Today's featured blogger is Tom Ponsonby. This posting (1/19/08) arrived close to the final leg of our travelers' trip. Just in case these sojourners don't have another opportunity to write about their adventures this weekend, these are the return arrangements: Steav, Bill B., and Tom arrive back in Charlotte this Monday/Tuesday . . . Lisa and Bill C. travel on to Morocco for an additional week before landing in North Carolina the following Tuesday (1/29).

FROM TOM:

Sabah al-khayr (translation: Good morning),

Our trip through the desert was beyond description.

A short time after departure, we arrived at a small farming community out in the middle the desert (with nothing else around). Two deep wells exist there: one for irrigation and one for drinking water. We were at the well for irrigation. A pump was running, fueled by petroleum (gasoline according to Ghandi). The pump runs all day . . . every day. We could see date palms and some sort of low level green crop nearby. The well used for irrigation produces water with high levels of mineral and sulfur content. Near to the pump and holding pool, there was a small building with snack food, baskets and souvenir items, plus an eating area. A water delivery channel ran through the building.

After lunch, we traveled to an area with a field of volcanic formations. We drove up close, stopped, and spent time wandering around these ancient formations. The desert there consisted of a covering of fine volcanic rock mixed with sand: thereby giving the appearance of a black and sand-colored sea (dotted with volcanic peaks and ridge formations).

Our next stop was in an area of crystal outcroppings and formations.

We then moved on to an area containing fossils. Most of the fossils were formed from coral. Some resembled flowers and thus the name "desert flower".

From there, we moved into the White Desert. Our first stop was in an area of incredible white formations rising from the desert floor including mound shapes, mushroom shapes, cylinder shapes, oblong shapes, some regular . . . some irregular. They were surrounding us.

Little could we have imagined: after a short off-road distance, we arrived at our camp site for the night. Still surrounded with these white formations, we stopped. One vehicle stopped parallel to a formation and the other backed in perpendicular to the first vehicle (the formation creating a protected camp area). Cloth attached to poles was stretched across the vehicle sides, further protecting the area. Mats and pads were spread over the sand. A fire was started just outside the protected area. The sun was setting and it was getting cold. Everyone moved around the fire to keep warm.

Steav had his binoculars out and was reveling in the stars coming out: amazing conditions in this night sky (free from extraneous light and particulates). Even though the moon light was substantial, I saw stars I have never seen before. Steav was having a ball viewing the sky, helping others focus the binoculars, and explaining the various stars/star formations. When dinner was ready, we all decided to eat around the fire rather than move to the table.

While dinner was being prepared, a fellow from a nearby camp site came over and started chatting. It turned out he was originally from Skokie, Illinois (a northern suburb of Chicago). Bill C and I (Tom) joined in conversation with Mike (a Masters Program student at the American University in Cairo). He was in the desert with two friends.

By 9:00 PM, we were so cold that we decided to go to bed. The table was moved and the pads were arranged in two rows of six each. Sleeping bags were spread out, warm clothing and/or additional clothing was put on, blankets were put on top of sleeping bags . . . then accompanied by grumbling about the cold, we crawled into our sleeping bags for the night. (Ghandi had announced he would wake us at six so we could get back to Bahariyya Oasis in time to catch the 10:00 bus to Cairo.)

Sure enough, Ghandi woke us at 6:00 AM by playing on a drum. Immediately, the complaining began about how it was so cold that they couldn't sleep . . . or so cold that they couldn't move to get up. Nevertheless, everybody did get up, a small breakfast was eaten, everything was loaded into/onto the vehicles, and we were ready to go. Departure was about 7:30.

We headed back across the desert to the highway and then on to Bahariyya Oasis. Shortly after turning onto the highway, the other vehicle broke down. I believe it was a problem with the fuel system. After working for 1/2 hour, the problem was fixed and we were relieved to be on our way again. About 1/2 hour out of Bahariyya Oasis, there was a loud clink from underneath the vehicle I was in. We pulled over, the driver got out and examined the underneath of the vehicle. He emerged, took a rag and a small stick provided by the other driver and disappeared under the vehicle again. When he re-surfaced, one hand and arm were covered with oil. A quick clean-up and we were on our way again.

Luckily, we arrived in Bahariyya Oasis in time to get our packs, walk to the bus station and board the bus. We are now enroute to Cairo to share the final afternoon and evening of our extremely exciting, event-filled tour of Egypt.