WADI DAWKAH

Emblematic of Dhofar's Unesco World Heritage cultural landscape, Wadi Dawkah is the perfect illustration of the incense biosphere: a wadi draining northwards at the edge of the desert, with incense trees scattered over a flat area of around 6 km². The highest areas of the park are planted extensively with acacia and similar species, capable of withstanding the most extreme conditions. Boswellia sacra is at home here in its limestone kingdom, a small deciduous tree 2 to 8 meters tall, whose paper-textured bark peels off easily. Only the male tree produces the precious resin, but it takes a good ten years for it to produce a product of the highest possible quality. The bark is incised, removing a long, narrow flap, then scraped clean, and the gum-resin concretions are collected by dropping them into a container. The resin secretions, hardened by contact with air, are collected two to three weeks later; these solidified drops can measure over 2 cm. A mature tree generally produces 3 to 4 kg of incense per season. On site, a shelter with benches allows you to observe the landscape in the shade.

Other associated sites listed by Unesco under the heading "Land of Incense" include the port of Khor Rori (40 km east of Salalah), Al Baleed (on the Salalah seafront) and the oasis city of Ubar/Shisr, 170 km from the city in the Rub Al Khali desert.