We spent an evening in the desert near Naheel, which is a small town about 15 kilometers from Sweihan, on the Abu Dhabi--Al Hayer highway. Leaving Abu Dhabi around 2:45 with our friends, Antoine and Aesha, we took the Sweihan Road near the airport, gassed up at Sweihan, and made it to Naheel about one hour and ten minutes later. We turned off the highway and found a track bordering large electrical towers, a few kilometers down which waited our friend, Peter. After lowering our tires and waiting a little while for our friend Asli, we set off into the dunes. We were hoping to reach a suitable campsite in time to watch the sunset in peace, but the dunes proved difficult, and some digging and towing was in order. The dunes there are not very high, but we were driving against the grain, as it were, and there were very few breaks between the dunes, which made it a constant roller-coaster, with some sharp turns that cut into our acceleration and pace.
We finally got far enough away from the road and civilization to stop around six o'clock. We set up camp, got our son Daniil to start the fire (with some help from former girl scout Aesha), and sat down for snacks, followed by a dinner of lamb, vegetarian chili, and salads, not to forget grilled Shari (one fresh from the sea courtesy of Peter that morning, and one from Natasha's freezer). Then it was over to the fire to engage in conversation, with the topics ranging from "What is a soulmate, and do they really exist?" to "Can anything bad really happen to you?" Daniil, in the meantime, was watching "My Name is Earl" on the portable DVD player in the car. Much wine was imbibed, as some retired early and some retired late.
The night was cool but not cold, with a fair bit of moisture, but again not overly. I'm afraid I didn't see much of the early morning, as I had woken up in the middle of the night with a headache, and after taking an aspirin, slept until about 9. By that time the others had already eaten breakfast and were packing up. Getting out of the campsite proved a challenge, however, as Asli got stuck in a nasty way, and then Peter hit the same hillock as the day before when he came over a dune to the rescue. When he got out, he tried to tow Asli out, but made the classic mistake of going gently over a dune as he was towing; as a result, his car was dangling at the end of the tow rope, and Asli was still stuck. I had to come, give Asli a big enough jerk to release the tension in the two rope, and then Peter could be freed. Finally everyone was out, and we were off to the road, where Antoine and Aesha filled their tires and bade good-bye. Asli moved into Peter's car, and the two remaining cars went for a drive towards the higher dunes on the horizon. We got through without incident to a nice shady spot under a tree and had lunch, where Natasha read an excerpt from Richard Bach's "The Bridge Across Forever" for the edification of certain people.
Then it was back to the track to refill tires and leave Peter to his own devices, as he was staying on, no doubt to scour the area for beads, arrowheads, and pots (one of which he found on our previous trip to the area). We got back home later than usual to our peeved cat, around 3:30.
We finally got far enough away from the road and civilization to stop around six o'clock. We set up camp, got our son Daniil to start the fire (with some help from former girl scout Aesha), and sat down for snacks, followed by a dinner of lamb, vegetarian chili, and salads, not to forget grilled Shari (one fresh from the sea courtesy of Peter that morning, and one from Natasha's freezer). Then it was over to the fire to engage in conversation, with the topics ranging from "What is a soulmate, and do they really exist?" to "Can anything bad really happen to you?" Daniil, in the meantime, was watching "My Name is Earl" on the portable DVD player in the car. Much wine was imbibed, as some retired early and some retired late.
The night was cool but not cold, with a fair bit of moisture, but again not overly. I'm afraid I didn't see much of the early morning, as I had woken up in the middle of the night with a headache, and after taking an aspirin, slept until about 9. By that time the others had already eaten breakfast and were packing up. Getting out of the campsite proved a challenge, however, as Asli got stuck in a nasty way, and then Peter hit the same hillock as the day before when he came over a dune to the rescue. When he got out, he tried to tow Asli out, but made the classic mistake of going gently over a dune as he was towing; as a result, his car was dangling at the end of the tow rope, and Asli was still stuck. I had to come, give Asli a big enough jerk to release the tension in the two rope, and then Peter could be freed. Finally everyone was out, and we were off to the road, where Antoine and Aesha filled their tires and bade good-bye. Asli moved into Peter's car, and the two remaining cars went for a drive towards the higher dunes on the horizon. We got through without incident to a nice shady spot under a tree and had lunch, where Natasha read an excerpt from Richard Bach's "The Bridge Across Forever" for the edification of certain people.
Then it was back to the track to refill tires and leave Peter to his own devices, as he was staying on, no doubt to scour the area for beads, arrowheads, and pots (one of which he found on our previous trip to the area). We got back home later than usual to our peeved cat, around 3:30.
