Huwaylat Road

(Hatta to Khor Kalba road)

24°52'55''N + 056°16'32''E

Huwaylat Road is part covered, part gravel road that runs through the deep mountains along the Oman border from Hatta to Khor Kalba.

It is called Huwaylat on page 45 in the Shell Birdwatching Guide.

From Dubai:

Take E44 from the Defence Roundabout in Dubai, clearly signposted to Hatta and Oman. You will pass the birding-sites Dubai Pivot Fields and Qarn Nazwa on your way to Hatta. Appx 90 km from Dubai you reach the Hatta Fort Hotel roundabout. Hatta Fort Hotel is a 5-star hotel with great food and refreshments. Alcohol is served here.

1 km after the Hatta Fort Hotel roundabout, a tarmac road exits to the left (north). Follow this until you reach Huwaylat village and the roundabout there. Take the right exit (not the exit signposted to Ra's al-Khaimah) and follow it until the tarmac ends. The gravel road will more or less follow the new, high border fence with Oman.

After a while on the gravel road you will arrive at a military border crossing where the straight road continues into Oman. You will take a sharp left and continue, no need for stopping here.

Continue along the high border fence to Khor Kalba, stopping often enroute for mountain birds. Be aware of military patrolling the fence road, and stopping your car along the fence is not allowed. We have had instances of birders being escorted to the headquarter for lenghty questioning.

From Khor Kalba:

From the bridge at Khor Kalba, drive around the newly constructed lagoon towards Kalba Plain. Do NOT take the first exit to the right signposted 'Helou' and possibly Sharjah. This will lead you directly towads Madam Plain and Sharjah city.

Instead, take the next right, and after appx. 2.5 km on the tarmac road you have to turn off to the left just as you pass a hill. The tracks are not signposted, but you can see the new border fence in the distance. Follow the fence to the borderpost (see above); as you see the borderpost in the distance you need to exit the smooth border road and get onto the rougher dirt track towards Hatta.

At the Huwaylat village & roundabout, continue straight through (do NOT turn right towards Ra's al-Khaimah) and you will soon reach Hatta.

New border fence

WARNING: parking your car within 500 meters of the border fence is prohibited (but there are no signs to tell you this). When stopping to bird, park off the main gravel road along one of the many tracks going off. Avoid carrying telescopes and cameras, as you are in a border area with lots of military patrols. Birders have been asked to leave the area in July 2006. Se below for a March 2007- update on this situation from Charles Hoots.

Stop if possible at two wells at position 24:53:56.22N + 056:19:26.87E to check for birds coming in to drink. Yellow-throated Sparrows are common here from late March to end September. Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse come in to drink at the largest well just after sunset. Sit quietly west of the well and wait for the shy birds to appear. Namaqua Doves have been regular here, as have July-records of Oriental Turtle Dove (2006 & 2007). European Turtle Dove might breed here.

Other resident birds regularly encountered along the road are:

Sand Partridge (early morning best), Little Owl (late afternoon along the fence), European Roller (thought to breed west of the wells), Desert Lark (common), Arabian Babbler (fairly common), Hume's Wheatear (fairly common), Scrub Warbler (rare to uncommon), Striated Bunting (common).

In winter you can also find Black Redstart, Red-tailed Wheatear, Variable Wheatear, Desert Whitethroat, Hume's Whitethroat (rare), Plain Leaf Warbler.

Raptors can include Lappet-faced Vulture (rare), Short-toed Snake Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle, Booted Eagle and Steppe Eagle (rare).

During migration anything can turn up.

UAE rarities have included:

Oriental Turtle Dove (09.-13.07.2006 and again in July 2007)

Update March 2007:

From Charles Hoots

On the road that runs along the border between Huwaylat and Khor Kalba, I spent a great first day birding. Only saw one or two other vehicles and a UAE border patrol on the road and no one said a word to me. I even camped the night about 500 meters from the fence and birded the next morning in the area, without meeting anyone.

Several days later, on my return to Dubai, I decided to take the same route. I stopped at the watering hole to see what was around and within five minutes a border patrol truck came up and asked what I was doing. I explained and they moved on without saying anything. Five minutes later, a different border patrol truck approached. The officer said the entire border fence road was closed to public traffic and that I should not be there. There was no talk of staying 500 meters from the fence, etc.

They took me to the military base not far from the watering hole and asked a lot of questions. I had a camera and showed them the four photos (of flowers) that I had taken. Fortunately the memory in my camera was full the day before and I had emailed those photos to myself and deleted them from my camera.

The commander subsequenly learned that my wife is from Yemen and it turned out he was from Soqotra and he became quite friendly after that. They nonetheless escorted me to Huwaylat village and said I should not return that way again.

I think the reaction all depends on which border guard sees you. Until they put a sign up that says "Do not Enter," I would not necessarily tell birders to avoid the road - I spooked a flock of several hundred Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse there, and the birding was generally very good. But birders should be careful with their cameras at the least.