Mohamed doesn’t wait for the mountains to come to him…he goes to them, with a convoy of 4WDs and in the company of people from all parts of the globe, twice a month.

These mountains are no ordinary ones but the mighty sand dunes visible only for those who dare to venture out deep into the deserts.

The “father of desert crossing” in Oman is now getting ready to explore the highest, scariest of them all, found in the Dhofar region, which are “so huge that you really respect them, admire them and you get scared of them”.
Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali needs no introduction. He is the Chairman of the Muscat Media Group which publishes Oman’s oldest private English newspaper Times of Oman as well as its sister Arabic paper Al Shabiba and a slew of other publications.

Mohamed can often be found leading convoys of 4x4s through the Sharqiya Sands with his company The Guide Oman.

“My tryst with the desert started in 1998. That’s when my feet first touched the desert,” he recalls.

Graduated with a Master’s degree in Information Resources Management in 1990, he worked in the government for 22 years. His last government position was Director of Planning and IT, which he left in 2008. He has been the Chairman of MMG since June 2013. “But it’s the desert that fascinated me a lot,” Mohamed notes.

Considered to be the “father of desert crossing” in Oman, Mohamed has been promoting adventure tourism over the last 22 years. “I explore the desert twice a month and the way it reverberates in my mind cannot be described in words. You need to experience it at least once in your lifetime,” he points out with a smile.

When Mohamed started his desert crossing journey, there was hardly anyone in the sector. “I’m my own teacher. When I started hardly anyone was there. We used to have two convoys every month exploring deserts but now we go with 80 to 90 convoys. People are falling in love with the desert,” he says.

With the country moving to tourism to increase its source of revenue, several tour operators now offer desert adventure.

The Guide Oman has so far catered to more than 90 nationalities. “Some people do it for pure fun… while a few of them look at adventure tourism as a business but for us this is all about passion. We cater to people from all nationalities. For us this is more of community building,” Mohamed stresses.

“For every journey, be it small or big, we always do a proper planning and we have a team that overlooks everything. From the trip planner to food catering and even a medical aid on board. Our management team are passionate about what they are doing and that’s why people admire us. Team building is very essential for a successful trip,” he explains.

Has desert crossing become an expensive affair? “It’s not and I’m not looking for any revenue from it because my whole intention is to promote the country which will help our tourism sector. Mountains and beaches you can find anywhere but not deserts,” he quips.

Mohamed is planning for an epic journey to the Dhofar region that shares its borders with Yemen. “We are crossing the Dhofar region.

I have found out that the dunes in that part are like mountains. It’s so huge that you really respect them, admire them and you get scared of them.
It’s going to be a challenge but we’ll cross it,” he beams with confidence.

Mohamed has a piece of advice for those who want to follow in his footsteps:

“If you have passion for what you’re doing, nothing can stop you from achieving it.”

Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali