October 19th, 2009 
Sheila Simkin There were just two more camps to go before reentering civilization, getting a full meal and a chance to use a toilet. A little potty talk here on what to expect. It is never difficult urinating anywhere but defecating was an entirely different matter around most of our “camping grounds.” To be environmentally correct, a person is supposed to dig a hole in the sand, do your business and bury the waste. Easy in the loose sands, extremely impossible when we camped on hard sands in wide open areas. You’d need a shovel to dig into the very hard-packed sand and walk out a mile or so to get out of eyesight. In the clear desert air, you can see for miles and miles and miles. So impossible, I focused every ounce of willpower and mental energy and told my intestines to “wait until Jerusalem.”
The main road (then, and possibly still now) followed the coastline and once the drivers headed towards the interior, it was an adventure through the beautiful, scenic and tough wilderness or “wasteland”, whatever adjective you choose to describe it. The southern high mountains are composed of igneous rocks and wadis that include Mount Katrina (Catherine), Umm Shumar and Mount Sinai. The wadis drain towards either the Gulf of Suez or the Gulf of Aqaba.
The second region is a great plateau that forms two-thirds of Sinai and slopes downward to the Mediterranean. It is characterized by western and coastal plains with extensive sand dunes. Expect very hot days and we’d switch from sweat pants during the night to shorts and t-shirts during the day.
The Bedouin guides and drivers would drive to some spot in the interior or on a beach guided by their internal radar and unload the vehicles. We, and they, would then search the perimeter for dried grass or driftwood to use for a fire.
NOW – Conditions are nothing like we had in 1984 with the exception of camping. Expect plentiful food and water.
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