Yallago - Two brave women started crossing Oman to celebrate the strong links between Oman and the UK, and commemorating Oman’s 50th renaissance.

A year ago Anisa asked me to join her on the support team of YallaGo, back then the expedition was called beeline Oman. I do not consider myself an expert on expeditions but for sure an adventure fanatic. By having my own experience running a 6 days self-sufficient race in the Oman Desert Marathon, and a year later volunteering as head of runners relations in the same race, I had not to think too much about joining the expedition and adding my humble share to it.

I have known Anisa for a few years and had the chance to train together on several occasions. I have followed the news about her expedition in the Euro-Arabian North Pole Expedition 2018 with interest, and I even attended the talk she did together with Natalie Taylor, when the idea of the expedition started to grow in Anisa and I got inspired by Natalie’s words: “Train hard, fight easy” 

It seems it was not long ago when Anisa and I brainstormed about the type of volunteers, their profile and desired competencies. Many details to think about and what seemed distant then, is happening now. Anisa is at this moment halfway crossing Oman with Natalie, the other half of the YallaGo expedition. “Yalla”, one of the most popular Arabic words, means “go!”, and YallaGo expedition is the first of its kind as Anisa and Natalie will cross Oman by foot in a straight diagonal line, without deviating from the selected route by more than 5km, making this extremely challenging and dangerous given the diverse terrain Oman offers. The YallaGo expedition aims to inspire the youth of UK and Oman to enjoy the outdoors and be active, to set an example of resilience by travelling straight though all the difficult terrain, to celebrate the strong links between Oman and the UK, to showcase the Renaissance and to showcase the diverse nature of Oman's nature and cultures; along the way visiting villages by the sea, climbing mountains and crossing wadis, dunes and desert plains.

As anyone who has spent time in nature knows, one of the joys (and sometimes frustrations!) is the reminder that we aren’t always in control, relevant even more in this post-COVID-19 world.

The Explorers 

The expedition is formed by two brave women, who started crossing Oman from the Northern tip kayaking the seas. It continued on the 2nd leg traversing mountains, and they have started already crossing the desert plains. Experiencing the beauty and rich history of Oman along the way, they will go on a straight line to the South coast. The journey will take 50 days, each day representing each year since the Renaissance. On November 18th Anisa and Natalie started their journey and they will finish it on January 2021.

Anisa Al Raisi @anisa.alraissi

Anisa Al Raisi is an Adventurer & Athlete. She was one of 11 women to ski to the North Pole in 2018, and the first Omani to ski to the geographic North Pole. Anisa is also a kiteboarding instructor, a rock climber and an inspiring and motivational instructor at Outward Bound Oman. Outward Bound is an educational not for profit international foundation that helps develop people from all walks of life. Photo by Muna Khalfan

By using the mountains and deserts of Oman, Outward Bound Oman is able to run adventurous and challenging outdoor learning programmes that equip people with valuable skills for education, work and life.

Natalie Taylor @taylor_ntaylor 

Dr Natalie Taylor, from the United Kingdom, is an enthusiastic athlete, Girl Guide leader, yoga instructor and adventurist. She is also a member of the Royal Army Medical Corps and was named one of Marie Claire's 'Women at the Top' in 2015. Major Natalie Taylor led an all-female army team on a trek across the Antarctic as part of Exercise ‘Ice Maiden’, where they skied 1,700km across Antarctica. The aim was to collect data on female endurance in extreme environments, as well as inspire women to take part in what is often seen as a male activity.

The Support Team

I joined the support team, on the 2nd leg, which gave me the opportunity to see more of Oman from another perspective and immerse myself more in the Omani Culture. Having lived in Oman for seven years, the more time I spent with locals and their culture, the more I want to know and understand.

On this leg, Anisa and Natalie started to test their strength and resilience. It was the beginning of their trek of 1,200km across the spine of Oman. I drove from Muscat to Hatta border right on time to see the Yallago team arrive on a helicopter from Musandam (they could not cross UAE on foot due to corona new protocols) as they arrived at Hatta border.

Some volunteers returned to Muscat and others like Dr Khalid and myself joined the crew, formed now by seven people, three Defenders sponsored from Landrover Oman, one of the expedition partners, and my private vehicle, my faithful, old FJ Cruiser.

I joined the crew lead by Sarantos Zaolumis. We loaded up the cars and began the 2nd part of their adventure. Most of the team were Arabic speakers so it was a good chance to polish and improve my little skills. I must say that I managed to impress the police, army, and many locals with very local expressions I got to master during those days.

The leg had approximately eight camps. Each day we lived like nomads, making the best of the locations found, always moving close to a water source. Each morning when Anisa and Natalie were ready to go, the support team got ready to transport the camp to the new location. We started our routine of packing and unpacking the camp, loading cars, food preparation, errands and looking for a new checkpoint/campsite if needed.

All the activities although repetitive changed depending on the circumstances, such as strong winds, required day off for new planning, the need for better cell phone signal or finding fresh food, which was sometimes a bit of a challenge. No day was the same. During seven days and eight nights, and as we moved from camp to camp I witnessed the beauty of the changing landscapes, the colours of the mountains, the vegetation and with it the different struggles per day. Reinforcing the importance of teamwork and communications. Also, I was inspired by the interesting, diverse people. All different but having in common the joy of spending time in nature and adventure. What I enjoyed the most was to deepen my understanding of the culture that I live in. Culture is a strong part of people's lives. It influences their views, their values, their humour, their hopes, their loyalties, and their worries and fears. So when you are working with people and building relationships with them, it helps to have some perspective and understanding of their cultures. Lots of problems can arise from misunderstandings, especially because we live in a multicultural world. By learning and understanding different cultures you understand why people do things the way they do. When you identify with other people, you sympathize with their situation. For example, taking your time might be acceptable for some, while it could be rude to others. 

Al Juwaif

As Anisa and Natalie walked and explored different terrains following the straight line that would take them closer to Salalah, they counted with the company of Dr Khalid for a few days. One day the team was busy planning the next steps, I joined Dr Khalid on exploring the Wadi in Al Juwaif where we decided to camp. Without knowing who he was, off we went to a wadi exploration. The hike was not only pleasant for the beauty; it was also very educational. Dr Khalid has a quick pace and a good eye for the most efficient routes when exploring around. Not necessarily the easiest but definitely quick and exciting.

Photo by Khaled Abdul Malek

He knows a lot about the local flora and fauna, and during our hike, we discovered a small cave, what seemed to be an ancient tomb and several donkey trails, which can be imperceptible to the unaccustomed eye like mine. Sadly we also found trash in areas you would never imagine somebody would go to leave their mark. It was common to see, in most of the places, no matter how isolated or far we were, always there was the human mark of leaving trash behind.

Dr Khaled Abdul Malek a colourful person, full of charisma and enthusiasm, from whom I had the chance to also learn some Arabic too, has been exploring the country for decades now. Dr Khalid, dental surgeon and devoted canyoner, climber, caver and explorer, is the author of "In search of the sublime and 12 exceptional wadis", and several other books about nature in Oman.

The Two Mohammeds

Mohammed Al Badaai and Mommaned Al Randi. Avid Drivers, coffee lovers and photographers of the team, both of them members of Omani Photography Society and Natalie’s and myself unofficial Arabic teachers. We enjoyed drinking from Randi’s nice kahwa (Omani coffee) and exchanging stories with both of them when we had free time.

Badaai a great connoisseur of the mountains and good navigator, always had his eye on three devices to keep an accurate track of the explorers. As the expedition is easy to follow on Kinetic (web-based integrated satellite and GSM tracking solution that tracks in real-time via GPS updates) sometimes we had enthusiastic visitors that stopped to say hello, and as usual in Oman, offered their hospitality. We had in Al Khadra a touching experience with the youth organization that tracked us and made us feel very welcome, and the surprise in Al Juwaif when the police came to greet and wish us a good trip in the expedition.

Photo by Muna Khalfan

But enjoying nature and local hospitality were not the only remarkable things at our camp in Al Juwaif. One night while the camp was already set up and we were resting, a car came to the wadi and stopped, a man had a relatively long conversation with one of the Mohammeds. As the man left, I could not help my curiosity and asked for a translation. This man apparently was trying to persuade us to leave the wadi. He said: "Strange things happen in this Wadi" “This place, the local said, is full of jinns”. Jinns are supernatural creatures known in Middle Eastern legend, apparently jinns also enjoy lurking in dark, unclean places. He insisted and asked if we had protection, but calmly and politely Mohammed explained that we had our camp ready and it was too much work to dismantle, we would leave the next day. Inshalla Khair (It is good, as God Wills it) said Mohammed Badaai and the man left.

We continued the next day as planned on our expedition plans, however, it was not the last time we heard of jinns in our remote camps and eventually some locals mentioned about encounters with evil spirits with disturbing frequency.

Masah

As Anisa, Natalie and Dr Khalid continued their journey, we accompanied them for a few kilometres by foot in a wadi near a village near Alkhadra. We set up camp in Masah, the next location where they were going to arrive and we expected them at the camp. Little we knew that it would take them more than 24 hours, what was anticipated to take 12 hours. They had to spend the night in the mountains and it was not till the next day afternoon we followed their track on the GPS to a nearby Wadi.

We spent the night hoping they would find the way out, friends and other supporters that came the weekend to share with them, had to leave the next day without seeing them arrive. That was the case of HUN’na, a platform for featuring Omani Women athletes & adventurers.

Photo by Muna Khalfan

While waiting for them, the next morning and with the knowledge, they still were safe and relentlessly finding their way out, I had the fortune to hike with Muna al Shidhaani. She was in the support team on the 1st leg and came over the weekend to support Anisa and Natalie. Muna is a wise, calm observer. She uses her photography to capture stories and details from the outdoors. Muna was the person behind the camera that presented the image of an Omani women hiker, with traditional dress and silver accessories, representing athlete and adventurer Omani Women but with a touch of Omani culture used by HUN’na. As a photographer, she features interesting places and people, but she is herself a captivating soul.

It was when Muna and I returned from our hike that we heard about Anisa, Natalie and Dr Khalid’s upcoming arrival. When we arrived at their location, they were energetic and happy to have found a better way out of the mountains. The difficulty of the terrain, the apparent solid rocks that crumbled under their steps, and the darkness had been a test for their toughness and their ability to mentally cope with a crisis, that was overcome with determination.

Photo by Muna Khalfan

My participation ended a couple of days later at the border in Al Ain, where I finished my adventure with a heavy heart, but happy to have been part of it. Grateful for the lessons learnt and happy to follow the rest of the journey of Yallago virtually.

No doubt they will reach to the end with success. Meetain Meetain!!! Two Hundred per cent!

Follow the expedition on:

• Instagram: yallago_2020
• Facebook: yallago2020
• live track: https://www.kinetic6tracks.com/s/853Q#history/assets