Under Canvas
There are some things I just don’t do, one of them is camping. I love nature and wildlife, but only if comes with ensuite bathrooms and a plug for my hairdryer. The only tent I know of where these come as standard was destroyed when being used by the Weasleys during the Quidditch World cup; bummer! So when his nibs suggested going camping in the desert with some friends I was less than enthusiastic. “Ah come on babe….it will be fun” he said, and with the help of our German friends’ persuasion techniques my resolve weakened. I insisted on just one night under canvas; I could cope without a shower for 24 hours. In his usual ‘gung-ho’ style his nibs made a trip to Carrefour for equipment; tent, camping shower, stove, bed, sleeping bags, rug, chairs etc… It would have been cheaper to go back to the Chedi… ah heaven… With our car an XC90 (I’m not bragging about the car; this information is very relevant as you’ll see later) loaded with our shiny new camping gear, food and of course the all important cooler-box of beer we headed out into the Empty Quarter.
Our camping party consisted of his nibs and I, and 2 other couples; the afore mentioned Germans and their Swedish friends. We travelled in 2 cars along the highway towards Abu Dhabi and then inland past the oil fields to Liwa Oasis and the Empty Quarter. The Empty Quarter, so named as except for sand there’s bugger all there, is not far from the Saudi boarder and has some of the largest sand dunes in the world. It’s teaming with desert life apparently, though we saw precious little! After driving down very straight, empty boring roads with nothing to look at but desert, for what felt like weeks but in fact was only 3 hours, we arrived at our destination. I was a bit confused at this point; our destination looked no different from the miles and miles of desert we’d just driven through; why didn’t we just stop and camp an hour ago??? Never mind Bev, as we’d finally got there we could open the cooler-box and have a beer – yeah! Our campsite decided it was time we erected the tents; well not just yet let’s have another beer.
What a lovely campsite we’d chosen, rolling hills in every direction; SAND hills mind and not a plant in
sight! Living in the desert you expect a bit of sand here and there, it gets into the car, the house and on a windy day your eyes. Sand storms happen regularly in Dubai and in the built up city they cause few problems, here in the Empty Quarter with nothing to protect you and nothing BUT sand, they cause a few more. This wasn’t a real sand storm but it was blowing a gale; a bit of a problem when trying to put up tents. Our German friend knowledgably suggests we wait until the wind dies. “Zee vind alvays dies at 6pm” he announces, so we have another beer… 6pm comes and goes “Zee vind vill stop ven zee sun sets” so we have another beer…. Now pitch black, with an amazing sky I must admit, no light pollution here, we were still in a force 10 gale and slightly worse for wear. Too drunk to drive back to Liwa Oasis were there was a comfortable hotel with ensuite and plugs, we had no choice but to set up camp. Not to be beaten by the elements the Swedes and Germans struggled to erect their tents in the wind, his nibs and I were at a great disadvantage here; I’ve NEVER put a tent up in my life, it was a brand new tent, very dark and we were very drunk. This is were the XC90 came into play, with all the seats down in the back it can comfortably fit an inflatable camp bed; oh joy… no canvas for me!
Once camp was made, we set about cooking. In a valley were the wind was only at force 5, we lit the BBQ. Just what we needed; food to absorb some of the alcohol we’d consumed.
Unfortunately in their drunken state the chefs dropped the food, and hungry as we were sand coated chicken kebabs were not appetising, so we made do with hummous Arabic bread and Pringles. It was about midnight when I hit the wall and in my drunken stupor collapsed into a sandy bed. Apart from some locals on quad bikes gate crashing at about 3 am, the night passed relatively quietly. The next morning I woke to find our German friends had like Alain and I slept in car. Puzzled….as they were insistent on staying and sleeping under canvas, I asked the Swedes why the Germans had capitulated. Apparently after his nibs and I had retired, one of the Swedes had dropped their wedding ring (don’t ask me why she was taking it off in the desert!) whilst searching she’d been brushing the sand with her hand. By doing this she disturbed a large scorpion who’d decided to camp with us. The scorpion was rather angry at being swatted by the Swede and took an aggressive stance. Needless to say our human campmates were even less happy and evasive action was taken. The scorpion was terminated and the Germans decided sleeping on the ground was a bad idea so moved to their car. The poor Swedes who’d travelled with the Germans had no choice but to sleep under canvas; they didn’t get a very restful night!
Several hours later we arrived home; there I spent an hour in the shower attempting to remove half the desert from my hair and every body orifice I could name and few I couldn’t. Needles to say the tent and all the camping gear is now languishing in the garage….
Our camping party consisted of his nibs and I, and 2 other couples; the afore mentioned Germans and their Swedish friends. We travelled in 2 cars along the highway towards Abu Dhabi and then inland past the oil fields to Liwa Oasis and the Empty Quarter. The Empty Quarter, so named as except for sand there’s bugger all there, is not far from the Saudi boarder and has some of the largest sand dunes in the world. It’s teaming with desert life apparently, though we saw precious little! After driving down very straight, empty boring roads with nothing to look at but desert, for what felt like weeks but in fact was only 3 hours, we arrived at our destination. I was a bit confused at this point; our destination looked no different from the miles and miles of desert we’d just driven through; why didn’t we just stop and camp an hour ago??? Never mind Bev, as we’d finally got there we could open the cooler-box and have a beer – yeah! Our campsite decided it was time we erected the tents; well not just yet let’s have another beer.
What a lovely campsite we’d chosen, rolling hills in every direction; SAND hills mind and not a plant in
sight! Living in the desert you expect a bit of sand here and there, it gets into the car, the house and on a windy day your eyes. Sand storms happen regularly in Dubai and in the built up city they cause few problems, here in the Empty Quarter with nothing to protect you and nothing BUT sand, they cause a few more. This wasn’t a real sand storm but it was blowing a gale; a bit of a problem when trying to put up tents. Our German friend knowledgably suggests we wait until the wind dies. “Zee vind alvays dies at 6pm” he announces, so we have another beer… 6pm comes and goes “Zee vind vill stop ven zee sun sets” so we have another beer…. Now pitch black, with an amazing sky I must admit, no light pollution here, we were still in a force 10 gale and slightly worse for wear. Too drunk to drive back to Liwa Oasis were there was a comfortable hotel with ensuite and plugs, we had no choice but to set up camp. Not to be beaten by the elements the Swedes and Germans struggled to erect their tents in the wind, his nibs and I were at a great disadvantage here; I’ve NEVER put a tent up in my life, it was a brand new tent, very dark and we were very drunk. This is were the XC90 came into play, with all the seats down in the back it can comfortably fit an inflatable camp bed; oh joy… no canvas for me!Once camp was made, we set about cooking. In a valley were the wind was only at force 5, we lit the BBQ. Just what we needed; food to absorb some of the alcohol we’d consumed.
Unfortunately in their drunken state the chefs dropped the food, and hungry as we were sand coated chicken kebabs were not appetising, so we made do with hummous Arabic bread and Pringles. It was about midnight when I hit the wall and in my drunken stupor collapsed into a sandy bed. Apart from some locals on quad bikes gate crashing at about 3 am, the night passed relatively quietly. The next morning I woke to find our German friends had like Alain and I slept in car. Puzzled….as they were insistent on staying and sleeping under canvas, I asked the Swedes why the Germans had capitulated. Apparently after his nibs and I had retired, one of the Swedes had dropped their wedding ring (don’t ask me why she was taking it off in the desert!) whilst searching she’d been brushing the sand with her hand. By doing this she disturbed a large scorpion who’d decided to camp with us. The scorpion was rather angry at being swatted by the Swede and took an aggressive stance. Needless to say our human campmates were even less happy and evasive action was taken. The scorpion was terminated and the Germans decided sleeping on the ground was a bad idea so moved to their car. The poor Swedes who’d travelled with the Germans had no choice but to sleep under canvas; they didn’t get a very restful night!Several hours later we arrived home; there I spent an hour in the shower attempting to remove half the desert from my hair and every body orifice I could name and few I couldn’t. Needles to say the tent and all the camping gear is now languishing in the garage….
posted by Bev @ 9:54 am
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