Wednesday 30 April 2008

A night in the desert


After hopping off our camels, who were very calm and steadfast, we entered our Berber camp. It was quite the international community in our "square". We met people from Holland, Italy, and New Zealand. We stretched out on mats in the center of our square while we waited for our hosts to cook dinner. Q and M climbed up the nearby dune.


After dinner, we gazed at the stars for a little bit and then climbed into our "tent" for the night. With the big wool blanket in front of the door, it was a bit hot and stuffy inside, but we kept it down because there was a fair amount of sand blowing in the wind. The howling of the wind was a little unsettling for me, and I had a hard time sleeping, but it was cool lying in the desert listening to the wind and feel the sand. I was hoping it wouldn't turn into a big storm (it didn't). (However, a few nights later, another guide we met took a group into the desert during a sandstorm. She said it was practically impossible to see. I'm glad we didn't have to deal with that. We (M and I)actually did pack and wear ski goggles on our way into the desert because even on our trek a fair bit of sand was blowing across the dunes into our faces.)

In the morning Q and I began climbing the very high dune next to our camp. I got maybe 1/3 to 1/2 up, it was very tiring as you would slide as you step and it was very steep. It was like doing a stairmaster. Q made it to the top, and you can see below the pictures he took from the peak. Afterwards, he ran down the mountain of sand, which is also a bit scary because of its steepness. Soon after, he vomited three times as he exerted himself so much with no water or food. The poor little dude was queasy the whole time riding back on his camel.







2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you noticed one of your pics is full of orbs -? -and amazing ones, I'd say (I mean the pic where you are resting inside a tent with two children)

swiss miss said...

Wow, that's wild. It may have been due to the very light sand particles blowing. Hmmm.