Reconnecting with Thomas’s route – Expedition Diary Day 5

The Jewel of Arabia Expedition

Mark talks to us as the expedition team stop for lunch and to rest the camels on Day 5 of the expedition. The expedition team are settling into a strong routine now. Mark and Amour are walking and riding the camels, Nigel and Ibrahim have got the overnight camps working really well. Dikra is off working with some young Omanis and Ana-Maria is capturing pictures and film that tell the expedition stories.

After heading inland the team are now on a south south east route to intersect Bertram Thomas’s original route and although this is the desert, it is rich with life. The camera trap continues to show the coming and goings around the camp while the team sleep. Hoopoe Larks sing around them, yesterday they heard a swarm of bees and the camels grunt, spit, burp and digest their grazings.

The weather has a huge impact on desert life. Marks refers to Thomas’s diary where he observed that many of the coastal Bedouin communities moved inland during the summer months when the winds made fishing at sea too dangerous. But the winds bring moisture which makes the desert green and full of life and rich harvests.

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