Several of Jake's co-workers so generously hosted an amazing day in the desert. It was billed as having a "picnic" lunch and dinner but the food and the tents and amenities were much more than just a day in desert would imply.
They had about 4 giant Arabic tents set up covered in Oriental rugs but a fenced in area for food and snacks to keep it out of the wind. And then they set up 3-4 additional sleeping tents which looked quite comfortable. Others brought 10 or so more camping tents for more accommodations.
We had to be back early the following morning for an event so we just went up for the day. We drove the 2 1/2 hours or so out to the Western Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi near the town of Liwa and the Moreeb Dune. We then spent the day enjoying the scenery, hanging out with Jake's coworkers and their families. The kids played most of the day in the sand (including digging a hole to America - just like we used to try to dig holes to China when we were kids!). We took a really nice dune hike, saw a beautiful sunset. We stuck around long enough to see the most spectacular stars we've seen in a long, long time. Not a lot of light pollution in the "Empty Quarter!"
 |
| Jake, Anna and me heading up a dune on our hike |
 |
| Anna enjoying one of the tent interiors |
 |
The outside of the main gathering tent. I wish I would have taken
a picture of the substantial lunch. Giant bowls of rice and roaster lamb
and all the Arabic fixin's |
 |
Sand fun! Burying and digging (no sand castles
as the sand if *very* dry - not a lot of rain in the Empty Quarter |
 |
| The "kitchen", water barrels, 4-wheelers |
 |
| The view |
No comments:
Post a Comment