Wadi lunch & Hilux fun
We packed up our chilly bin (or eski if you’re not from New Zealand) with some fruits from Assalah market, a ready-made falafel lunch from Abu Amr; the best falafel shop in town and a few emergency beers from ‘Drinkies’ just in case!
Now all we needed was our transport… We were headed just 30k outside of Dahab to a special Wadi that Jumma, my Bedouin friend knew of. He promised that it was absolutely stunning with lots of shady places to sit, thick sand, heaps of spring flowers and a huge sandy dune to climb/fall down.
Waiting and ready to go was myself, Juno my 2 year old daughter and our friends Claire, Hameed and Barracuda (not his real name!) Claire’s 2 year old cocker spaniel Biscuit was along for the ride too.
Jumma, potentially the most punctual Bedouin EVER arrived 2 minutes early in one of the most beat up Hilux pickups I’ve seen so far in Dahab. And that’s saying something. We threw the water & chilly bin on the back along with Hameed and scrambled in the front with the toddlers. Yalla, we were off!
Then we ran out of petrol…. roughly 5 minutes from the station. No matter, Jumma called up a friend of his who was coming from the opposite direction and he dropped us off a liter of benzene in an old water bottle. After yelling at Barracuda and Juno to get down from the mini mountain they were climbing on the opposite side of the road, we really were off this time.
The trip out of Dahab was smooth and the Egyptian police and military team at the checkpoint were diligent and quick. Although they were cracking a few jokes when we said we were just going to lunch. 3 Bedouins, 2 European looking women, a dog and a toddler heading away from the restaurants!
The entrance to the wadi was found easily by Jumma and we stopped 10 minutes inside to let some air out of the tires in preparation for the soft deep sand. Barracuda took over the driving to see what the hilux could do. We swerved around the deep sand patches and bumped along the harder bits, at times banking up the hills on either side of the wadi to avoid especially deep parts. Juno sat on my lap in the front and was loving it, Biscuit on the flat bed not so. The Bedouin have loads of tricks up their galabeyas for freeing a pickup stuck in deep sand and we never had to wait too long after getting stuck.
The spot for lunch was incredible. Granite walls made a large shady patch and the sand felt cool and dry to the touch. Wild plants were showing off their spring flowers and the desert really looked alive, we found loads of lizards, beetles and even a few butterflies.
As soon as we arrived the boys set about making a fire for tea. Never mind that its 30°C and the middle of the day, there ALWAYS has to be tea! In a matter of minutes Hameed had used a rock to dig up the roots of a relatively green shrub which he said made the best firewood and twigs were collected. Bedouin tea was on, flavoured with some wild sage called Marmaria which Jumma had found.
We explored the wadi, scrambled up soft sand embankment and eventually came to a huge dune which apparently had an awesome view from the top. Juno and I called it quits early on in the climb but still had a good view of Barracuda skidding down past us on the heels of his feet and Claire and Biscuit taking the hard route over the rocky edges. The colours in the desert are incredible, bright blue skies offset by the yellow sand and the red rocks around.
Back at the fire after lunch we lounged for a bit before packing up and heading back our old faithful pickup, wedged in the deep sand where barracuda had ‘parked’ it. The ride out of the Wadi was brilliant with the drivers having a bit more confidence in what our borrowed Hilux could do, we bumped and grinded and swerved our way out. Claire sat on the back on the flat bed with Biscuit and to her credit didn’t spill a single drop of her beer, a true Irish adventurer!
Till next blog,
Summer
P.S.: Fancy an adventure off the beaten track? We can help arrange all manner of trips including ones like the above (except with a better car and benzene guaranteed!) With our Bedouin friends, we’d love to help you discover the Sinai away from tour groups and tourist spots. Drop us a line to enquire about!
