Desert Caves Kishb Photo Gallery  2002 © 2005 by John and Susy Pint

Photos by John and Susy Pint unless otherwise credited.

 

Harrat Kishb is one of Arabia's 12 large lava fields covering 85,000 sq kms.	Salt lake in two-km-wide Wahbah Crater.	Crossing a harrat is no easy task, as you can rarely go in a straight line.	Somehow we managed to get stuck in Kishb's only sand patch!
We camped at a lonely spot near a mountain called Jebel Hil.	View of Harrat Kishb from the foot of Jebel Hil.	The summit of Jebel Hil reveals the remains of a lava lake.	On the rim of Jebel Hil, trying to find a way down before sunset.
Abdullah Eissa, ready to explore Kishb and dressed for Alaska.	Looking for the vents of 3-km-long Hil Lava Tube. Photo: J. Roobol	Mahmoud Alshanti enjoying the smooth Pahoehoe lava. Photo: J. Roobol	A lava splash, frozen for a million years. Photo: J. Roobol
Vent 7. The tube is 28.5 meters deep here. Photo: J. Roobol	Long shadows after a hard day of trekking across the lava field.	"Snap to it, men!" Abdulrahman Al Jouid takes charge of mapping.	A long slope of breakdown leads to the entrance of Mut'eb Cave.
Saeed Al Amoudi and Ahmed Banakher set a station near some lava stalactites.	Earth at the back of the cave has been accumulating for a million years	Entrance to Kahf Al Mut'eb, first lava tube mapped in Saudi Arabia.	John Roobol at the entrance to Ghostly Cave.
Seven meters below the surface, two long passages can be entered.	Tall stalagmites of dove guano look spooky in the murky light.	This is how John Pint looks when he finds a passage with no end in sight.	Susy Pint says "adios" to Harrat Kishb. But we'll be back!