Over the last few days and the three weeks that will follow, Jabal Akhdhar’s gardens are seeing a massive amount of activity. The days between March and April are considered one of the most beautiful seasons for the Green Mountain with not only the rose coming into full bloom but also because it’s the start of the flowering season of fruit trees like olives walnuts, figs, and pomegranates.
Jabal Akhdar has become an impressive array of colours — the stark caramel landscape with its pockets of greens are now made even more beautiful by the overwhelming appearance of pink and red blossoms. If there is a perfect time to go, it’s this period when the temperature is several degrees lower than the rest of the country, getting chiller in the evening, and there are so many local activities happening in the morning.
As Maher al Riyami, a proud son of Jabal Akdhar and now working nearly six years as a guest experience officer and guide for Anantara, there is no better time to come but when the flowers bloom.
“I’ve shown guests what Jabal Akhdar can offer from a local’s point of view. While I learn a lot through these interactions and gain a better perspective about the places our guests come from, I am also in a unique position to sell Oman as a destination,” he said.
Maher’s job is to become a focal person in the ‘Rose Water of Jabal Akdhar’ tour. It’s a job that he does in tandem with another Jabal Akhdar native. Showing the guests around in air-conditioned vehicles, he ushers them where to go and introduces them to rose farmers, local rose water manufacturers, and other key people in the community that make Jabal Akhdar a truly exciting place to visit.
“Guests are impressed when they see where these roses are planted. When we show them the whole rose water distillation process and they meet hospitable distillers and farm owners like Abdullah Salim, our go-to person for this experience, they come out with better knowledge and a lasting impression of what makes Jabal Akhdar and the rose season different,” Maher said.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
