Originally Posted on Dec. 18, 2021

From a distance, we were a cloud of smoke arising from a fire in the desert. To camps nearby, we were faint taps and claps. Inside the tent, we were drummers, singers, and Bollywood dancers.

“You pick a song,” a man from Pakistan said to me.

“I wonder if there’s a song we all know,” I responded.

“Do you know ‘Believer,’” one man asked. I nodded.

“Here,” another man said as he handed me his phone. “Could you look it up?”

I searched for “I’m a Believer” and clicked on the video previewing Shrek, the ogre.

“I thought love was only true in fairy tales,” the song began.

The men in the tent remained quiet.

“Maybe they’ll join in for the chorus,” I thought.

“And then I saw her face / Now I'm a believer,” I sang under my breath.

I looked around at the men who were scrolling through their phones.

I think they’re all waiting until the song is over, my friend from the UK said.

I nodded as I took a sip of my third cup of Chai tea. We both laughed.

Three hours earlier, my friend and I arrived at Discover Arabia Camp, where we booked a kayaking tour. The camp itself was 45 minutes from Doha and a couple miles into the desert, where I nervously took the rental car off-roading.

When we entered the campsite, a Ukrainian man named Mikola wearing American flag swim shorts and holding a mbira—an ancient African instrument—welcomed us.

Kayakers from Pakistan, Thailand, and Russia sat on pillow-topped benches under a big tent, while others sat on blankets under smaller tents. At the front of the camp, the flag of Qatar was posted next to a swing set and slide.

Planted in the sand outside the big tent was a tripod with a canvas. Two children were painting over an already-painted landscape with a clearly defined beach, sea, and sky.

That’s the community canvas, Mikola said. Everyone takes turns painting on the canvas, and the “meaning” of the painting at the end of the night is completely different than it was at the beginning.

“It’s a game about opening minds—changing consciousness,” Mikola said.

My friend and I watched the beach became the sky as the children continued painting in blue.

Shortly before sunset, a tour guide called us over to the circle of kayakers who were strapping on life jackets.

We followed the group outside the camp and into the desert, where the tour guide told us that we should remove our shoes and watch out for crabs.

My friend and I looked down at our shoes and socks. There was not enough time to walk back to the car to grab our sandals.

He suggested that we try wearing our socks.

I looked at the mud and puddles before us.

“I think that’ll work,” I said.

After walking through and jumping over puddles, we reached the bay, hopped into the kayak, and paddled through the mangroves. Every few strokes, I looked down into the water to see giant crabs.

We eventually paddled to Purple Island, where we climbed to the top of a cliff. The pinks and purples of the sunset were in full view.

During our journey back to the mainland, our kayak collided with another kayak, which sent two men splashing into the shallow—but they laughed it off and flipped their kayak over.

It was dark when we finally began walking back to the campsite. Flashlight beams bounced across the sand and rocks below our muddy, socked feet.

“I kind of like this,” I thought, “—feeling the mushy sand under my socks.”

At the campsite, we found seats next to strangers under a tent.

As we sang, the fire danced, sparks flew, and the desert awakened.