Cave base jumping in Oman

One reason I don't write often about one of the world's most dangerous recreational sports of base jumping is because ...well, chances are, I'll never get to try it. And it sucks to write about something I haven't personally experienced. The only thing left to do is to watch other people live their lives to the fullest.

In this post I posted a cool video about cave base jumping in the Cave of Swallows in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

Recently I came across another great video of cave base jumping, this time in Muscat, Oman ( officially the Sultanate of Oman, a country in southwest Asia ).

Since I have a "caving" category on this blog ( and not too many caves in Washington to write about ), I thought I'd write a short post about Oman caves.

Oman offers some of the most hair-raising cave exploration in the world. Some of the interesting caves in Oman are the Jebel Akhdar massif, Kahf Hoti (the longest known cave in Oman that stretches up to five kilometers !), several caves in Jebel Bani Jabir, the most impressive being the three deep shafts which enter the chambers of Majlis Al Jinn - one of the largest underground chambers ever discovered ( large enough to hold the biggest of Egypt's pyramids).

The video below feature Felix Baumgartner, one of Red Bull's crazy dare devils jumping into Majlis al Jinn ( translates as The Chamber of Spirits ) cave. Until recently there had not been a way to reach the cave by car, so cavers had to hike in carrying their equipment or rent donkeys from a village a few hours walk from the cave entrance.

For several years tourism companies had been providing caving trips into Majlis al Jinn, but in 2008 the Oman government announced that people would no longer be allowed to enter the cave.

So, here is your chance to catch a glimpse of one of the world's most famous caves:



P.S : According to the news, in 2010 Oman's Ministry of Tourism is planning to develop one of the world's largest cave chambers into an eco-tourism attraction.