Today we were up early at 5:00 AM as we wanted to get an early start in order to get to Dakhla as soon as possible that afternoon. We woke up to an eerie morning. There was a thick fog around us and the air was heavy with water. The outside of our tent was soaked with water. As we peered out the door of our tent, we could just see the lights of the truck in a yellow glow as the cook group was preparing breakfast. We packed up our tent and bags, and then had breakfast at 6:00 AM.
After packing up the campsite, some of us walked towards the road in the fog. After a while, we could hear the truck's engine start up and head towards us, but for the longest time we could not see her. Pretty much in the last minute, the truck appeared out of the gloom with its lights stabbing through the fog. We all got on and headed for Dakhla. After an hour or so, the fog lifted and it became a beautiful day.
The countryside became even more desolate as we drove south. What little vegetation there was, largely disappeared and it seemed to get even drier, if that was possible. We pasted through the usual check points, some being only 200 meters apart. We stopped by some of the ocean cliffs here, and they were wonderful. We arrived at 12:45 PM at the main final check point before the peninsula on which Dakhla is located began. After driving down the 40 km peninsula, we arrived in Dakhla at 1:35 PM. We went and did some shopping for our cook group and then and went and had lunch at one of the small "cafes". Jacqui had camel meat and Lars had chicken. The camel was similar to beef and was quite good. After a short walk around a town that was very quiet, we headed to the camp site at 3:30 PM.
After getting to the camp site, we set up our site and our tents. We were crammed into this small space. After the owner saw this, he offered us some small, plain rooms that we could stay in. We decided to pack up our tents and relocate our other equipment to the other end of the site in order to be a bit more comfortable. This camp site has to be seen to be believed. The best way to sum it up is that it is one big construction site. It appears that they are converting what was a simple camp site into a relatively fancy place with lots and rooms and terraces over looking the ocean. It would be interesting to see in a 12 to 24 months.
We then took it easy for the rest of the evening, going to bed early.