Who said deserts have no life?
By Jorge Reis
1 Nov 2009
Is there life in the desert?
State of Qatar, October 2009
After two years living in Doha, Qatar, I decided to visit one of the most arid places in the world: a real sandy desert . Only one hour driving from home, the huge place always caught my attention but I never wanted to fry myself in heat that can easily arise 55C (130F)! Paying for the services of a specialized tour agency, we went in a group of eleven young people and two tour guides in their well equipped 4X4. Our first stop was where the camels were. Like any place in the world, the camel's owner charged a small amount of money to those who wanted to have a camel ride. of course I preferred taking pictures of them instead of riding them. We continued our day in a full of emotion rally between the two cars in a up and down the sand dunes. With this breath taking experience I had to say myself "don't forget your camera!" in order I could take some nice pictures. I don't know if it was more fun the up and down itself or taking pictures of the group! After almost three hours as a modern Bedouins, we stopped in a wonderful oasis, were the salt water was so clear that we couldn't take our eyes of it. But I did! Suddenly I saw two local men sitting on the shadow of their big car and I went there to talk to them, of course, having in mind a nice portrait of them. Only one of them spoke English, while the other, only Arabic. That's the big advantage of the photography: we can say a lot, even without speaking the same language! After some nice shots, the other guy explained that they were making a barbecue with tea and lovely asked me if I wanted to join them. Although my willing was to say yes, I had to say no, because the group was waiting for me. After this unpredictable encounter we had our lunch in an fake Arab style tent and we had free time to go to the extremely blue water of the Gulf where we could relax and breath normally after such a fantastic day!
3 responses
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Mike Melnotte gave props (1 Nov 2009):
Very nice story and photos. Well done.
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Camil Seisanu gave props (4 Nov 2009):
fantastic series ! bravo :)
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Dana Alshebani said (7 Nov 2009):
Qatar...home sweet home..
thank you for sharing your story and photos..
