Camping trip - Feb 26-27, 2010

We just got our truck back so decided to head out camping.  We went back to the same area that Wayne and the kids had gone with Ewan and without me.  The guys wanted to do a bit more exploring and it was a close spot that we could get to it on Thursday night.

Thursday night was a nice relaxed night.  We were up early Friday and raring to go.  The picture on the left is of the sunrise hitting the dunes.  After breakfast we secured everything at the site and then went out to do some exploring.  They took me past the mud flats that they had played on before.  We started up into the dunes and did some gentle exploring.   It was really windy and the dust was flying, which made it harder to drive - or so I'm told :).

The picture on the right is to show you that yes we were out camping and driving around in a sand storm.  It got worse through the day, so I'm glad we headed home Friday afternoon.

Through our exploring we found the perfect spot to camp next time.  A little oasis in the middle of some very high (30m?) dunes (picture on the left).  It was a neat spot.  We walked down to explore because at the time weren't sure if we could drive in and out.  There is lots of shade for us to pitch our tents in and the palm leaves that have fallen will make awesome fire wood.  I can't wait to go back and try it.  We also found a gazelle's horn.  Of course it came home with us :)  The picture on the right is of Wayne and Ewan walking down the crest of one of the dunes that rim the oasis to find the best way in and out of it - because I certainly don't want to have to hike all the gear down and then back up! :)  I think all the guys need are some brown robes and then they could be "Jawas" from Star Wars :)

My first camel ride! - Feb. 21, 2010

My first day back to school and my class is going on a field trip - Yahoo!!!  We went to this island just off of Al Raha beach.  Only schools are invited to visit this island.  The kids thought it was great.  We drove out by bus and then took a boat out to the island, and then a bus again to get to the camel pens.  Once there we all got to take the camels for a ride.  It was awesome.  A bit scary getting up and down, because they raise their back end first so you are tipped forwards almost to the point of falling off and then raise the front end.  The same for getting off the camel.  In both cases very scary!  BUT once you are up and walking around with the camel it was very neat.

After the camel rides we headed to another spot on the island where they have an indoor horse riding pen where we got to ride horses.  What a hoot!  They also had ostriches in pens and gazelles wandering around the island.  What a neat trip for the kids (and me).

Camping without Mom - Feb. 5-6, 2010

So while I was away visiting family, Wayne and Ewan decided to take the kids camping.  The kids were very excited and enjoyed telling me all the food that they had got for camping: double chocolate chip muffins, chipies, marshmallows, jammers, candy....  So I asked them did you pack anything healthy?  The answer was a big smile and a big NO!  So they load up the Beastor and GP (with the coordinates) and head out to the desert.  They found this cool spot and had lots of fun playing in the dunes.  The kids were excited because they got to see gazelles and camel (or in Samantha's case - dinosaur) bones.  So when I get home I'm excited to see the pictures - this is what I found...

Yes they did get to see gazelles, and yes they saw the bones they were playing with and nobody mentioned the playing in the mud flats! :)  It sounded like they had a good time.

Liwa Camping Weekend - Jan 21-23, 2010

We headed out the Thursday night because we thought that it would cut down on the driving on Friday and then we could have more time in Liwa.  It went well, we finally figured out that even though there are fences and gates that they are just for the camels not for anyone else.  So basically we can camp anywhere as long it isn't someones front lawn.  We got to a spot that we figured we wouldn't get stuck (we were on our own) and set up camp.  Wayne tried pumping up the air matress but it was taking a long time so he figured he had a lot more air to give than the pump.  We had a wonderful evening.  The kids and I scouted for wood for our fire while Wayne got supper ready.

The next morning we got up and moving.  Everything was packed, everyone was in the truck and ready to go.  Wouldn't you know it we got stuck!!!  Talk about a not very nice morning.  Everything came out again.  Tried again and ended up burying it a bit deeper. :(  So out came the shovel and I started to clear the wheels and under carriage.  We were both moving the sand when we saw this herd of camels coming our way.  It was really cool.  I wanted to take some pics BUT Wayne thought it would be better to keep digging. :)  As it turns out there was a wonderfully nice man, his daughter and grandson herding those camels.  They pulled over and through various hand motions we figured out that he would help us.  YAHOO - no more digging!

Once out we were on our way.  We had passed a gas station last night so we headed back there to fill our tires.  It turns out it was not a gas station any longer - so no air.  We tried to use our pump but figured out the hard way (tire went completly flat) that it was no longer working -that was why Wayne had to blow up the matress. :)  Again not a very good start to the morning.  We walked over to the car museum figuring they would have an air pump that we could borrow - yes they did but it cost us 50 dirhams. :)  What do you do when in the middle of absoluetly no where with a totally flat tire but pay the man.

So once again we are on our way to Liwa - there went our nice early start.  It was a beautiful drive and we manged to do a few geocaches along the way.  Once there we found an awesome camp site, at the base of this huge dune.  The kids must have climbed this thing about 8 times.  Wayne and I - ONCE was enough thank you!  It was cool coming down because we you jumped and landed it made this tooting noise.  The kids thought it was absolutely hilarous.

The first picture is of Wayne and the kids on their way up.  The one on the right is of them at the top.  The one below is from across the road facing the one we climbed to the top ( or so we thought).  That dune goes on for a long ways and gets higher!

Finally another sunset shot in the desert.  What a view!