Camels and sand!

We had a fun and busy day today, exploring the desert areas of Qatar with our friend Yancy, who works with Josh at the fire department! Here is Jack, just after waking up in the morning and getting ready to go....he just looks like such a big boy here!

Our first stop was the camel racing track at Al Shahineeyah. The races mostly take place on Fridays and Saturdays, but there were quite a few camel teams coming off the track when we got there. The camels used to be riden by a jockey - usually Bangladeshi boys. But because of recent child labor laws, the jockeys have been replaced by a small robot with a whip that sits on the back of the camel and rotates around to whip the poor animal as it runs. When the race is taking place, there are dozens of SUVs with cheering passengers driving along the asphalt road next to the track. Yancy said that when he was there before, he hung in the back to stay out of the way and cheered on the poor camel who was in last place, but was giving it all he had! Camels don't quite seem like they were made to run or race - walk hundreds of miles in the desert, yes...but not run. Their neck sticks straight out and their legs look awkwardly out of place.

Here, a camel must be injured because it was catching a ride in the back of a truck!

Our next stop was the city of Dukhan, which is owned by Qatar Petroleum. There is a huge compound (almost like a base) for the QP employees. We weren't able to get onto the compound, but we could see the Dukhan beach, which is on the Western side of the Penninsula on the Persian Gulf. The water almost looked like it could be from a tropical location - blue and clear. Jack likes his surrogate "Uncle Yancy"!

Here is another funny Qatar sign. We saw an even funnier one of a camel with the circle and cross out through the center - a "No Camel" sign, but I was unable to take a picture of it.

Yancy was a great tour guide and wasn't afraid to go off-road a little so that we could see some of the real Qatar countryside. We went through a gate to get a close-up view of a herd of camels. We met the camel herder, a very friendly and smiley man from Sudan who spoke just a few words of English. He was very kind and allowed us to meet his "friendliest" camel, who at his master's word stood absolutely still like a statue as we approached! Jack loved it! And the Sudanese man loved Jack!

We then headed back toward Doha, passed the big Al Udeid Air Base and went to the Singing Sand Dunes - named because of the sound that comes from them when wind passes over the hills. On the way, we passed this strange graffiti on one of the oil pipes.

The sand dunes were amazing. We found one with a surface that seemed almost untouched. Yancy proceeded to run up it and Josh followed. Then, they convinced Jack and I to come up. Yancy ran back down to carry Jack up and I struggled for several minutes to climb up the hill - a few steps at a time in the blazing sunshine, feeling like I was getting no where! We finally all made it to the top, where Jack played in the sand like a little desert baby and Josh and Yancy did some traditional action shots!

We ended our outing by eating at a Turkish restaurant on the way back in to town. Needless to say, we dunked Jack right in the tub when we got home. His diaper was filled with desert sand! Good memories. We're grateful for Yancy, who is such a good tour guide and is so knowledgable about the area.

Sandy hugs and kisses from the desert,
Josh, Kam and Jack