Tawi Attair – The “Well of Birds” Sinkhole

  With Monsoon fog as thick as pea-soup during Salalah’s “Khareef”, it can be a real chore to try and read the signs! 🙂  The scenery between the parking lot and the lookout area of Tawi Attair  It may not look like much, but over that foggy edge, is a drop of more than 200 metres!  Tawi Attair/Atayr is one of the deepest natural sinkholes in the world, 100 metres wide and 211 metres deep.  As the name suggests, Tawi Attair is home to many species of birds that can be seen (or not!!! at least heard…)  swooping in and out of the sinkhole during Khareef (monsoon season).  Here’s a short vid.  Try to ignore the young dudes speaking Arabic in the background, haha.  Impressive tree at the lookout area  Nests everywhere!  Here’s a better video!  Crank up the volume and just listen to those birds! 

In my attempts to get a better look below, I went past the “suggested tourist viewing area” and approached the edge of the cliff.  This was a pretty silly thing to do as the ground was very muddy and slippery due to the rain and there was a point where I thought I might fall over the edge!  It was difficult to get a real good look at the entire sinkhole but impressive nonetheless!

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