Desert Safari

I had the privilege of having my first visitor in Abu Dhabi over the Easter weekend. Not that I had an Easter weekend!

We drove around Abu Dhabi checking out the sites, and to be honest there really isn't that much to do in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, unless you're really into shopping malls. It is amazing however to check out how much construction is going on around here, and how different things are going to be in 3 years time, with the Louvre, Guggenheim, Zayed Museums, Saadiyat etc.

However, there are lots to do outside Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I would have loved to have time to take a weekend out to Sir Bani Yas Island which has a really good wildlife safari and falconry, Qasr al Sarab, or to drive around the other Emirates, which are said to be much more historical and rugged. There is also Oman a short 2 hours drive away.

Given my short weekend, my friend and I only had time to do a day trip to Dubai and then a desert safari. The desert safari boasted of visits to an Ostrich farm, camel farm, dune bashing, sand boarding, riding a camel and then finishing it all off with a bbq in the desert in a traditional bedouin camp underneath the stars.

So we set out for an hour's drive out towards the deserts near Al Ain, and stopped at the ostrich farm where we got to see some pretty huge ostriches. We then saw some camels at the camel farm, and then drove off in a convoy of 26 4WDs for a spot of dune bashing. To the uninitiated, that basically means driving along metre high sand dunes then tipping over them. It's pretty intense stuff, especially for the front passenger, aka MOI! It basically felt like a rollercoaster only scarier. We also got stuck once, and had to be towed by another 4WD (see pic). Would I do it again...er only if I had to.

Then we made way to the traditional Bedouin campsite and it so was not what I expected. It catered for maybe 200 people, with carpets and tables. It was nice sitting outside underneath the stars though it just was a little too touristy for my liking. I didn't bother trying sandboarding because there were so many people waiting and watching and I knew I would fall on my face. I did try the camel ride though (all 5 seconds of it!), that was pretty uncomfortable especially as the camel gets up from the ground. I of course, looked the obvious klutz and I think my friend and I made quite a sight trying to stifle our screams! They finished the night off with a belly dance which err if anyone has checked, is NOT emirati at all. She was the best belly dancer I've seen though, and I guess most tourists wouldn't know the difference between countries in the Middle East anyway.

All in all, a pretty interesting experience though I'm not sure I would want to go again..