Camel Caravan Part 2

We shoot the caravan scene after lunch. I am happy to be atop a camel and not one of the many who are leading the camels for miles in the sand. There are three camera men and Gary and his crew shout instructions, but the sand dune setting is vast and the sound dissipates and there is much confusion about what to do. I simply sit atop my camel, enjoying the birds eye view of the filming and bonding with my camel. There are several takes and retakes of the caravan scene, and a scene where the caravan is attacked by bandits. This scene involves half of the horses with Bedouin riders, charging down from atop a sand dune, swords flailing to attack the horse guards of our caravan. I am amazed that no one is injured in this scene, and after several takes, Gary is satisfied. It is late afternoon and the weather is changing quickly. Black storm clouds are coming in fast and lightning flashes in the distance over the pyramids. The final shoot for the day is to be the caravan silhouetted atop the ridge of a sand dune at sunset. Our caravan proceeds slowly up to the highest ridge as the storm moves closer. As we ascend the steep ridge the saddle on one of the camels slips off the back end of the camel and the rider lies stunned in the sand. The air is charged with electricity and I ponder on the fact that those of us atop the camels are the highest point of the landscape. The crew below us is soon shouting for us to hurry and come back to camp, but those on foot can only walk so fast in the sand and I watch the lightening storm with wonder and excitement. We are no sooner back down in the encampment when the storm hits with gusts of blinding sand. I wrap my head scarf around my face and stumble towards the dining tent, all but obliterated from view by the intensity of the sand storm. The dining tent must be over 100 feet long and the canvas sides flap and snap in the wind. The electricity goes on and off and I position myself near an exit flap, since I fear that the tent may go down and don't want to be trapped inside. People shout for men to hold up and reset the center poles of the enormous tent and electrical bulbs sway above us. The wind and rain continue to pound us and I worry that the tent will collapse and we will be electrocuted when all goes down. After about 20 minutes the storm lessens and half of us are instructed to line up for the catered dinner; a lovely feast of roasted vegetables, hummus, skewered lamb and chicken and an array of desserts. We are the first group to get our food and I wolf down my dinner as the storm grows again in its intensity. The next few minutes are a blur, but the tent is going down and it is time to evacuate. It is dark outside and the storm is raging as we run through the sand to the waiting busses. The busses are a long way off but they have turned on their headlights and we gravitated to the beacons of their lights and are soon safely inside. It is nearly 10:00 P.M. when we arrive back at the hotel, some of our group still without dinner. We have another early morning wake up call to finish the filming, if there is a set to return to.