11/28: Dune Bashing

The next morning Molly and Clifton took us out on a desert safari. Note: A desert safari is very different from a dessert safari, which is what I was originally led to expect. However, when we awoke we were greeted with a slight drizzle, which was the first rain of little Maddie’s lifetime and the first rain since the early spring. The expression caught on the face of Jacob (snapped by Courtney) sums up how momentous of an occasion this was.
The rain didn’t last and shortly we were picked up by our Palestinian driver who headed off towards the desert (not dessert). On the way we saw the source of Qatar’s wealth:

Although you probably guessed it, the photos above are of a teddy bear factory.

When we got to our destination our driver pulled over and let air out of the tires to help the car navigate through the soft terrain. Clifton took the time to snap the following photo:

But seriously, the trip was awesome. We cruised through the desert, at points hitting 150+ km/hr. At one point we were hauling ass on these flats and ahead of us we saw a huge hill. Our driver gunned it as we all simultaneously took a huge breath. The jarring was unbelievable.

After cruising around for a bit we stopped for a view over a small lake in the desert.
I believe that’s Saudi Arabia in the distance




Clifton should work in car advertising:

After a while we arrived to a resort area for lunch.
Me in all my paleness:
Courtney giving sand boarding a try.

It’s a very cool photo, although Courtney was stationary at the time. I’m sure I could look up the various coefficients of friction and crunch the numbers to explain why, but needless to say the sport is gonna need some work before it spreads to the masses.

After that the girls decided that they were tired of the beautiful view and the fresh smelling air and instead opted to go for a spin on one of the most smelly and unpleasant creatures to grace the earth.
Lovely teeth on this guy … he must be British:

Courtney has some videos of the camel that are comical if only for the ridiculously grumpy noises this poor hideous creature lets out.

After we had our fill (not really, we went back for seconds but they were cleaned out) we eventually headed back on our way.


The reviews were in: Molly and Clifton like (Courtney was the inspiration and photographer for this one).
Our driver then took us to spot where we could overlook some of the crazier Doha drivers. These guys were sliding every which way over the wet sand flats.
However, like all good things, it had to come to an end and we returned back to Chez Griffin, just in time I think, because I think Jacob was in severe need of someone to play “twucks” with.
The kid knows way more about excavators, cranes, and other construction equipment than I think I ever will. Oh … what do I do for a living? I’m a structural engineer.

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