Into the Desert

At long last, we have taken advantage of unique geographical location to go exploring in the desert! And I have to say it's the best thing we've done so far.

For our first foray into the sandy abyss (two weeks ago), we joined a large group of expats who arrange desert outings every weekend. It was helpful to have cars to follow out to our destination, Wadi Laban, aka "Buttermilk Canyon." The city road turned into a not-so-well-kept road but it was still paved. Eventually we turned off this road and headed out into pure packed desert. The "roads" were nothing more than paths etched in the sand by SUVs and other 4x4 vehicles, often indistinguishable from the rest of the desert. Most of the time, our little Hondai did pretty well, until near the end of the drive, when the sand became much looser and our car got stuck. Luckily, there were people to help us out.

You can see the tire track lines in the loose sand near our gathering point.

We all gathered near a big, lone tree in the valley, surrounded by beautiful canyon cliffs on each side. Then we divided into three groups, depending on what time of excercise one desired. We joined the "short walk" group, thinking that with two kids, the "long walk" and the "run" would be a bit much for us. The short walk turned out to be perfect. Misha had an absolute hay day climbing up and down the rocky canyon and running across the sand. Sebby kept wanting to walk as well, though the terrain made him fall a lot!




At one point on our walk, we were excited to see a group of camels wandering down the valley. The beautiful brown, black, and white creatures appeared rather nervous to see so many people in their usually-quiet canyon, and they picked up their speed. I don't believe I've ever seen camels run before!





Misha poses on a rock.



Little boy in the big desert.


A few plants add a touch of green to the sand.



Desert gourds?

Profile in the canyon.


Sunset in the desert.

Since it's the holiday season, the organizers planned a Christmas concert - with a sound system to pump out the carols and mics for live music. They also made a huge bonfire, which was much appreciated as the weather cooled off significantly. Here, the kids warm themselves by the fire.

Driving back to the city was another experience - but at least we didn't get stuck! It is quite easy to see how the beautiful, mysterious, lonely desert can also be quite terrifying if one were lost. I was glad to have the headlights of other cars behind us.

We will definitely be making more trips to the desert!