Some people hug trees, others hug rocks, really big ones

It rained recently and the whole desert is green and covered with flowers, for a few short weeks

A green desert for a few weeks where all life explodes scrambling for some of the rain that fell.

Under normal circumstances, this is dry sand

and the desert is calling.....

March 18, 2023 in Saudi Arabia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

From the craters, we drove to the North, getting deeper and deeper into the desert again, this time with deep loose sand between huge bizarre sandstone structures formed by millions of years of wind and water.
On this first day back in the sand, we all get stuck at least once, with us digging in until over the axles and needing the whole team to dig us out. How good to be driving with others.
The rains of the recent weeks have let the desert explode with grass and flowers everywhere. This will all disappear again in the next weeks as dryness sets in again. What a privilege to be here at this moment.

Thousands of years ago these deserts used to be teeming with antilope, in particular the orynx which are now virtually extinct, as well as desert lion and wild camels (these were only domesticated around 3000 years ago), and so it is not surprising to again and again discover rock etchings of these various animals in hunting scenes.Read more