Muscat: Omani youths’ adventure and leisure projects have been the talk of the town in Dhofar. They were established, organised, and managed for the first time in Khareef history by Omani youths. Dhofar Adventure Team’s zipline in Wadi Darbat as well as in Awqad Natural Park is attracting visitors. Abdul Hakim al Ma’ashani, founder of the zipline project, said: “Zipline is not a new idea. We have installed it previously in different places in Oman accompanied with other activities. However, the idea is the first of its kind in Salalah this year.”
Talking to the Observer, he mentioned that it took him around two months to obtain necessary permits and to import the equipment. In Wadi Darbat, there are two ziplines; 60m long one for children and 120m for adults. The 120m zipline is set up across the Wadi stream.
Wadi Darbat was also an attraction for another Omani project; Darbat cottages. Al Ma’ashani, founder of the project, said, “This is my first business project. Since I have been to about 28 countries, I have been introduced to different ideas and cultures. Therefore, I thought that the cottage idea may be applicable in a beautiful place like Darbat and decided to set it up here.”
He said that the path towards success was not a bed of roses. “The weather when we started building the cottage was rainy. We needed to work 25 days and and nights to build the cottages as planned. Eventually, we ended up with three wooden cottages at the bank of the Wadi with a view of green mountains crowned with clouds. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided on request”.
The two Omani projects attracted large number of Khareef visitors. The zipline founder confirmed that around 300 visitors use it daily, while Darbat cottages have been fully reserved since the beginning of Khareef. Those projects also provide part-time jobs for Omani job seekers as three Omanis are employed at Darbat cottages and four for the zipline.
