As Camels Passed By

I just got back from camping in the bush with Haberkamps and their 17-year-old daughter, Lisa, who goes to a boarding school in Cameroon and is home for vacation. After much intra-family debate about where to go, Rick veered off the road about 20 km outside of Bol. We then spent about an hour driving randomly through the bush, trying to find the perfect sand dune. Perhaps, I should clarify the terms here. The bush is all thorn trees and scrubby bushes, though now that it’s rainy season, there’s grass and it looks ever so much more pleasant. Or at least, less desolate. Here and there, there are small sand dunes. They’re certainly not Sahara sized ones by any means here by the lake, but go further north just a bit and they get BIG! So, we were searching for the perfect sand dune, which had to be pure sand (no brush growing on it) clean (no camel turds) and deserted. Surprisingly, every time we found a dune that met Lisa’s standards, there’d be a village or nomad camp nearby. Who knew the bush was so populated? Finally, after an hour of “Oh look, there’s a good one over there on the horizon!” “No, dad, it’s got stuff on ittttt”, we found a dune that was acceptable to all parties. Having found the dune, we then had to drive a significant ways off so Lisa could fly her kite. If we flew it at our dune, why the whole neighborhood would be there quicker than you could say “a-salaam al-lekum” and we’d have to get back in the Land Cruiser and drive in circles some more.

We found a good kite flying spot that seemed to be deserted and Lisa and Rick flew kites to their hearts content. However, we failed to take into account that 5:30 is rush hour all over the world and were soon surrounded by a herd of camels and two curious little Arab camel herder boys, heading home after a long day at the office. Sitting there in the sand, as the camels passed by, munching on bushes and going “Braaa-aa-aaaaah,” I couldn’t help but hum the “Jurassic Park” theme. No, they weren’t dinosaurs, but they were funny looking, so I think that counts.

The whole reason we went yesterday was for the full moon, but, it being wet season, clouds rolled in and blocked the light. I guess it made for better sleeping conditions because I slept straight through the night ‘til I heard a timid “asalaam-al-lekum.” I sat straight up under my mosquito net, muttering, “Wa-alekum as-salem and saw an Arab* camel herder kid at the foot of my mattress with a bowl of fresh camel milk. So much for sleeping in! It turned out that there was a nomad camp just over the other side of the dune and several of the herdsmen came over to say hello to and gawk at the weirdo nasarras camping on their turf. They hung out for a while, til they got bored of watching us and we had a nice breakfast of camel milk and cereal. We boiled the milk, but I don’t know if that was enough because I’ve been feeling gross all day. I guess we’ll see. Anyone know what diseases you can get from camel milk? All in all, it was neat to get out of town and enjoy the desert’s stark beauty, even though I have sand in my ears and a churning in my belly.

Okay, mail run is coming soon, so it’s time to get this wrapped up. I hope everyone is happy and healthy! Thanks for all of your love and support!

Love

Kate

* Sidenote: The “Arabs” of Chad are lighter skinned and finer featured than other ethnic groups, but they still look “African.” They’re basically just another ethnic group like Kanembu or Gourane, and are usually nomadic camel herders. They speak a purer Arabic than most other people here and are generally found in the north. They’re of Arab descent, from Libya, Tunisia or Egypt.