Day 16 - Bedwin and the Sahara

-Up at 6:30 and in the van at 7, we were on our way to an overnight camping trip in the Sahara Desert! Me, Anné, Jim, and Anné's coworker Andrianna, plus Ibrahim and our driver, and all our gear. First pit stop was a small building with the rankest bathroom ever, lots of tables and chairs, a place for prayer, and a counter to get soda/tea/coffee/whatever from. We sat for some tea (I opted for orange soda), then hurried back out through the sandstorm to the van.

At the "rest stop"

Sandstorm

-Second stop was the Oasis - Bedwin, where we had lunch and switched over to the Land Cruiser. Ahmed, our Land Cruiser driver - his wife made our delicious lunch, and then we high-tailed it into the middle of the Saharan desert.

Changing vehicles

Sitting down to lunch

Our crazy amazingly delicious lunch

Ahmed and his adorable daughter Zara

-Before going to our "campsite" we made first a stop in the black desert, then a stop when - !POP! - we snagged a gnarly rock and blew a tire, again in the "garden" where you can find rocks shaped by decades of wind and sand to look like little flowers, saw some crystals, and picked up some firewood from the muscle-woman's house/shop. Our final stop, our camp for the night, was in the incredible White Desert. The White Desert used to be under the Mediterranean Sea, and has left some of the most fascinating white rock formations - kind of feels like camping on the moon.

Black Desert

The muscle - woman's house/shop

Entering the White Desert

 

In the "Garden" looking for rock flowers

haha I was keeping the sand out of my face

This was PERFECT - the camels were wandering along just as the sun was setting. GORGEOUS. 

White Desert

-Ahmed and Ibrahim had our light and "living room" set up in no time, and while we donned our jackets and scarves and warmed ourselves by the fire they got dinner going - potato and vegetable stew with rice and s..l..o..w..l..y smoked the chicken over the coals. Agh...so good. :)

Our "living room

Dinner! with fox in background lol

Our little visitor

-We slept inside tents just in case of a sandstorm in the morning, and although the days are warm - man, those desert nights can be quite frigid once the sun goes down.

In my tent! :D