Exploring the Desert

Breaking up the monotony of life in the city, several of us from the college headed for a desert safari tour this afternoon. We met in front of our apartment blocks and attempted to separate into groups of 6... which for some reason, took forever. We finally piled into land rovers and set off, far from the skyscrapers. We drove down the highway, singing along to the radio for about 30 minutes before heading off-road and parking in the middle of nowhere. Our massive group of cabin crew members to be ran around taking photos while the drivers let some air out of the tires in preparation for a crazy ride.

After we'd all returned to our vehicles we held on for our dear lives (while shouting out flight attendant commands such as "Brace! Brace!") as our driver sped over sand dunes... up, down, 360° spins... so fun! A few members of our group didn't enjoy it quite as much as I did, specifically those still recovering from hangovers from the night before. We continued for about 20 minutes, and I thought of Ryan and Kevin the entire time... they both would absolutely love driving like maniacs over massive sand dunes.

The vehicles stopped once again as some of us opted to give sandboarding a try. My classmates had high expectations of me, the Canadian. I grew up a short distance from the Rocky Mountains, yet I've never once tried snowboarding. I decided to give it a try on sand instead, and quickly discovered that I'm not a natural. In fact, I only lasted a few seconds before losing the board and running the rest of the way down the hill. Oh well, at least I tried!

Once everyone that was brave enough had had a turn, we rushed back to the comfort of our air conditioned vehicles, and drove over the dunes a bit more.

Eventually we reached the base, which was like a theme park in the desert. There were camel rides, quads, dune buggies, a bar full of overpriced alcoholic beverages, and traditional Arab attire available for everyone to try on. After a couple hours of fun in the sand, I headed to the top of a sand dune to watch the sun set over the desert. What an amazing thing to see. It's like you see on TV... a giant yellow ball slowly falling into the horizon. Photos don't do it justice, you need to actually witness how breathtaking it is in person. Afterwards, it was the best part of the day... DINNER! We were served an amazing buffet of delicious Arabic food, and amazing barbequed skewers. I ate until I couldn't eat anymore, and then sat down and watched a belly dancer took to the stage. For a desert safari tour in the United Arab Emirates, I was slightly disappointed that the belly dancer was a blonde, Russian-looking woman, not an Arab. She just didn't give us the same traditional cultural experience.

After a long, sunny day in the beautiful desert, it was back to Dubai. I'd definitely recommend a desert tour if you ever have the chance to visit the U.A.E... such a cool experience, and a welcome change from the chaos of the city.