Failure in the Desert
Independent Schools Foundation Academy, Gabrielle S. Wong, Fiction: Group 2
A
n announcement booms over the loud speakers. At last, my flight to Beijing is
boarding. Today, I start my first expedition since becoming a zoologist. My plan is to
travel to Mongolia to find and study wild asses. The Gobi desert has the last known
species of wild asses on Earth. They are endangered, which makes my expedition even
more important. Once I reach Beijing, I will catch another flight to Ulaanbaatar, the key point of
entry for international travelers to Mongolia.
After 12 hours of travel, I finally land in Mongolia. I will stay overnight in Ulaanbaatar before
starting my trek to the Gobi desert. Once I clear immigration, I see a sign waving in the crowd
at reception for Miss Gabrielle. It is my guide, a lanky young man with leathery skin and sunken
eyes. He is probably in his early twenties but looks much older. He introduces himself formally
but tells me to call him Sven, a nickname that some Swedes gave him. Sweden is about the most
exotic place Sven could imagine – the land of midnight sun, blond-haired people and an easy life,
at least in comparison to Mongolia. Sven tells me that I should get a good night’s sleep as we have
a long journey tomorrow starting at sunrise.
My accommodations are very basic, but I would have a hard time sleeping even if my hotel
was the Ritz Carlton. I simply am too excited about starting my trip. I rise at the crack of dawn,
pack my bag, and run down to the lobby to wait for Sven. To my great surprise and delight,
Sven doesn’t show up in a Jeep, as I thought he would, but with 2 double-humped camels! As a
zoologist, I am so excited to see Bactrian camels in the flesh because they also are endangered.
Sven says that there is a road that we could drive to the Gobi, but that we would have to travel
pretty far off road in order to find wild asses, which is why he chose to ride camels. This will add
a few days to our journey, but certainly make it more memorable.
We ride off towards the desert, packed with plenty of provisions. At midday, we stop for lunch
and a needed break. Riding a camel is much more comfortable than riding a horse, but nothing
like sitting in a car. After lunch, we start packing to hit the trail again. The camels, which had
been happy to rest, all of a sudden start making loud snorting noises. Then in the distance, I see
it, a scary dark brown cloud that engulfs the horizon. Sven’s expression changes immediately. He
shouts that we must hurry to find shelter as a sand storm is approaching. Normally, sand storms
occur earlier in the season, but apparently they can happen in June as well!
We climb back on the camels and Sven charts a new course. He says that we must make a
big detour in order to find shelter. This time the camels are moving at a quick pace without any
encouragement, as the sand storm is racing across the desert towards us. After 2 hours of hard
riding, we finally reach some caves. Sven quickly scrambles off his camel and looks for the best
place to shelter. After ten minutes, he reappears and leads us to an opening that faces away from
the approaching sand storm.
Within an hour, the sand storm blows over us with howling winds and blinding dust
everywhere. Sven doesn’t know how long the storm will last, but warns me that it could take days.
This is not good news, but I am relieved to be out of danger.
Off in the distance, we hear echoes of noises coming from nearby caves. Sven says that, since
we are stuck, we might as well explore the caves and possibly discover some neighbors. He sternly
