Friday, April 1, 2011

Quad in the Red Sand Dunes

OMG!  We finally rode Quad bikes in the Red Sand Dunes and it was sooooo much fun!  This Thursday (our weekend, equivalent to Saturday) we left the compound early and rode in our friend Claude's brand new (to him) Nissan Patrol 4x4 to the desert, with the idea of renting quad bikes and enjoy the dunes. 
On our way to the Red Sands, we stopped at a gaz station/convenience store/garage/mosque/tire reseller.  It's always nice to see what there is to discover in those stores, as they are way more stocked than what you would expect to find in your typical Exxon/On the Run in the US.  This one was pretty cool:  we found all the camping gear, desert coats, head scarfs, camel bells and ropes, sheep lined sleeping bags, firewood, kettles, all kinds of dairy products, nuts..  for those in the Felicianas' think of a souped-up Saudi version of the F.S. Williams Store Saudi.  We really did not need anything, but ended up purchasing 3 head scarfs (a pair for me to make pants out of and one for the desert), gum and candy for the road.  The scarves did end up being used on the very same day!  More about that later!

So, as we finally reached our destination, we got caught in an mild sandstorm...not too bad, but enough to prevent us from leaving the comfort of the car and getting exposed on the quad bikes.  Instead, we decided to wait it out and go exploring in the dunes;  with a 4x4 vehicle, it's always more fun!  Once the wind calmed down, we went back and found several quad bikes rental places.  Don't expect rental cabins, with all the gimmics.  This is just us, pulling next to a few quads, a Saudi looking like what I would expect a bedouin to look like, tells us the price, in Arabic.  We haggle  a bit, he draws his final price in the sand and we say OK!  Deal is done, money is exchanged, quads are started. 

We all climb our vehicles and we are off.  No waiver to sign, no ID cards, no insurance, no tutorial on how to use the machine, or how to brake.  It's actualy quite scary, come to think of it, that the guy rents to us, doesn't really check that we can drive them, have my two kids take off without helmets..  I decide to take off my abaya in the car, before getting on the back.  Not sure if it was allowed, but I did it...  Couldn't have driven one of those with an abaya!  Actually, not even sure if I was allowed to drive the quad...but the guy didn't say a thing when he saw me get on the bike and go! 
We did, however, cover our hair and faces, as it was still windy and we had just purchased these beautiful scarves..  would have been a scame not to use them!  And man, did we look cool... 

The children thoroughly loved it.  We could hardly keep up with them and even thought we'd lost one for a while.  She wasn't too far, but nonetheless, it scared me.  The dunes looked all the same and it would have been easy to loose our bearings if we hadn't had a huge mesa helping us direct ourselves.    Both children were natural, taking to those bikes like they'd done it all their lives, when in truth it was their second time driving one, even if they've ridden with an adult a bunch of times in the Louisiana countryside! 

The Quad driving in the sand dunes, up and down, over and under, was just amazing!  I took many photos and even a little movie of what it actually felt like.  While in the desert, everybody should have that experience of driving on the sand dunes.  It's truly an unforgettable experience!  What a rush!  What beauty! 

1 comment:

  1. May I know the directions? Or even the coordinates on google earth?

    Tnx

    ReplyDelete