On a dromedary with no name

Once we were all good to go, it was time to get onto the dromedaries that would take us to the desert camp. We were divided into groups of four and our little caravan consisted of the Canadian couple, Ingrid, me, and our dromedary guide Abdul. I was assigned to the first dromedary, a white one, that actually did not have a name.

It was most definitely a very different experience than horseback riding. Unlike horses, dromedaries move both legs on one side of their body at the same time, creating a swaying motion. It felt a little bit like being on a boat in a strong, sideways swell and it took a few minutes to find the right balance and rhythm to move my hips along with the flow of the dromedary as we advanced through the silence of the desert.

Getting off was my least favorite part - I always felt like I was about to roll off head first down the animal's neck as it first lowered the front legs and then the back in a rocking movement that felt quite abrupt.

We stopped amid the dunes and people lined up to slide down a dune on a sandboard (which was quite entertaining to watch). I wondered whether it was possible to build a sand castle, now that it had rained and the sand was damp. However, only about the first 3-5cm had been permeated by the rain and I soon uncovered the dry sand underneath, which was extremely fine-grained, trickling almost like water as I moved it from one hand to the other.Read more