The Elephant Cloud » camel http://elephantcloud.net tena yesteleng Sun, 04 Sep 2011 23:40:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The Eastern Dunes http://elephantcloud.net/2009/10/the-eastern-dunes/ http://elephantcloud.net/2009/10/the-eastern-dunes/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:24:32 +0000 Jay Wright http://elephantcloud.net/?p=459 It was a local bus, it stopped everywhere. As we inched our way toward Algeria and into the Sahara, the military presence increased in every town. Finally, a taxi dropped us off in the middle of the desert, a ghost town. We were fifty kilometers from the border.

In a small garden courtyard, over a pot of tea, I negotiated hard, a camel for my girl, a night in the desert. A deal was struck and my guide and I walked alongside Darlene, regal on her camel. From high in the dunes, we could gaze over the black Sahara and into Algeria.

That night, after a fiery sunset, the moon rose over our camp, a valley in the dunes, a lone date palm, and a grumpy caravan of camels. Two cots pushed together, we slept in the open air, under a pile of wool blankets.

All quiet on the eastern front.
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