Golden allure of the Arabian Sea: With ‘food for the gods’ and wild camping under glowing stars, Oman’s Frankincense Coast makes for the ultimate family adventure

After a bumpy ride through the arid mountains of Dhofar we reach a dry wadi (river valley) where resin oozes like blood from a gnarled tree. Ahmed, an incense farmer, carefully cuts the papery stem with his knife and collects the aromatic gum, which dries into crystals the color of spun sugar.

For millennia, frankincense has been harvested in this region of Oman and traded to remote places such as Mesopotamia, Rome and India.

The ancient Egyptians used it for mummification, the magicians brought it as one of their gifts and it has played a role in religious rituals worldwide. Hence the nickname ‘food for the gods’.

I am traveling with my husband Mark and two children, Zac and Archie, aged 12 and 10, in Dhofar – also known as the Frankincense Coast – in the far south of the country.

“In its heyday, the trade was worth more than gold,” says our guide Mussallem, wearing a long dishdasha, the robes worn by Omani men, and a tasseled headscarf called a masaar. ‘Before oil, it was our most important export product.’

Dune delight: Kate Eshelby and her family travel to the Dhofar region of Oman, where they visit the largest sand desert in the world (file image)

Later we continue down through deep gorges, past dragon trees that seem to bloom miraculously from the rocks, and desert roses with barbie pink flowers. Mussallem explains: “When I was growing up, there were no roads here and none of us had shoes. We were still nomadic and lived in caves.’

His family – he has eight children – only settled in a village in 1997, a testament to Oman’s recent transformation. “Sultan Qaboos bin Said built the country from scratch,” he continues.

Sultan Qaboos was Oman’s longest-serving leader and ruled until his death in 2020 after coming to power with British support in a bloodless coup in 1970 that deposed his father. He is revered for transforming the country from an isolated and underdeveloped state into a modern and stable nation.

Qaboos played an important role in the development of the country we see today – the infrastructure, modernization, education but also low-rise buildings. Unlike other Middle Eastern countries, there are no skyscrapers or bling.

Oman is home to some beautiful green locations, Kate notes. The photo shows Al Mughsail Salalah

Arriving at Al Fazayah beach we run into the warm water while Mussallem lays out hand-woven carpets and cushions under a rocky overhang and sets up a picnic of falafels, chicken samosas, mangoes and salads.

Oman is home to some of the driest areas on earth, yet Dhofar becomes a surprising, brilliantly green oasis during the monsoon months of June to September.

Moisture-laden winds from the Indian Ocean blow in, creating the surreal spectacle of cows grazing alongside camels and waterfalls cascading from mountains to beaches.

In Salalah, Kate stays in a garden villa with private pool (seen here) at the Al Baleed Resort by Anantara

Thanks to the almost tropical microclimate, coconut, banana and papaya trees grow all year round. However, it is not just the landscape that sets Dhofar apart, the culture and food are also different from the rest of the country.

The monsoons not only act on the land but also affect the waters, causing nutrient upwellings along the Dhofar coast, bringing incredible wealth to the Arabian Sea. There are days when we kayak through clusters of phosphorescence, our paddles lighting them so they make neon shine like glow-in-the-dark stars. At other times we snorkel among hawksbill turtles, which swarm to feed on the colorful corals.

Our trip starts in the capital Muscat and from here we fly to Salalah, the main city of Dhofar, and stay at the Al Baleed Resort by Anantara – a 20-minute drive, right on the beach.

We are welcomed with small cups of incense infusion and then settle into one of the garden villas with private pool.

The Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve (pictured) is one of the last remaining sanctuaries for the critically endangered Arabian leopard, Kate reveals

Kate with sons Zac and Archie in the Samhan Nature Reserve, while Zac examines a centipede

Breakfast is eaten while dolphins swim by and early in the evening I enjoy a rejuvenating massage – with frankincense oil, of course – in the spa.

Nearby rise the fortified ruins of the ancient city of Sumhuram, which once stood guard over one of the most important frankincense ports on the Arabian Peninsula. I imagine the boats coming and going at the height of trade in 3 BCE, taking the precious frankincense east and west and returning with silks, spices and ivory. Meanwhile, camel caravans traveled north through the desert to the legendary city of Petra.

“According to legend, the Queen of Sheba came here to get incense for King Solomon,” Mussallem says proudly.

Frankincense comes from the Boswellia sacra tree, which thrives wild in the desert regions of the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa – although the best quality is believed to come from Oman, with its distinctive scent. Eventually, the ancient trade routes collapsed due to better shipping and synthetic incense. Yet the tradition lives on in Oman.

Frankincense remains a cornerstone of daily life, used to perfume homes and clothing and as a symbol of the ever-present Omani hospitality. As you enter any household, you are greeted by the fragrant smoke billowing from an incense burner.

Above, the fortified ruins of the ancient city of Sumhuram that once stood guard over one of the most important frankincense ports on the Arabian Peninsula. “I imagine the boats coming and going at the height of trade in 3 BCE, taking the precious frankincense east and west and returning with silks, spices and ivory,” Kate writes.

Kate explains that Dhofar has a unique climate: ‘Moisture-laden winds from the Indian Ocean sweep in, creating the surreal spectacle of cows grazing alongside camels and waterfalls flowing from mountains to beaches’ (file image)

Another day we venture into the rugged, 4,500 square kilometer wilderness of the Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve, one of the last remaining sanctuaries for the critically endangered Arabian leopards, high in the Dhofar Mountains. We see the ever-changing landscape of Oman, with acacia trees, more reminiscent of Africa, and elephant baobabs, the size of trucks.

As we set out on foot and climb into this mystical realm of moving mists and sheer cliffs, we are joined by Khalid, an expert who has been working with the elusive animals for 18 years.

As we wander along a rocky ledge, he shares on his phone a recent photo of a female leopard and her cub, captured in this very spot with one of the game camera traps. Below you have a wide view of the peaks that emerge from the clouds like archipelagos.

The final part of our journey takes us to Oman’s Empty Quarter, the world’s largest sandy desert, north of Dhofar. For this wild camping adventure we are accompanied by Mussallem’s son Mohammed.

Along the way we stop at Wadi Dawkah, where luxury perfume house Amouage has created a sanctuary for frankincense trees, as these plants are considered near threatened.

That night we camp in a natural amphitheater of rocks, while our children climb excitedly to find their own eagle-like perches carved into the limestone, while dinner is cooked over a fire.

The next day we continue on and suddenly the towering dunes appear before us, the color of ripe apricots and as smooth as scalped clay. We set up camp and, sleds in hand, run barefoot up the sandy ridge of a slide, pausing to gaze across a vast ocean of winding ridges before zooming back down.

Later, our boys enjoy spotting geodes – sparkling with crystals in them – that sit like footballs on the sand. Although frankincense still has its place in Oman, the country’s gold value now lies in its wild beauty, diverse landscape and rich biodiversity.