desert-ed

our main objective in coming to douz was to visit the desert. we left with our guide, zou, at about 2 in the afternoon, when the saharan sun was still high and bright. we took a van from the center of town to the outskirts where we met our camels. they were loaded up with our stuff, and then we jumped on ourselves. and when i say jump, i mean we hoisted ourselves over the layers of blankets and held on for dear life as the camel lurched forward and back. the extra joint in their leg makes the process rather interesting.

we continued on in pairs, with my camel at the lead. his name is amir, incidentally, which means king. we learned a bit about our camels during our two-hour trek. firstly, if left to their own devices, they will eat any vegetation in sight. secondly, camels have a very interesting mating practice. and apparently mating season is december-february. it consists of them sticking a big, lumpy tongue-like object out of their mouths and make a gross gurgling noise that sounds something like jabba the hut swallowing. no spitting, though.

the camel ride itself was rather uncomfortable but not altogether unpleasant. we were really enjoying the hot desert sun and exploring the terrain. once you leave civilization, the expanse of empty land is quite impressive. the white sand was different than the red sands of morocco.

when we arrived at our campsite, we were asked to gather brush and sticks for firewood. once our guides got the fire going we took it upon ourselves to play in the desert, walking around barefoot, jumping off dunes and making fun silhouettes when the sun went down.

once our dinner (couscous with vegetables and lamb) was prepared we gathered around the campfire for traditional (or maybe current top 40) tunisian songs accompanied by zou on the drum. once the stars came out we heard about the constellations over a dessert of oranges and tea. we ended the night with more songs and jokes until the moon came up and we were too tired to stay awake.

we retired to our tents, two people in each. the one that jasmine and i shared had a broken flap so we were instead given zou's paper-thin dress/shirt as a covering. even with our four thick blankets and my nice warm socks it was a long, cold night. we woke up several times, waiting for the sun to come up. this was not made any easier by the prospect of going to the bathroom out in the cold. "the sun comes up at about 5 right?" more like 7.30. it was the longest awaited sunrise of my life. wow.

when it was finally light outside we gathered around the fire and sat in a stupor, wrapped in our blankets. dazed and still cold, we watched as zou's partner (mufta?) stoked the fire and made delicious desert bread out of just flour, water and salt that he baked right in the sand under the hot embers. it was delicious and filling. after we had eaten our fill of sand bread (surprisingly sand-free) we remounted our camels and continued back to douz. our camels were lively, making plenty of disgusting noises (some of which i'm convinced lucas must have been inspired by).

it was quite an experience, and i think we were all glad we had done it. plus now whenever i have to do something i don't want to do, i tell myself, 'i peed in the desert; i can do anything.'