After the extraordinary highs of yesterdays tour to Petra todays tour seemed very unexeptional. I was wrong. It was actually a day that I enjoyed very much. It didn’t read all that well....”Travel by bus for 30 minutes. Board your desert jeep and visit a Bedouin Camp, option to ride a camel, Return to Boat”
It was much more than than that....much more....
We departed at 7.30am by bus and did indeed make our way along the coastline to a fuel stop where our Toyota troop carriers were waiting. Six of us got into the vehicle, one up front and the other five sitting on the long narrow bench seats that thankfully were cushioned. We set off down the highway for a few kilometres and then abruptly turned off the highway and straight out into the sand. No roads here, just pick your own path.
The vehicles only slow down for deep ruts in the track...sometimes. It was actually exhilirating and at no time did I feel unsafe. We drove for what seemed ages but was probably 30 minutes before the mirage of a Bedouin camp came into view. This was so different to what I had pictured in my mind. In my mind there would be lots of colourful tents but in reality it was a lot of heavily thatched buildings all fenced into a community.
First stop in the camp was of course the toilet. It looked very clean and inviting and as we asked which way was the ladies and which way was the gents we were told “all together, one room”. Gents to the left to the urinal and women had three cubicles on the right hand side. This was also my first “squat” toilet. Ummmm. The least said about that the best....
After the toilet stop it was off to ride the camels for those that wanted to. I was first to have my hand up and really enjoyed it. What I didn’t enjoy was the dismount. As the camel goes down onto its front legs you have to hang on for dear life so as not to go over the camels head!
A quick tour around the Bedouin Camp took us to the spot where the flat bread is made. We watched a demonstration and then got to taste the lovely bread. After this it was a tiny cup of black tea to wash down the bread. It was the perfect strength for me but I have to say the cups were not all that clean. Try not to think about it.
The next stop was at the gift shop (always a gift shop!) where I purchased a couple of bracelets.
We then took our places along a cement seat to watch the lively dance by the Bedouin boys. The music is toe tapping and we were all invited to clap along while the dancers performed their very fast dance. They spin around and around and their colourful outfits spin out with them. It was very spectacular. I can’t imagine how they can spin that fast and not fall over.
In no time at all we were back on the bus for our return journey back to the ship. At this point I will mention that security is very heavy here at Safaga. There are machine gun armed soldiers stationed all around the port and although we did not have to go through security before returning to the ship the bus behind us did. The funny thing is that we had to go through the security check as we left the dock this morning and the guide said “leave all you bags on the bus”. Really. If you had something illegal in your bag how were they ever going to know. Only the Egyptians would know.
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