields, and luxury of the Crowne Plaza for a civic reception. The remaining images cover this final phase and the drive back to Muscat.