Al Hoota Cave

We met up with friends from church and drove the 2+hrs to tour Al Hoota Cave and see a castle(see next post). The teens and little girls had a great time visiting on the drive. At some point there was a train to take you to the cave but nobody I know remembers when it used to work so we walked on the track instead.

Omanis speak good English but the accent can be challenging as they roll through their words differently than I'm used to. I enjoyed the tour but I definitely missed some of the information. 

The cave is 3+miles long and has water. It has flooded on many occasions and been damaged. I love these pits in the ceiling where, from what I understood of our tour, the water travels in a circular direction.

This natural lion structure with a tiny elephant perched on his head came complete with roaring.

Although the guide assured us twice that the only living things in the cave are spiders, bats and blind fish, Samuel is convinced that there are insects in that water that eat that algae. I hope he confirms this one way or another someday. 

An Omani man pointed out this "camel spider". I don't think they eat camels although their size is big enough!

In the Museum building they had a climbing wall. Elise has been itching to climb since the Olympics. She didn't set any speed records but she bravely ascended and descended twice. Sennia also wanted to buy a ticket to climb and did. We had a great time. It was a fun way to get out of the heat-mostly-and see something different. A reprieve from our usual hikes and highly physical activities.