UADarthmaul's Travels: Oman 6: Time in the Wahiba Sands: Driving the dunes and baby camels

After breakfast the next morning, I pushed Miles to join the others to go milk the goats. I had him go on his own because I felt that he would just cling to me and be grumpy if I came along. Twenty minutes later, he came running back, having raced the camp owner from the goats. One of the couples took pictures of Miles, and took my info down, but I have yet to receive anything from them. He tried milking a goat and learned to write his name in Arabic, in the sand.

I spent the day doing yoga in the community room, playing handheld games, and just relaxing. An hour before sunset, we spent an hour being driven around the dunes in a vehicle by the owner's son who had run the campfire chat the night before.

At one point, he let me out of the car so I could film him driving Miles around in the front seat.

While we drove back, I asked him if the men in Oman played videogames. He answered that it did, and so do women. He explained that his sister was much, much better than him at Fortnite. As we neared the camp, he asked if we would be interested in having him drift. He swerved the car harshly back and forth. I took out my camera, and he did some much lesser ones as we pulled up to the site.

That night was the busiest, with 2 couples and an extended family attending. The owner himself hosted the campfire chat. When he opened it up to questions, I took the opportunity to ask a few.

I asked him how he felt about the younger generation moving to the city and leaving the Bedouin life. He responded that he is happy that he was of the generation that was able to experience the old ways and the old life as well as modern life. He does not believe that the Bedouin life will last much longer.

I asked him about how call to prayers used to be handled before the loudspeakers and I also asked him what he thought of the loudspeakers. I do not believe he fully understand the second part of the question. To answer the first, he explained that they would use people with powerful voices to literally yell out calls to prayer.

He talked at length about how laws are needed to protect the desert from people driving in on quads, making a racket, and leaving pollution everywhere. He told a story about such an incident, where loud music and quads had scared his pregnant camel so much that it lost its pregnancy. He tried calling the police but the said that as long as no one was trying to literally run down the camel, there was nothing they would do. He explained that government bureaucrats are out of touch with how the people in the desert live, and they do not care.

Finally, I asked about the rabbits in the camp, and he said that he brought in the rabbits for one of his daughters, and now they live in the camp.

The next day at breakfast, after Miles had returned to the room, the owner approached me. He mentioned that since I was staying for three nights, perhaps I would like to drive out with him in the desert to look for his pregnant camel, for two to three hours. Most visitors only stay one night, so I think he was trying to do a bit extra, in order to show his appreciation. I asked when he had in mind, and he said immediately. I jumped at the chance. I returned to the room to ask Miles to join me but I could not get him to gain any enthusiasm for the idea.

We jumped into his vehicle and took off, deeper in the desert. I brought two cameras, but did not want to ask him to stop for me to take photos, so many of my photos were taken with my phone, through the open window. We were on the lookout for his pregnant white camel, as well as his second camel, who was also white. He told me that he received notice from friends deeper in the desert that his camel had been seen nearby, so we were going to scout around that area.

Along the way, he pointed out different projects being built, such as other camps, and showed me a well that was constructed, to give the wandering animals a place to drink.

We came across a camel and its young, still partially stuck in a post birth sack. He declared that the camel was one year old. I asked permission to take out my camera and took a bunch of pictures, along with one video.

We drove over the dunes into the valley adjacent. I asked him if the entire Empty Quarter(name for the entire desert area) was structured in alternating valleys and dunes. He said it was. I also learned that each set of Dunes had its own name, and if a car were to break down, this would help identify to a rescuing party where to go.

I shared the story of Miles and I, and in return, he shared that he was twice divorced, but once was only for an hour.

Eventually, we found his pregnant camel, who was no longer pregnant. The baby was two weeks old and walking confidently. We stepped out of the vehicle. He examined both camels and fed dates to the mother. I asked him at what age the baby could be given dates. I didn't write down the answer, but I believe it to be after a few months. I took the opportunity to take photos and a video.

Feeding dates.

We continued in search of the second camel, driving towards the camp, but in this neighboring valley. There was much more vegetation in this valley, with some small trees that were growing along the ground. He said that if it had rained more, they would have grown into proper trees.

That afternoon I returned to my routine of stretching/yoga, following by gaming. There were portions of extreme winds, when the sand was being whipped around outside.

That evening we scheduled a camel ride just before sunset. We were picked up by a local man who had walked over his camels. I guess I never quite realized just how tall camels actually are. When they get up, you get quite a jolt upward. Camels can hold about half of their weight, which can be 300kg(660 pounds). We walked down the valley and then up into the dunes. The wind was so strong that we quickly turned and went back to the calmness of the valley.

That night there was only two other guests in the camp, a mother and her University aged daughter. The son narrated the campfire talk. I asked him whether coffee or tea came first/was more important to Oman. His answer was that if you have guests over and don't have tea, it isn't a great thing, but if you don't have coffee, it is a much, much worse offense. I asked if Omani coffee was ever had with milk or sugar. He said that milk is never used but that dates are often eaten with coffee, which would be a sugary equivalent. I asked him where Arabian horses could be found and if any were in the wild. He said that mostly only rich people and the Sultan had access to the horses, and that none were in the wild. He went on to explain that the much beloved old sultan had died of disease and the people are still getting a handle on the new one.

The next morning I wanted to visit the goats with Miles. He reluctantly came. Neither of us wanted to milk the goats, but Miles agreed to feed a baby by bottle for a short time.