Our Desert Outting

Yesterday, late afternoon, we headed out in search of the infamous singing sand dunes! After driving for over an hour, with no luck finding them, we did come across some natural sand dunes in another area of the desert. The landscape of these dunes was unbelievable.

When we arrived at the sand dunes we had to stop the vehicle and walk because the terrain was becoming a little hard to handle in our awesome Honda Jazz rental vehicle! and I was thinking about wearing flip flops! Good thing I didn't.

Here are some pictures of our arrival
Yield for camel sign! Ha ha.
We did see several camel tracks, so this sign is definitely up for a reason.

Middle of the desert



Jon and Kevin walking to the dunes


We walked quite a ways to get to the sand dune.
Walking up the sand dune was the actual challenge.
The sand just caved under out feet. But it was well worth it!
Here are picture of us climbing the dunes
Look at this handsome guy!

Me climbing the dune

Jon and I

Me being a goof as always (wearing my 405 Fo Sho shirt)
To represent Norman! Although there was no one for miles to see my awesome shirt.


When we finally made it to the top, the sight was amazing. I couldn't believe that a desert setting like this could be so beautiful. You think of a desert as hot, no life, no plants, etc. But it was awesome and I'm so glad that we got a chance to see this place. Singing sand dunes or not, this is what we were supposed to see.









It is amazing how wind moves the sand in such a
way that it creates these magnificent structures.









After playing at the top of the dunes, we thought it would be fun to slide down them! We didn't actually slide, it was more like running down as the sand swallowed half of our legs! But it was exciting and you can see our imprints from the slide down.

Jon at the bottom of the dune. He was so funny the entire time! He acted like he was Bear Grylls from Man Vs. Wild the television show on Discovery Channel. He spoke with a British accent and was trying to find items that we could use for survival in the desert! He found a tarp, a bucket, a knife, an ice chest, and several other things! He was planning to set up camp right there in the middle of the desert. My adventurer!


As the sun was starting to set I wanted to capture some beautiful pictures, and I do believe I did! Of course it's not very hard with this type of scenery!

After taking this picture I thought of you Valerie! It made me think of your post about the footprints in the sand and dancing with Jesus. This is one of my favorite pictures.

Jon and I walking on the top of the dunes



Awe, this made out to be a great picture! Thanks Kevin, you're awesome.

This is special too, Kevin and Jon walking along ;)

Jon and I are so silly!

As you can see by the 100 pictures below I really love sunsets!












This trip to the dunes was probably my favorite adventure in Doha. I was so happy to capture so many great photographs. I would love to come back to this spot on our next trip to Qatar. I know Jon had a great time too, being Bear Grylls for an afternoon, what more could he ask for!

A Sunkissed Qatari Weekend

Thursday

Jon's weekend started on Thursday night. It's a little different here, the weekend is actually Friday and Saturday than you start your work week on Sunday! Thursday night we went to the City Center Mall, which is close to our hotel. We did a little shopping and I saw the restaurant Chili's out of the corner of my eye and just had to eat dinner there! It is so weird because Qatar is more like America than Germany, in the way that there are so many American restaurants here. That is definitely a treat for us. I am a little ashamed by my food order, but I have to say it was delicious! First we had chips and salsa, (my favorite thing at Chili's) than I ate the chicken crispers! and Jon had chicken breast, he's Mr. Healthy ;) We were going to have dessert but there was no way I could cram anything else down. I was so happy to eat American food, it had definitely been to long!

Thank you Chili's


After dinner we walked through the mall. This mall is humongous! There are like four levels and it would take you all day to walk through the entire mall. We found a couple of really neat stores but didn't buy anything. There is an ice skating rink inside the mall. The last time we were here there was a hockey game being played at this rink but I wasn't able to take a picture because I forgot my camera. Here is a picture of the rink.



Jon and I


It had been a long day for everyone so we called it an evening and headed back to the hotel.

Friday

We got up early and had breakfast at the hotel. This breakfast is so yummy. It is a buffet so there is so much to choose from. I love fresh fruit so I load up every morning with fresh fruit and usually have granola with milk. After breakfast, we decided to take a stroll along the Corniche, which curves along Doha Bay. Although it was extremely hot this day we did enjoy our walk, seeing neat buildings, boats, shops, and parks. During the day most people stay in doors but we toughed through the heat. Here are the pictures from our walk.

The Museum of Islamic Art

Another view

We stopped to watch this man fish. It was the most interesting way of fishing we've seen. He had a water bottle that he had cut the top off of. He put some sort of fish food and water inside the bottle, than threw the bottle into the water. He watched as fish ate from the bottle than quickly pulled the bottle in, magically catching a fish inside. It was amazing.

A pretty water fountain

A large clam with a pearl inside!

I loved the palm trees

The view across the bay

My awesome sun burn

Poor Jonny! We're both so fair skinned!


After walking along the corniche we grabbed lunch at the city center mall. We ate subway, than decided to see a movie at the movie theater inside the mall.


Burn After Reading. It was a great movie that we highly suggest. Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malcovich! There were so many great actors and actresses. It is a black comedy and there really are some funny parts. We found ourselves laughing through most of it. This is definitely one we will buy to add to our DVD collection.

For dinner we went to a really nice Italian restaurant in the Rydges Hotel near the Corniche. We had a really nice bottle of wine from South Africa, a pinotage, and some great Italian food.

A picture Kevin took of Jon and me at the dinner


Saturday

Zoo Day!!! Jon, Kevin, and I had been looking forward to checking out the Qatar Zoo. It was a cloudy day which we were soooo thankful for, since Friday we all got sun burnt.
Pictures or our zoo day!

Zebras.




Giraffes




Scimitar-Horned Oryx


Red-necked Ostriches!


Pretty Parrot


This shot was so hard because my camera wanted to focus on the fence and not the Lion. This was the only shot I got.


Flamingos




Jon and I in front of the giraffes


Nile Crocodile


A vulture. This guy was huge!


I was impressed with the zoo; being that it is in the Middle East, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed it. There were several exhibits and I couldn't believe how many animals they had. When I was photographing the zebra's, I counted 15 zebras in the same exhibit.

After the zoo we grabbed lunch at the Villagio mall and headed out in search of the infamous "Singing Sand Dunes." We drove for two hours without luck. I was super disappointed, the directions we had just didn't make sense, so we never found them. Sound is naturally produced from these sand dunes hence the name "singing sand dunes." I am very intrigued by this natural wonder. Maybe we will get a chance to see them on our next adventure to Qatar.