Oman - Day 3 Sunday 27th Oct

 Day 3. This morning we had a more leisurely get up, shower and cup of tea, we pack our bags and went out into the garden to check the trees. There was a Purple sunbird and a white cheeked bulbul flitting around but not much else.

We went for breakfast, with beef bacon among the buffet offerings, with fruit and yoghurt as well as eggs, toast and almost anything you could think of. We then went back to the room, picked up our things, checked the room and went to lobby to pack up car, today with DW, SC and Chris. We headed south and drove more or less straight to the ferry terminal, in order to ensure our ferry booking. We stopped for a drink and a comfort break at a small bar linked to a garage and a small  mosque with loo facilities. We then drove to the port and checked out the gulls flying past while Chris and Dave sorted out the tickets. We drove back a short way and parked outside a restaurant for lunch. We checked out look out the beach where there were lots of waders, including Sand Plovers and Western Reef Herons before driving back to the ferry, onto the terminal and taking a little time to check out the gulls before boarding the ferry. We all went into family side(port), single men go on the starboard, men only side and sat on the seats looking out of the windows. As we cleared port they unlocked the outside door so we went upstairs onto the upper deck. It was a very calm crossing with lots of birds to check out, including several unexpected Storm Petrels along with Sooty Gulls, Cormorants, Slender-billed Gulls, as well as Green Turtles dotted across the surface. After landing we drove to Al Shamkaiah Park. We parked outside and entered the park which was an area of trees with an edge of grass and some flower beds. There were a few butterflies, which were very active in the heat, several laughing doves, a few tree pipits and Silverbills with a Wood Warbler in the tree at the back. As it was getting dark, we returned to the cars and drove to the Masirah Island Resort, which looked out over the beach to book in, unpack and sort ourselves out before dinner at 7.30. The meal seemed to take a long time but was very nice. Following the log, we then went out to check the bushes for chameleons but all we found were lots of small geckos, so went back in to bed.