<Warning: Contains many many pictures!> <enjoy!>
The first day in the desert we were exposed mostly to the
Black Desert. The name comes from the history that the desert was once part of
the sea and had many volcanoes located in it. The desert is black from the left
over volcanic ash.
Black Desert
Our second day began with a delicious breakfast at the hotel
and then jeep rides out into the Black Desert. We stopped many times on the way
to our camp site. We saw several different views of the desert, including large
sand dunes that we climbed and some students chose to roll down, large
hill-like mountains which we hiked half-way up and met the jeeps on the other
side, then climbed to the top of a very tall sand hill (they refer to it as a
mountain, but I simply can’t accept that) and we concluded the morning with a
dip in a cold spring and lunch. Our jeep drivers, along with two cafeteria
workers, prepared our lunch as we cooled off in the spring. The “cafeteria” was
the coolest clay house with low tables and pillow chairs. We had a buffet-style
lunch with more than enough food!
(Left)One of the Jeeps got stuck, which is a chance for all the other drivers to make fun of him. (Right) Matt lost his shoe in the sand dune while running down! The sand just swallowed it up.. but he found it!
Karly and I in the Jeep!
The half-mountain/hill we climbed up in the Black Desert
Cold Spring
Lunch Cafeteria
Following the morning of the Black Desert and a magnificent
lunch, we returned to our jeeps and entered the White Desert. Our first stop was
to Chrystal Mountain. This is an area covered in pieces of quarts. Because it
is a protected national park, we could not take any souvenirs with us. :(
The White Desert was also part of the ocean millions of
years ago. Our next stop was an awe-inspiring view which can only be described
by a picture.. or three.
We were able to find some seashells in the sandstone walls!
We made a few more stops on the way to the campsite which I will show in
pictures as well.
Once we arrived at the campsite we split into groups of four
and shared a whole watermelon. The camp site was already set up by our jeep
drivers and they started to prepare our dinner. We settled in, some played
soccer and football, but I sat around with some new friends and got to know
more people. The camp area was amazing. It was like we were living in a dream
world or on another planet. As the sun set we did a bit of exploring, saw the
small foxes (the only animals in the desert) and looked at the amazing view of
the stars. I almost forgot to mention the goat! The drivers conducted a
traditional cooking of a goat. They dug a hole in the sand, put a trash can
like container in the ground, lit some coals and roasted the goat on a rod
placed on the top of the can. Next, they put a lid over the top of the can,
covered the lid with a blanket, and shoveled sand over the top of the blanket.
After about an hour the guys removed the sand and uncovered the cooked goat.
(Pictures to come in my What I Ate in the Desert post)
Dinner was a buffet style again with soups, potatoes, rice,
THE best chicken I’ve ever had, and of course the goat. It was a tasty goat,
but I don’t think it is something I would choose to eat on my own. After dinner
I seemed to have fallen into a food coma and went to sleep for a good 30
minutes. I woke up as the music started by the campfire. Our drivers played
some traditional music and we joined in dancing around the fire.
After awhile I went to bed amongst all of the other students under the stars.
It was quite the magical night!
Title: This title is dedicated to Mikhala and her crazy one-liners in the jeep!
Title: This title is dedicated to Mikhala and her crazy one-liners in the jeep!
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