Wadi Tiwi

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Wadi Tiwi is a canyon in Oman, about 40 kilometers north of the city of Sur. It sits where the Hajar Mountains meet the sea at Tiwi and is framed by steep canyon walls. People have lived in Wadi Tiwi for at least a thousand years.

Even though the area is desert, water from the mountains flows into the upper part of the wadi year-round, creating many small pools. Clever irrigation channels (falaj) run through the canyon, keeping the land green with date palms, terraced fields, and tall grasses along the streams.

Most farming here is for date palms, which use a lot of water. Farmers also grow bananas, limes, papaya, and mango. Bananas are common, with most plants being Dwarf Cavendish and Bluggoe, and seven different banana types in total. The variety grew because of long-standing trade with India since the 1400s. The Oman Botanic Garden even cultivated a Musa banana plant from Wadi Tiwi, believed to have been in the canyon for about 500 years.

Before modernization around 1970, people grew wheat, sorghum, and alfalfa on the terraces. A tall streamside grass called fountain grass grows in the wadi, and along the road there is a buckthorn tree native to the area. Ferns and mosses grow in damp spots along the canyon.

The two large pools at the mouth of the canyon attract many birds, such as grey herons, great cormorants, grey wagtails, and Temminck’s stints. In mid-canyon, rose-ringed parakeets can be seen among the trees, and silverbills and palm doves are common in the tall grasses. In the pools near Harat Bidah village you can find red garra fish (doctor fish) and Arabian toads that sing at dusk.