author - oman observer

They come in their thousands, the migrants, winging their way from North Africa mostly, to the estuaries and mudflats of Oman, every year. Some here to stay, where the climate suits them, while others...

Surely those of you who reside in the capital feel some pangs of conscience when you reflect upon the lot of those of us in other parts of the Sultanate, don’t you? After all, Muscat, the nation’s...

NIZWA: Perpetual and ubiquitous, the Falaj system of the Sultanate has long sustained life in what could have otherwise become an arid, inhospitable environment. Collectively, or plurally known as an...

MUSCAT: Growing up in the state of Indiana, in the Mid-West region of the United States where its residents are known as ‘Hoosiers,’ a young farm girl, Emmee Haun, dreamed of being a veterinarian,...

We look around us as we travel around Oman, and see the diversity of the wildlife, and whether we are Omani or expatriates, visitors or tourists, we marvel at the turtles, dolphins and whales of the...

MUSCAT: The date is the sweet fruit of the Phoenix Dactylifera, or Date Palm, which is believed to have its origins in the ancient Indus Valley through China, India, and Pakistan. However, its...

Fossil fuel, says the Oxford dictionary, is “a natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms,” while renewable energy is, “energy from a...

Photos by Lena Petersen MUSCAT: Almost everybody, at some time or another has remarked upon the remarkable prominence of the archaeological feature known as Bibi Maryams Tomb, either built for her by...

Like most of you, I detest having to wear a mask. They are uncomfortable in this hot weather, and I sweat beneath the mask something awful. I am an asthmatic, and I think too, that probably affects my...

MUSCAT: The world, in the slow and uncertain manner in which a newborn lamb takes its first steps, is gradually beginning its emergence from the restrictions of COVID-19, and with that emergence, the...

MUSCAT: Less than six months since the last significant astronomical event in the Sultanate, a rare annular solar eclipse, when the Moon covers the Sun, leaving the outer edge of the Sun exposed,...

If Oman does not get its act together! I fully support the Supreme Committee and the Ministry of Health in their revelations of recent days, with respect to the COVID-19 situation in the...

Assel and Olzhas, are a young Muslim couple, originally from Kazakhstan, now living in the Auvergne-Rhones-Alpes region of France famed for its ski-fields and gastronome, where they live with their...

Why is it that so many people in the world today make bad, and wrong decisions? For everything we do, every action we all take, we only have to ask ourselves one of two questions, before implementing...

Looking around the world, and at the way Ramadhan is celebrated, I found a former expatriate American teacher from the University of Nizwa, Amanda Amarotico, who converted to Islam during her time...

I do not want to talk about Covid-19! I am sick of it. It dominates my life, my work,  my family, my home, my diet, my freedom, my sleep patterns, my entire ability to function as effectively as...

I have been asked if I would share my Ramadhan reflections, being a resident, teacher, lecturer and journalist in the Sultanate for more than 10 years. My initial experience of Ramadhan was while...

My friends in New Zealand and the United Kingdom are curious about Ramadhan, knowing a little of it, and if I’m asked how it ‘looks', I would have to respond like this… For me, little changes...

Far from the madding crowd may be an alluring Thomas Hardy novel, but it is also an apt description of the Al Dakhiliyah region, where Nizwa is now a bustling, thriving, centre of commerce. Well, at...

I’ve been in lockdown for three weeks today, since my wife and I waved our daughter goodbye at Muscat International Airport. We never knew then what tomorrow, next week, or next month, let alone...