The beauty of the desert *.*

Finally the day did come and all grand tour students were invited to have a trip to the desert. Mrs. Ann Mannen, the dean of Stenden Qatar, invited us all on a trip to the beuatiful desert here in Qatar close to the border of Saudi Arabia ;) We went to the sealine resort!

We all met at school, all the grand tour students, three teachers with their children, Mrs. Ann Mannen and two of our fellow students. The best thing was, the company,where we booked the trip with, picked us up with three big Landcruisers. These cars are just the kings in the desert and are best suitable for the experience. It was over an hour drive to the resort. We already had alot of fun during the ride to the desert. The weather was perfect with alot of sunshine plus it was just the right temperature to be comfortable outside :)
When we arrived at the sealine resort we stepped out of the cars. I saw some camels and could not believe it. To see these animals in their own terretory was really cool. I also go the chance to have a ride on one of the camels, which was really great. It was really bumpy when the camel got up and when it laid down again. During the ride it was just the same feeling as sitting on a horse :D but better of course and higher ;) I am really glad I had the oppurtunity to sit on a camel, because this was one of my points on my list, which I wanted to accomplish during my stay here :) And the pictures came out amazing as well :) I think you can see how happy I am on the back of the camel :)

 I just had to take a picture of this sign, because this sign would nowhere to be seen in Europe! "Heads up camels crossing your way!"

 After the nice camel ride, the landcruiser driver deflated the tires a little bit to make the Landcruiser ready for the desert experience: dune bashing. That means driving up and down the dunes. Before that, we all had to buckel up and make sure all our bags were secured, because the chance of flying around the car was huge. The first time we drove up one of the dunes was a very cool feeling but the best thing was to drive steep down the dune again with being almost face forward towards the ground. Our driver was very experienced and he knew exactly how the car reacted to which movement. That was alot of fun and I definitely would do it again ;)

 I always sat in the first car because our driver was the leader of the group!

 Here are some more impressions! So you get a feeling how steep it was! Of course pictures can only tell so much, so you better experience that on your next trip to the Middle East ;)

 Half the way, we stopped on a dune and had a lunch break. The funny thing was, tha directly from the dune, you could see the border of Saudi.  During the break, we had some fun climbing up and down this huge dune. Climbing down was not a big deal :D but going up was kind of a work out ;) but I managed it without hesitation :)

 We had a perfect timing during the lunch break, because the sun was going down so we took the time to take some amazing pictures :)

 We just catched the perfect moment with the beauty of the desert in the back and the amazing sky :) The sun sets really quick over here so we had to hurry up to catch some good shots!

After another set of dune bashing the sun was gone and it became really dark. It is also a very cool feeling to be in the desert by night. It gets pitch black, so the perfect place for me to sleep ;) But of course it can get really dangerous if you don't know the way back to the camp. The sealine camp was located at the water with tents to chill and hang out, a volleyball area and a bonfire place, which we light up to have a nice close up of the beautiful day. We all enjoyed dinner together and had some good times at the bonfire together. 

Thanks to Ann Mannen again, who sponsored the trip to the desert. It was an amazing experience and I hope it was not the last time we went there!