Tiwi, one of the most difficult and spectacular wadis to cross, is among my favourites.
In the past, it was one of the most arduous wadis in Oman that took two days to explore, but the trip became much easier since the dirt road reached the village of Umq.
Even now, one needs to plan a two-day trip to be able to complete the crossing of Wadi Tiwi from the village of Umq Bir to the village of Mibam.
One should spend the night on the terraces of Umq Bir before starting early the next morning on the journey that will take around 10 hours. It takes abseiling in two places and a lot of swimming. The total distance that one has to swim is approximately 4 kilometres, as some pools are 400 metres long!
After 2 hours of bouldering, swimming, and abseiling, you will reach the most beautiful spot in the wadi: the cave, which is around 80 metres long and has a ceiling that is about 40 metres high. There, you have to abseil a 15-metre-high waterfall and land in the dark, in a long, thin pool. Once you come out of the pool, you reach a round basin with superb, crystal-clear blue and green water. On the sides, plenty of concretions grew over the years, taking on a very special shape, that of tubes out of which water is flowing.
A few years ago, I managed to open a climbing route to cross over the ceiling of the cave and abseil on the other side; I named the drop “Mona’s Drop” after my daughter, who was the first person to abseil it. I did two previous trips with my friends Kester and Ahmed to be able to complete setting the anchors and reach the roof of the cave.
Beyond the cave, the journey becomes very aquatic, as one has to swim through an endless number of pools before reaching the trail that leads to Mibam.
The anatomy of the wadi changes a lot after heavy rain or exceptional weather conditions. In 2007, following cyclone Gonu, one of the longest pools of Wadi Tiwi was totally dry as it was filled with gravel. It was again full of water when we crossed the wadi a year later.
Just before reaching the final trail and on the right bank of the canyon, we saw a rope with knots that villagers from Mibam and Umq Bir climb to reach a ledge that they follow at around 300m above the wadi bed. They climb down using the same kind of ropes when they reach the village of Umq Bir below.
Crossing Wadi Tiwi requires a lot of endurance, and one has to be ready for long swims in the canyon! The best time to cross this superb canyon would be during the months of April, May, September, or October.
Make sure to check the weather before starting any canyoning trip because a flash flood won’t give you any chance to reach the other end alive!
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