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Sahara - 1999

Sahara - 1999

Jacek Pałkiewicz
2006-06-18 22:44:17

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we kept under our singlets. We wore woolen balaclavas to protect us from the night-time fall in temperature. Nothing could protect us from the sand storm which hit us one night, making us realize the truth of the Saharan proverb which says that a storm succeeds in blowing sand into an egg. It began with a breeze which gradually grew in intensity, causing the straps of our rucksacks to flap and the formation of little spirals of sand. Then our boots were buried. We had planted these with soles upright in order to ensure that scorpions or other unwanted guests could not get into them, our usual practice ever since Kojak, a pleasant ex-student of mine, who often travels with me, had found one there while on an expedition in the Amazon. Kojak came off worst from the storm. He was sleeping in a slightly more exposed place than the rest of us and was all but submerged by the sand. He had sand in his ears, eyes and hair, and come the morning, he was more than a little cross. He sneezed , perhaps because of the dust and someone said, kindly: "Good health". "Look after your own", he replied beside himself with rage. We burst out laughing. He looked at us astonished, but then laughed, content to have made an unwitting joke. Friendship and solidarity are made of these little things. Knowing how to laugh at yourself, chatting about everything and anything, putting up with discomfort without bothering others, and sharing your last packet of coffee or cigarettes are vitally important on an expedition. The only taboo subjects among us was beer. We had all been warned that if one of us let slip that forbidden word he would buy a round for everybody once we got back to civilization. In the end, this punishment cost us dear, but everybody was happy to pay, even if in this case we were taught a lesson by the Beduins. Some of them, who were practising Muslims, refused beer when we offered them it. "Try an orangeade, then, I suggested". "Why?" they replied "Now we can drink all the water ...