One of the things that has been on the "bucket list" since arriving in Oman is to go canyoning in Snake Canyon. Snake Canyon is a narrow gorge in Wadi Bank Awf, which gets its name from the way it winds its way through the Al Hajar mountains (rather than being full of live snakes!).
We met up with our guide Rob from Oman Adventure early doors before setting off on the 2 hour drive to the start of the trail. There were 6 of us on the trip, Jen and I, friends Gill, Dawn and Amy and another girl Kristal. We left one of the cars at the bottom of the canyon (and remembering to take the keys with us!) we drove the other 2 up to the starting point which is about a 10 minute drive away and got kitted up.
We were very fortunate that there had been some rain in the week preceding our trip so the pools were quite full. However, due to the rains the depth of the pools had also changed due to rocks and silt being washed down. After a 5 minute walk into the start of the canyon, Rob took the plunge first to test the depth of the water and once we all took the initial plunge we were committed to keep going as climbing back up the algae covered soft rock is near impossible.
The walk through the canyon involves hiking, jumping, climbing and sliding across and over rocks.
There are 2 main walks through the canyon. They have different starting points, but come together in the middle for the final section. When we reached the point where the 2 meet, we decided to take a walk into this area of the canyon to see what the next trip would be like. Just a few minutes walk in there is a rock about 6m tall, just asking to be jumped off.
This was a great day out and I'd highly recommend to anyone with a sense of adventure. Bring on the next Snake Canyon trip.
