Sunday, April 22, 2007

number 1s in the Desert (i had to dedicate a post to this)

Well, I survived the toileting side, I will have you know. And, yes I agree with Tom, it really is liberating sitting out in the open, feeling the breeze on your ass and doin' what you gotta do in such silence. Daytime toilet trips I very much enjoyed, can't say the same for night visits however. Having to go out with a flashlight, even with 3 girls in tow, into absolute darkness is kinda scary. The 'breeze' you enjoyed during the day becomes more of a whipping wind at night, and you just want to get over with it and return back to camp pronto.

In fact, on the first morning out in the desert, woken up by the sunlight at 6.30am, I was one of the first ones up....so I took my mattress and walked up away from the camp and settled down on a dune overlooking the entire area. The silence was incredible. It really is hard to find that kind of silence, especially having born and brought up in the city all my life. Sometimes someone would say something at the camp, and even though i was so far away the noise would be carried over to me by the wind. After enjoying the crisp morning sun for an hour or so, I got up and walked around my dune....I discovered a little nook behind a rock, which i then promptly staked out as my very own personal bathroom. No chance of anyone sneaking up on me. Like a little cat, I did my doings, covered it up and walked back to camp.

There were traumatising incidents of course. Stopping at a random spot in the desert while jeeping around, I, Natasha and Sara just HAD to go. Now the problem with being out in the open desert: Yes it is big and vast, and the dunes are big enough to hide you....but they are actually so big and wide that firstly climbing out to get behind one away from the cars is a task on its own, and then having to worry that one of the jeeps will come driving down the dune and catch you with your ass in the air.....it just doesnt bode well for peaceful toileting.

Lesson learnt: Don't tell anyone on a camping trip that you have baby wipes. Most importantly, don't tell certain Nigerians who will sneak it out of your handbag when you're not looking.

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