Second Desert Camp in Saudi

Early morning
Our camping beds with 2 sleeping bodies

Ali and Roger in Tharwas

Thursday afternoon,  I again went to Jens class at school to help her with a photo session (of still life fruits) with her last grade 3 class. Then we all drove over to her friend Nathans ( who is an airplane mechanic ) for a dinner she organized, ordering a dish from a local restaurant with the help of one of her co_ worker teachers from school when it had to be ordered in Arabic. Nathan helped her re attach her ASSD  (anti sand scooping device) that had come off during her previous camping trip. Without it  on, the sand will fill the rear car bumper and cause it to fall off.
 Friday morning (their Saturday) we drove out to Nathans' again with all the camping gear and set out following him to the meet point with the other campers. We filled up with gas, and headed out (20 of us in about 10 cars) towards the Stardunes. You may wonder why so many cars, but the experience entails driving up and down sand dunes,  sometimes with consequences, and no car owner wants to be deprived of the experience. When we reached the desert entry point everyone stopped to let the air out of their tires from 20 PSI to 15 PSI to be able to drive on the sand. Also, you cannot drive above 80 KM as you risk the tire coming off your rim. (which happened to Nathan) Then there were several episodes of getting stuck in the sand and having to be pulled out by straps, and some seriously perched over the edge of some huge dunes. We arrived at camp in the dark due to the misadventures, set up and had a wonderful dinner.  (2 hours drive into  the desert.)  There was the most delicious, tender steak I have ever eaten in my life, chicken kabobs, baked potatoes, scalped potatoes, salads, etc. The usual suspects were there as well as some new people. I slept fairly well that night and got up early, helping to recover many windblown plates and kitchen items that had taken flight during the night. Jen made a 36 egg scrambled egg, hash browns and beef bacon, (pork is forbidden)  breakfast, with coffee for the group. Then we all packed up and headed out in caravan.
Camel accessory stand at gas station (our meeting point)

Lamb, veggies and rice/pasta (Kabsa) at Nathans that Jen had ordered.

Saudi Tent trailer

Camels (Jamal) in the truck on the highway

Alongside our car

Jen deflating the air pressure for the sand

Tire off the rim

Nathan repairing the tire, reflate and deflate

Jen and Roger
Overview of the camp
Heading home in caravan
"Cottage country" Saudi style alongside the highway (Tent man caves)

Roger while waiting for stuck vehicles
Riding the sand dunes with Jennifer

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