By Mohammed Al-Harbi

THE EMPTY QUARTER — Sporadic lakes in the Empty Quarter (Rub’ al-Khali) desert, the largest contiguous sand desert in the world, has formed magnificent scenes once again. These lakes have mostly formed in the parts between Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen.

The desert covers areas in Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen but Saudi Arabia occupies the most area.

The Empty Quarter is one of the most important camel pastures as when rain falls in certain areas, camels feed on the trees that grow.

Due to the cyclones Mekunu and Luban, which are six months apart, several lakes mostly in the Omani side were formed. Some geologists believe that Rub’ Al-Khali used to be a freshwater lake thousands of years ago and that the traces of this freshwater lake still exist.

A group of Omani photographers took a journey to take photos of the desert and its lakes, and they took hundreds of photos of the lakes in the Omani parts.

Photographer Haytham Al-Shanfri told Al-Arabiya English that the aim of their trip was documentation. He noted that they usually go in winter for this purpose but this year they went earlier to be able to take photos of the lakes after the rainfall.

Shanfri added that the lakes formed from the valleys in Dhofar governorate and crossed more than 450 kilometers toward the sands of Rub’ Al-Khali.

The team of photographers plans to organize an entire photography trip to the Empty Quarter’s Saudi and Emirati parts as well as to the Omani parts they have previously documented. — Al-Arabiya English