Shark Tooth Wadi

 The morning after we were laid off, we decided on a whim to take a trip out to the Khurais desert, also known as the “Shark Tooth Wadi” to see a little bit more of Saudi and to take our minds off of things for a little while. Apparently, this area of Saudi was an ocean bed 30-50 million years ago! And as such, it is a known spot for hunting for fossilized shells, coral and shark teeth.

With a cooler full of snacks and a backseat full of books, we made an early departure at 5:30 am and caravaned with another family for the roughly 2 hour drive out of Riyadh. Once we got to the highway it was pretty much a straight shot all the way out East. Then, we made a u-turn and essentially drove off the road and into the desert. There was no signage to speak of, just a pin we used that we had found on the internet. We drove about ¼ mile into the sand and parked our cars. By that time, although it was only 7:30 in the morning, the temperature was already climbing past the 90s and the sun was blazing overhead. H immediately ran for the dunes and had a great time exploring the expanse and picking up and dropping little rocks and shells.

It’s surreal to think that we were walking around on what was once the bottom of the ocean, but sure enough almost as soon as you begin walking, you notice crushed shells and fossilized coral all around your feet. We weren’t too lucky with finding shark teeth, but we did find several cool looking shells, coral and imprint fossils and some interesting sort of crystalline rock. Justin found a tiny fossilized scallop shell in pristine condition. 

Meanwhile, it was getting hotter and hotter and H and I had to take frequent breaks to the car - the only place we could get a little shade to drink water and cool down. After about an hour of sifting around in the sand, we were pretty spent. Just when we were about to call it quits, our neighbors’ daughter found the first and only shark tooth of our whole excavation! It was tiny and very sharp and remarkably well preserved. She said she just found lying right on the surface, didn’t even have to dig to find it. 

On our way home we stopped off the side of the road to take a few family pictures in the rolling red sand dunes and then we passed the drive back doing one of H’s favorite car ride pastimes - counting all the tanker trucks and dump trucks on the road the rest of the way home.

Despite the sun and heat and long drive, we were really happy that we got to take this little trip with our friends as part of our farewell Saudi tour, and we got some neat fossils to add to my rock collection.