Jazira Field Trip 2004

Wadi Jazira is one of the most popular destinations for the Al Ain chapter. We try to visit the oasis each season to see the different crops in season and follow the evolution of the oasis.

When the group first began visiting Jazira, there was no road; members had to hike to the site from the end of the track from Khabbayn. Today, a graded track provides easy access, and with the track have come visitors and garbage.

Despite the track, the family that farms the oasis has had difficulty keeping workers employed. Because Jazira has no commerce, no electricity and no telephone service, few want to reside there or work there. A few years ago, the oasis declined because of neglect but there has been a change in the past two years with signs of regular activity.

Nearby is the popular swimming pool. Like the oasis itself, the swimming area has become widely known and with its popularity the inevitable littering. On two occasions, the group has chosen Jazira for its annual wadi clean up and on each occasion hauled five or six truckloads of garbage from the area.

Jazira features 'the mother of all mango trees', a large collection of banana plants, interesting housing, a small graveyard that includes aloe vera plants, a mud-and-stone weir, wild orchids, and our favorite orange trees!

The road in to Jazira crosses two summits	Some of the constructions in the valley are recent	The water supply for the oasis is plentiful	Grasses, bullrushes and wild date palms grow along the bank
Like many of our destinations, Jazira includes a copper smelting site	The oldest ruins and the smelter are located near the parking area	There are two access routes into the oasis; this one follows the falaj	The spreading arms of this mango cover the mosque and three houses
The uppermost part of the oasis is almost exclusively for dates	Geoff leads the group around the houses to the graves	Just beyond the graves is where we placed our motion activated cameras to photograph fox	Mike (right) with his net and flask of coffee
The banana grove is always popular with the photographers	Fruit and blossoms of the banana plant	Water was rushing through the falaj during this visit to Jazira	Geoff pointing out some of the more unsual plants cultivated at Jazira
The footbridge over the gorge at the opposite end of the oasis	We almost lost Phil one day when the bridge began to collapse as he crossed	Today the oasis workers have added fresh palm trunks to the foot bridge	The small, sweet bananas are also grown at Jazira
This insect trap is one of several strategies to combat pests	The reservoir in the center of the oasis was filled with water for this visit	The view from the second summit	This Kodak moment has been recorded by hundreds of members
Late afternoon is an ideal time to catch the deep colors on the mountains surrounding Jazira	One of our motion activated cameras was knocked askew by a fox	Geoff discussing the papaya grown at Jazira	This lovely date storage jar was the last of the large pots left at Jazira; others were all stolen
On our next visit to the oasis, this pot was broken. The pieces were reassembled by the Al Ain Museum	View from the summit under different light conditions	Following Brien's Nissan on the dusty track into Jazira	The track from Khabbayn cuts across several small wadi systems
Parts of the track are washed out with each rainfall	Members make their way through the mountains	Imagine making this traverse on foot!	Members gathered at the summit for the introduction to Jazira
Jazira is aptly named as it is an island of green in the mountains	At the mosque	The mother of all mango trees!	Trying to estimate the diameter of the tree
The tree has lost several large branches in recent years but is still a good producer	(From left) Will, Brien and Geoff	Brien attempts to measure the tree	Dates, oranges, limes, lemons, figs and bananas are among the produce cultivated at Jazira
At the footbridge	The gorge is narrowest at the bridge	Water can be heard and seen at the bottom of the gorge	Brien points to the site of the swimming hole from the bridge
Brien and one of the men who now manage the oasis	At the swimming hole, members prepare for a relaxing swim	There is a small waterfall at the end of the pool