Our first school group and a trek through a wadi

Over the past 5 days we had our first two school groups. The first group was 6th and 7th graders, the second 9th through 10th graders. They stayed at our new plantation site, which we are now calling the "adventure center" we've added a free standing, portable climbing tower, which we have also been enjoying. Over the 5 days, we all taught different classes; team building games, camping skills + leave no trace, mountain biking + climbing, and trekking. This week, I taught team-building games at the beach. We walk 30 minutes from the center to the beach where I lead the games and then let the kids go swimming. I've been putting sunscreen on religiously and haven't been burned, although I do have the "raccoon eyes" from my sunglasses. I had lots of fun with most of the groups doing the initiatives, took underwater photos of the kids, and collected lots of seashells. The weather this week has been really interesting. Its really hot during the day, I'm guessing around 95 degrees F, and very cold at night, probably in the low 50s. When I stay at the adventure center in a tent, I sleep under an open sleeping bag stacked on top of a very thick blanket. For hanging around at night, I had to borrow a knock off Mountain Hardwear fleece from the gear closet at Paul's house. When he goes to Nepal he can get lots of cheap knockoff gear that he uses as back ups for guides and customers. I know you're probably thinking its just me, but I'm not the only one! you should see the locals. They're wearing even more than me!

Next week we'll have another group and I'll be either mountain biking or trekking. W e have several days off before our next group arrives which we plan to fill with plenty of adventure. There is a great place to go deep water soloing up the coast which we plan to check out with kayaks this weekend. Our new coworker Mike will be here tomorrow. We're also contemplating a trip to Dubai to check out all the traditional souks.

The day before our first group arrived, I got to go on a wadi trek with the Absolute Adventure guys and a large group of customers. The wadi was really amazing and dramatic. Wadis are dried up river beds that sometimes experience flash floods during the "rainy season." The rainy season isn't really that rainy, as it only rains an average of 7 days a year! To get into the wadi, we had to scramble down an incredibly steep 40 foot slope. I was even a little nervous! I bet the customers were pretty scared. The area of the wadi where we began our trek was extremely wide and steep, and slowly as we progressed the wadi became narrower and narrower. Eventually we would have to walk along narrow ledges, climb up through water falls and scramble over boulders to get through. At one point, there is a decent amount of water in the bottom its so narrow the only way through is to swim. It's only about 40 meters and really chilly! There was also a small cave with bats in it. I had a great time and was pretty exhausted at the end of it. I befriended the family that rode in the Taho I drove to get there, and the mom offered to take a few photos of me :)
the beginning




swimming


the bat cave