A few weeks ago there were rumors of a camping trip with DAA teachers. Unfortunately, Jenn and I had been unsuccessful trying to befriend a very famous faculty member named Frank. Frank is like the cool guy in high school that you really want to be friends with if only... if only you had that one chance. Frank is from Sudafreeka, he has a really cool jeep with a tent that pops open on top, and he has explored hundreds of campsites around Oman and the UAE. He's the guy you want to go into the desert with because if you get stuck in the sand he is guaranteed to find a way to get you out. Not to mention he tells long and funny stories in his thick accent around the campfire. Eventually we got the invite and looked forward to taking our truck into the desert for her maiden voyage off road.
We set off from school at around 4:00pm, a convoy of 8 or so SUV's. After about 1.5 hours we pulled off the highway and into the desert with a dusty brown haze in the air but very little wind. A few more turns and we headed off road onto a hard packed sandy road past a camel farm to a pretty little valley surrounded by red sand dunes with a cluster of tall trees for shade. It was amazing to climb the dunes and look off in all directions into empty desert. What's surprising is the amount of birds you hear chirping in the low shrubs.
We set up the campsite and had drinks with a few of our middle school friends who were telling stories about their recent adventures during "week without walls" when they took MS kids off to the phillipines, Laos, Turkey, etc.
After dinner we had a big campfire and many drinks.
The following morning Ryan took us out in his jeep to do a bit of "dune bashing" which is essentially just driving around the desert dodging shrubs and driving up and down big dunes. It's pretty exciting to go over a ridge and drive down super steep dunes when all you see is sky.. and then sand.
We were also joined by a herd of camels as they passed through our camp.
Overall it was a really fun day and half in the desert and hopefully one of many camping trips.
Later in the afternoon we headed back to Dubai in time for the "Genie Awards" which is essentially the school's talent show. The students did an amazing job and it was fun to see all their hidden talents.
Here are some pictures from the camping trip:
 |
| Our first foray into the desert |
 |
| Our truck's first off road journey. Mitsubishi Nativa |
 |
| Beautiful secluded spot with lots of trees for shade |
 |
| Our Friend's son, Ethan, dancing to the music as the sun went down in the desert |
 |
| uhh. not sure what's going on here. campfire antics |
 |
| Our morning visit from the camels |
 |
| hey. nice humps |
 |
| trying to get a camel smooch |
 |
| Invasion of the camels |
 |
| Ryan was saying for about an hour that he would do the dishes. Then the camels came and they licked them clean for him! |
 |
| You gonna finish that? |
 |
| Bye guys! see you next time. |
No comments:
Post a Comment