We set out earlier than the rest of our group and took the longer scenic route to Wadi Madbah. We took in the sights, said hello to the local wildlife and found a shaded spot for lunch. When we arrived at our destination we found a nice secluded spot to set up camp and had time to explore the area before sunset. The next day was spent swimming in the pools and jumping from the cliffs.
I woke up from the sounds of excitement because a herd of camels were making their way through our campsite. We had a quick breakfast and made our way out of the desert. Although most people had enough and wanted to get home a small group of us decided to try to find a beach spot in the direction of home to enjoy the rest of our long weekend.
The Empty Quarter (Rub Al Khali) is the largest sand desert in the world. We drove to Abu Dhabi and five of us stayed the night in a studio apartment. The plan was to wake up very early the next morning and meet the rest of the group at a gas station near the chosen entry point. It was a long, windy and dusty drive to Liwa, which gave us lots of time to consider everything that could go wrong in this massive desert. As everyone said his or her hellos, we filled up our tanks, took the air out of our tires and otherwise prepared the vehicles for the desert drive. Excitement and apprehension set in. The first climb was easy enough but the first drop was something I was not expecting. Before I knew it the words “holly F&^%” came out of mouth and I was clutching parts of the truck expecting it to flip down the enormous dune. At the bottom we found ourselves in an expansive flat area surrounded by tall steep dunes. From here we were able to appreciate the huge red dunes. The weather was windy and we combated blowing sand, which made driving even harder. The sun was hot and because of the blowing sand, reapplying sunscreen meant an exfoliation treatment at the same time. Much of the day was spent pushing, pulling and at one point attaching five tow ropes together to pull a vehicle out of a very deep sandy pit. When stress levels reached it’s highest a choice bottle was shared and although our spirits remained high and we didn’t stop smiling our priority became finding the other group of drivers and setting up camp. We got there in the end and we dined and drank until the sand in our underwear no longer chaffed.
Our first time in the Al Faqah desert is still one of the most amazing desert camps we have ever had. We provoked desert spiders, had fun digging, pulling and pushing and in the end found the most beautiful camping spot. We watched the sun go down and then after the night went black it got brighter and brighter. The next day we had no choice but to hang out in the desert while the guys drove into town to pick up an air pump for a flat tire – waiting was our pleasure. That said Frank the Tank (a.k.a. FJ Cruiser) didn’t enjoy himself and we never came back to the desert again.
Back from our trip to the United Kingdom we planned a camping trip to the mountains to take in the best of the UAE. One particular camper, I wont name names, learned that she can bring all the Gucci she would like but it wont keep her warm at night. Sparkling tea and chocolate covered peppers were on the menu and on the way home we stopped at the Friday market to carpet shop and buy some herbs.
