Wahiba Sands

I don't know if my narrative can really expound upon these stunning photos. But actually there's a lot of story here. I was very humble and quite honestly in tears by the time we finally set up camp. I wanted to be in Dallas at my Uncle's funeral. I'd agreed to join the camping trip with the assurance that I would be able to watch it online. We'd planned to just camp off the side of the road, close, no going anywhere scary. But we were following a pin that was much further than we'd anticipated. when we lost reception I was feeling like turning around, just for me, with all these people following us into nowhere was too much pressure but also, I had to watch the funeral. But also, I didn't want to do this stressful drive again in the dark and risk getting stuck and stranded with my kids in tents . . . I burst into tears. But we did double back a bit since the pin wasn't actually accessible the way we went. And we did stop in a fairly stable place.

The kids dug in and never looked back. The world's giant sandbox is a sensory paradise they invited into every part of their body. I'm still trying to remove it from Sennia's scalp two weeks+ later.

One of my sisters commented "It's hard to imagine that much sand" when she saw some of the footage/photos. This is Wahiba Sands. One of many sets of dunes in Oman. The word Sahara means dessert in Arabic. Are all sand dunes the same? No. One of the geology books I purchased at the book fair told a story of scientists seeking answers to that question. When they explored the flora and fauna of Wahiba Sands and compared them with samples from other deserts, they found different species, I believe the number was 17,000 different species of invertebrates alone. And yet, when you look at these dunes you can't even imagine where 17 species of something lives, much less 17,000.

It was a kids paradise.

When the sun goes down in the desert there is a wind that rises up. The tents we'd set up blew over. We all got sand in our eyes. It was a little discouraging but once the night settled in it all went away and we cooked food together and ate together and I was flooded with the joy that I get being around so many wonderful and diverse people. I loved seeing how differently everyone plans for sustenance while camping. I loved that they could all share food. I loved sharing our food with them. I loved the stories and the community and the kids in the dark on the dunes.

Eli's American Marshmallows were amazing for us non-muslims. We use digestives covered in chocolate for s'mores. It was truly the best night with the best people.
I didn't sleep that night. My Uncle's funeral was not broadcast as we'd been told. My kids struggled to sleep. Samuel was up hunting beetles until 2 am and then had to sleep in the car because there wasn't enough room in the tent after it was weighted down with sand which is apparently the proper way to keep the tent from blowing. It wasn't almost like magic! Also, it might've had something to do with the creatures creating these tracks. Samuel saw one little gerbil and our tent was surrounded by tracks in the morning.

Things always look a little different in the morning. There was a light fog that settled in the night. All the tents were SOAKED. In fact Elise and Sennia were crying about being rained on in the night because Matt didn't put their cover over their tent. I was maybe the only one who was up to witness this pre-sunrise magic of the fog.

But when you don't sleep you're guaranteed not to miss the sunrise. Also my friend's kids who get up at the crack of dawn and the visitor who was jet lagged.

I think that something else kids love is this freedom to go forever in barefeet and find their tracks to get back. I did get a little nervous about Samuel and Brigham hunting beetles in the dark but we no one got lost. Apparently the bedouin know ever dune by the color of the sand. Completely incredible.

Sennia and company oversaw contests of strength and endurance the next morning, fastest running up and down dunes, hauling the sand board up the dune etc. It was pretty impressive. I led them in a contest of finding as much trash as they could in 5 minutes to leave the world of sand dunes better than we found it.