Call of the Wild

Ok, ok, OK. I've had enough people comment on my lack of blogging to actually get back to it. I have to say that I was much inspired by my friend's blog, Paris Lights. This girl is a real blogger! Also, I was inspired by some actual exciting (relatively speaking, of course) events in my life.

Last Thursday, the cool weather and relative drop in humidity really made me want to get out of the city. Ideally, I would have liked to camp out like we did last November...

Ahhh, our camping trip of November 2006 (I really do suck at keeping up a blog). We struck out with 2 other cars (a minimum of 3 is required when going out - you'll understand why in a moment) to a spot discovered by an adventurous colleague of Philippe's.

It was a place where the wadi meets the dunes. The scenery is fantastic. Camels roam, the moutains seem to cut through encroaching dunes. And most of all, you can drive on the rocky wadi bed right up to the edge of the dunes. The best of both worlds, hard rocks for easy driving and soft sand for comfortable sleeping.

As we approached the spot, clouds appeared. The first we'd seen for 11 months. As the wind picked up and we approached the dunes, the car ahead of us slowed to a stop in what appeared to be a puddle of sand. It was a large puddle, and by the time we realized what had happened, we too were up to our axle in sand.

We were already near the edge of the dunes, so we pitched the tent as the rain started and decided to dig out the cars later.

In the end, the rain only lasted 20 minutes, the cars only needed a little digging and pushing and we spent a lovely evening looking at the stars.

The best is the morning, though. Coffee in the desert with the sun coming up over the mountains.

So last Thursday, these last images were clear in my head as I called around to drum up 2 other cars for a spur of the moment camping trip.

No go for the camping, but an expedition of 6 cars was going out for some desert driving and sunset picnic on Friday - we were welcome to join.

Based on our singular previous experience, Dune bashing consists of taking your car out into the desert and then digging it back out. Last Friday's trip only reinforced this theory. This time with body damage to prove it.

Here's the bullet point version of what happened:

• Drove to the edge of the dunes - let some air out of the tires for larger wheel coverage
• 2 attempts to top the first (not so impressive) dune - second one was successful only with the help of 6 locals who were driving by on quads when we were teetering at the top
• Got stuck
• Dug it out
• Got stuck 10 meters from the first place we got stuck
• Yanked it out with another car - busted the front grill
  
• Waited for the other 4 cars that got stuck to get unstuck, restuck, unstuck
• Drove back over the first dune back to the edge where we started
  
• Set up the picnic and watched the sun go down

Total distance traveled into the desert: 2 kilometers
Total dunes bashed: 1 (and to be honest, it bashed us)

No photos available due to a feeling that if I started snapping pictures, the car wasn't the only thing that was going to sustain damage....

So, maybe in another year, we'll try again.