finally....I have surrendered to the wind.

and finally,......... I have surrendered to the wind,

because I have seen

there is life force much greater than me

least of all the wind.

Drifting sand, arid heat, clear sky

Hair cut

Question: How do you get someone to change the way they cut your hair if their English is worse than your itty bitty Arabic vocabulary?

Answer: You draw a picture of course!

This is the paper that I took with me to the barber shop. He got it right away, and I got the 'do that I wanted.

Liwa Camel Farm

Here we find the camel herder and one of his herd, very close to Liwa UAE.

Minaret at Dusk

A real stroke of luck here with the sun going down and the moon setting as well.

Gettin' Around

"My gosh it's soooooo hard to walk here !"












" Try this! It's so much easier to get around!"

Sunrise at the Tal Moreeb

Tal Moreeb means the Moreeb Dune, and that's the big one out here.......over 300 M high, now that's a big sand pile.

Take a look at this video, this is the exact same dune......not quite as serene as this pic here on the left, but everyone has their own take on what is beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_ogvbAhUZs&feature=related

You will have to copy the address above and paste it into your browser address bar.....it's worth the trouble!

Calf and Cow

A calf and cow pictured here in the corral. The fence was surprisingly ratty, this would not of kept a cow or a horse in, however,....camels are a different story I suppose.

Here are a few cool camel facts.
1) These are Dromidary camels or Arabian. The two humpers are Bactrian.
2) The hump is fat, not water and it has it's own nifty hairdoo going on there,....."you are stylin' there girlie." Having all of the fatty tissue on top is thought to be better where as if it were spread throughout the body it would likely insulate too much.
3) Camels can live up to fifty years. You want to be sure you are ready to work on the long term relationship with one before you go down to the pet store!
4) Camels have two rows of thick eyelashes to protect their eyes from blowing dust and sand.
5) Camels can go for 17 days without water in scorching weather and can lose 1/3 of its body weight without being affected.They can drink 100- 150 liters of water in 6 minutes
6) They have several adaptations to cope with arid hot conditions; a) a nose that recaptures humidity from the breath. b) an adjustable core body temp to suit the exterior temp. c)urine production goes down significantly when not drinking. d) a camel with its natural coat transpires or sweats 50% less than without, the coat also serves to keep them warm when the temps fluctuate. e)when thirsty transpiration is reduced to near zero. f) they have dry feces, only 2.5 liters of water is lost daily, compare to a cow which looses 30 - 40 liters per day g)specialized blood corpuscles that are oval in shape, this facilitates good flow during a dehydrated state, (only reptiles, birds and fish have these types of corpuscles) h) ear hairs that prevent excessive water loss i) long legs to get some distance from the desert floor. j) big feet to stay on top of the sand. (they don't live in rocky deserts) k) a sturdy mouth that can eat thorny desert plants.
7) Camels generally have a gentle nature but can spit a stream of fetid gick from their upper stomach if spooked, frustrated or angry, apparently its a real chemical bomb.

Keeper of the Camels

Here is our wandering camel tender, back home with the entire herd intact. I was evidently more stressed about it than he was.

What are you Dune over there?

Lila is off to find a tree to cut down so that we can build a fire and cook our breakfast. I hope this doesn't take too long, I'm hungry!