Meeting Mr Mohamed
So Muhamed Mbarek was our Twareg chef de excellence on our libyan sahara adventure. but before that Leena, Tim and myself managed to get through the Tunis-Libya border in around 7 hours. a personal best for all of us. Mekky, our Twareg safari coordinator, thought am meant pm and arrived late - probably from the Tripoli- with a splatter of profuse apologies. but we were glad to see him and he looked too jolly and sweet to stay mad at. so we flew by car, after some lunch, to Tarabulus (tripoli) the capital of the long lost land of Ghadafi and his royal guard of women warriors - apparently true(ish).
a horse drawn tour of Green Square and its surrounds at night were our first impressions of Libya and its people. from several pre-reports on Libya only one had been positive, but that one soon gained greater legitimacy over the rest as we found the people to be generous and warm, the food to be good, the prices cheap and the shisha smoke freely a'wafting.
the next day, Mr Mekky and our 1st driver Am Gar took us to Sebratha, a prominent Phonecian, Roman and Byzantine ruin on the sea. this was followed by a splendid little drive for about 8 hours to Ghadames near the border with Algeria and Tunis. we ate well, slept well then awoke to tour the old medina. the old city had been vacated by rule of the state in the early 1980's. our guide had grown up there and showed us through the long white walls of his childhood. the town's streets was almost enclosed, providing a sense of security and comfort, but letting in a enough sun to maintain enough light but keep the place cool year round. two tribes had resided within these walls, living on seperate sides but interacting fruitfully. a twareg tribe - the dark skinned Muslims from the south who were our guides - more accustomed to the non-seditary life, camped outside in days past. a truly beautiful city that had thrived on underground fresh water springs - an oasis to you. its only problem being a quick depature on our program. this time on to sebha in 10 hours.
Sebha is further south but more central. it is Libya's biggest city not situated on the coast of the mediterrean. the city servs as a base for many intrepid travellers going into and out of the deserts, sand seas, wadis (dry - and i mean dry for a hell of a long time - river beds), and oases evern further south. here we met our cook Mohamed Mbarek who took the place of Mr Mekky. Not an impressionable man at first but this would change soon enough.
Heading South West the next day we dropped off Am Gar and his car and awaited for our 4wd and 2nd driver in Mr Mekky's wife's house in Al-Awaanet. Here, we devoured Botatt(?) - a beautiful dish of some description (recipe Leena?) - and chatteled with Jesus (Isa) over the final of the Ka'as Khaleej (Arabian Peninsula Football Cup), which saw the hosts The Emirates triumph over Oman to the home crowds ecstasy.
Ahmad, our driver teamed up with Muhamed, pack our gear into the Toyota Land something or rather and took us onwards and offroad towards our first night of beautiful isolation camping under the stars.
a horse drawn tour of Green Square and its surrounds at night were our first impressions of Libya and its people. from several pre-reports on Libya only one had been positive, but that one soon gained greater legitimacy over the rest as we found the people to be generous and warm, the food to be good, the prices cheap and the shisha smoke freely a'wafting.
the next day, Mr Mekky and our 1st driver Am Gar took us to Sebratha, a prominent Phonecian, Roman and Byzantine ruin on the sea. this was followed by a splendid little drive for about 8 hours to Ghadames near the border with Algeria and Tunis. we ate well, slept well then awoke to tour the old medina. the old city had been vacated by rule of the state in the early 1980's. our guide had grown up there and showed us through the long white walls of his childhood. the town's streets was almost enclosed, providing a sense of security and comfort, but letting in a enough sun to maintain enough light but keep the place cool year round. two tribes had resided within these walls, living on seperate sides but interacting fruitfully. a twareg tribe - the dark skinned Muslims from the south who were our guides - more accustomed to the non-seditary life, camped outside in days past. a truly beautiful city that had thrived on underground fresh water springs - an oasis to you. its only problem being a quick depature on our program. this time on to sebha in 10 hours.
Sebha is further south but more central. it is Libya's biggest city not situated on the coast of the mediterrean. the city servs as a base for many intrepid travellers going into and out of the deserts, sand seas, wadis (dry - and i mean dry for a hell of a long time - river beds), and oases evern further south. here we met our cook Mohamed Mbarek who took the place of Mr Mekky. Not an impressionable man at first but this would change soon enough.
Heading South West the next day we dropped off Am Gar and his car and awaited for our 4wd and 2nd driver in Mr Mekky's wife's house in Al-Awaanet. Here, we devoured Botatt(?) - a beautiful dish of some description (recipe Leena?) - and chatteled with Jesus (Isa) over the final of the Ka'as Khaleej (Arabian Peninsula Football Cup), which saw the hosts The Emirates triumph over Oman to the home crowds ecstasy.
Ahmad, our driver teamed up with Muhamed, pack our gear into the Toyota Land something or rather and took us onwards and offroad towards our first night of beautiful isolation camping under the stars.
posted by Handsome Hish at 4:17 AM
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