Day 4 - Camel Safari
After a blissful and much needed good night's rest, we set off for our camelback trek through the desert. We drove for 45 minutes to a dusty town where 17 camels and two camel carts were waiting. Lurching up on the camels and lead by the camel drivers, off we went!
It was incredibly hot. Like INCREDIBLY. It was about 35 out before we entered the arid desert in the noon sun. I cannot remember a time I was that hot and sweaty. We had water strapped to the saddle that rose to near scalding temperatures. I had to put my camera away in my bag in the cart because it was rapidly overheating.
The first leg of the trip was only an hour due to the heat. The whole convoy pulled in under some shady trees and say down for lunch. The cook handmade chapatti and we also had dahl, the most delicious cauliflower ever, and a local sweet gourd dish. The party rested in the shade for a couple hours before setting out again.
The camel riding experience was smooth and comfortable. Besides going up and the camel lying down, it was a very easy ride. We rode for 3 hours more to reach out camp for the night. Near the end, the camel drivers hopped in the saddle with us and had the camels run. It was quite fast and fun, but hard to breathe.
We reached camp, which was a lovely set-up, just in time for chai and biscuits. After a refreshing tea we ascended the nearest dune to watch the sunset. There was actually quite a lot of vegetation and we learned it had been quite a rainy summer. As the light dwindled, a number of black beetles emerged from the holes in the sand. They seemed attracted to my feet. Then we realized they were attracted to the heat and were on a quest to find camel poop.
We had the option of sleeping in a tent or on a cot under the stars. No one chose tent. Dinner was homemade chapatti, roasted potatoes, dahl, onion curry (blech) and rice. For dessert in the desert they served a sugar coated sweet, clear pumpkin. We had red tea, beer, rum with orange pop (blech) and were off to bed. We had a 4 am wake up call.
It was incredibly hot. Like INCREDIBLY. It was about 35 out before we entered the arid desert in the noon sun. I cannot remember a time I was that hot and sweaty. We had water strapped to the saddle that rose to near scalding temperatures. I had to put my camera away in my bag in the cart because it was rapidly overheating.
The first leg of the trip was only an hour due to the heat. The whole convoy pulled in under some shady trees and say down for lunch. The cook handmade chapatti and we also had dahl, the most delicious cauliflower ever, and a local sweet gourd dish. The party rested in the shade for a couple hours before setting out again.
The camel riding experience was smooth and comfortable. Besides going up and the camel lying down, it was a very easy ride. We rode for 3 hours more to reach out camp for the night. Near the end, the camel drivers hopped in the saddle with us and had the camels run. It was quite fast and fun, but hard to breathe.
We reached camp, which was a lovely set-up, just in time for chai and biscuits. After a refreshing tea we ascended the nearest dune to watch the sunset. There was actually quite a lot of vegetation and we learned it had been quite a rainy summer. As the light dwindled, a number of black beetles emerged from the holes in the sand. They seemed attracted to my feet. Then we realized they were attracted to the heat and were on a quest to find camel poop.
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| A very sleepy camel after a long day. |
We had the option of sleeping in a tent or on a cot under the stars. No one chose tent. Dinner was homemade chapatti, roasted potatoes, dahl, onion curry (blech) and rice. For dessert in the desert they served a sugar coated sweet, clear pumpkin. We had red tea, beer, rum with orange pop (blech) and were off to bed. We had a 4 am wake up call.
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