Having Fun In The Desert. Nearly
Today we headed out of the resort and into the desert for some activities amongst the sand.
We were picked up from our resort in some Toyota 4x4s and after a short drive north we turned onto a ‘road’ into the desert where the cars bounced along at speed. After stopping for a quick talk under a tree (there aren’t many of them in the desert!) it was back in the cars for some more bouncing!
Our second stop was to climb up a small hill-type-thing to get a view of our surroundings. The views consisted mainly of sand, hills and a mountain in the distance. The different colours in the ground made the views quite striking. Then it was back into the Land Cruisers for the final part of the journey to a Bedouin camp where we swapped the Toyotas for a different kind of transportation, quad-bikes and camels!
We grabbed our helmets and climbed aboard the quad bikes and in our single file (yes there was no racing!) we drove/rode into the desert once more and it was still bouncy.
When we got back we climbed onto a camel each and were taken for a walk to the edge of the camp’s boundary and back again.
Having done something similar the last time were in Egypt it was a pretty poor experience. the camel ride bit was pointless. It would have made sense for the camel ride to have actually taken us somewhere. For example, have everything set up so the jeeps dropped us off at the camels, and then the camels took us to the camp, thereby giving the camel ride a purpose.
When everyone was back at the camp, we were given a talk about the bedouin people and watched as one lady baked some traditional bedouin bread (breadouin anyone? Anyone? Is this thing on?) and shown the animal camp where all the chickens, canmels, goats and dogs lived.
Then we climbed up the highest point of the camp to watch the sun set before having some dinner and watching a traditional but short dance routine. We then looked through a telescope at the moon and got back into the jeeps for the journey back. I don’t know how the drivers managed to keep on the track as it was completely black all around us but they got us back to the hotel in one piece!