Dubai Journal 11 - Desert "safari"

One of the recommended excursions was the desert safari. You get picked up in at home and driven out into the desert (stopping for the mandatory souvenir shopping along the way - a fair old racket). Once in the desert, the driver indulges in his favourite part of the tour - some sandhill bashing. All the safari operators seem to go to the same place, so that there are around 40 4x4s of all description flying around the dunes at the same time. It turns into "desert dodge-em" and it's great fun. The dunes are steep and the sand is really deep - I have considerable new-found respect for the Toyota Landcruiser. They're incredible machines, and by far the most popular 4x4 in Dubai.


Then it was off to our encampment for coffee and dates, a camel ride, and dressing in traditional garb. Camels are bloody uncomfortable things to ride! And uncharacteristically, I consented to a little dressing up...


Dinner was a Middle Eastern buffet, followed by a belly dancing display. After this everyone except our family party of 6 left - turns out we were the only ones who had booked the overnight stay - sleeping out in the desert was high on my agenda in the first place, and to have the place to ourselves was an unanticipated pleasure. We smoked shishas and drank real Pakistani chai tea round the fire with Noor and Rihan, our Pakistani guides, and then slept.

Here's a pic of where we slept, taken the next morning (you can just see the camp on the upper right - or just click to see a bigger pic)...


I made sure I got up in time to see dawn over the desert the next morning - it was thoroughly worth it!