The story of Salalah’s unique green and rainy microclimate or Khareef season began slowly, but mightily, more than 100 million years ago when India broke away from Gondwanaland; Gondwanaland being the southern half of supercontinent Pangaea comprising of modern day India, Arabia, Africa, Antarctica, South America, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Australia.

India then moved at a speed of 5cm a year to crash into, first, what is now Oman, and later into Eurasia creating the Himalayas. In Oman, the collision created the Dhofar Mountains and the Eastern Hajar mountain range, making them 2,000 years older than the Himalayas.

It is these ancient mountains of Dhofar who force the monsoon winds to release their moisture, filling wadis and creating waterfalls once the mountains can’t hold anymore rain. This is why Salalah receives rainfall whereas the flat terrains of places like Ras al Hadd are visited by the monsoon winds, but do not receive rain.

All this contributes to making the Dhofar Mountains a fascinatingly unique space within Oman and the Arabian peninsula at large. Baobab trees here (now a protected species) and creatures like the rock hyrax hark back to its African origins whereas the Dhofar desert agama and 41 species of plant life are endemic and found only here.

Just like the gushing blowholes off Mughsail Beach - created by the Arabian Sea as it crashes against rocks and sends out jets of salty seawater. Or the bed of clouds at Jebel Samhan (one of Oman’s highest mountains) where you can camp overnight and at dawn watch the sun rise through the mists. Set off on a Leopard Hike on this mountain and you can look for those precious, endemic animals - Arabian leopards and rock hyraxes. You could hike through the seasonal rainforest along the border of Yemen that appears here during this season. Or you could head to one of the many wadis, like Wadi Hanna, and simply float in the emerald waters surrounded by enormous baobab trees and feel grateful for the million miracles that took place to create this wonderful, fleeting paradise.

ESSENTIAL INFO:

• BEST TIME TO VISIT: June-Sept

• DRIVE TIMES: Salalah is best accessed by air.

• TOURIST INFORMATION: Ministry of Heritage and Tourism in Dhofar. Phone: 23386604 / 23386605

• BEST PLACES TO VISIT: Tawi Atair, Jebal Samhan, Mughsail Blowholes, Wadi Hanna, Rukhyut Beach, Ain Khoor Waterfalls, Samharam

• AVAILABLE ACTIVITIES: Exploring sinkholes, hiking, visiting wadis, wild camping, wildlife trails, cultural tours

Leave behind your images of the hot, dusty sands of Arabia and think shaded pools with aqua coloured waters, thunderous waterfalls and tropical birdlife. Here, in Salalah during the months of July, August and September there is pure and abundant life waking up, and literally, bursting into song; as at Tawi Atair Sinkhole, one of the world’s largest sinkholes and home to birds like the African paradise flycatcher and the rufous-tailed weaver bird.

But India continues to impact Dhofar’s Khareef even today. The Southwest Monsoon or Khareef, as it is called in Oman and Arabia, is caused by the Indian sub-continent heating up in the summer, earning it yet another moniker: the Índian Monsoon. The heated air above this land then moves up and away and creates a powerful vacuum that sucks in the cool, moisture-laden winds from over the sea. This wind crosses the khanjar-shaped coast of Oman and comes in contact with the hot air there to create thick seas of mist - the kind which you can enjoy waking up to on Jebel Samhan.

The Indian Monsoon affects more than the land and skies of Dhofar, though, because as the monsoon pulls the warm waters around Arabia to the north, their place is filled by deep ocean currents of cold, oxygenated, nutrient-rich waters. This is what makes it possible for the Arabian Sea Humpback Whales to be residents of the coast here all year round, these cool waters being rich in plankton. It’s also what turns the Jibbali mountain men into fishermen as the Indian oil sardine arrives here in the billions.

This peculiar season also affects domesticated animals - camels are brought down to the beaches by their Jibbali herders so that they don’t slip on the wet and mossy mountains. Seeing camels frolic at the beach is a sight you may have the chance to see anywhere else!