The
7 a.m. temperature was cooler this morning, sunny and at 28C going to a high of
38C this afternoon. By 9 a.m. the
temperature had climbed to 32C. There is
still the humidity haze that has brownish due to the winds off the desert. At
2:30 p.m. when the group returned the temperature was 36C.
This morning,
most of the group took an optional tour to the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, the
tallest building in the world which with an observation deck on the 124th
floor that on a clear day you can see almost 50 kilometers in each direction.
Afifi, our tour guide added the Dubai Fountains (http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/en/around-the-burj/the-dubai-fountain.aspx)
and the manmade Jumeirah Palm Island (http://www.topdubaiattractions.com/palm-island/)
with the magnificent Atlantis hotel to the optional itinerary. We had not selected that option, the only
couple in the group not going. When we
went down for breakfast, the tour bus was 20 minutes late, due to traffic and
they had a six hour tour, before freshening up for our late afternoon and
evening event. We elected to stay and catchup on journaling and walk in the
air-conditioned comfort of the Mall of the Emirates. We found in a toy store that had a Lego kit
of Burj Khalifa.
We achieved most of our goal steps at the Mall and returned to the
hotel. Steps to date 10763. We stopped at the convenience store across
from the hotel for bananas as a snack in Abu Dhabi and a one and a half liter
of mineral water which was ws the equivalent of only 50 cents Canadian. As a bonus on this hot day, we noticed that 95gram
Magnum ice cream treats were in the freezer and bought two Double Caramel ones costing
8.95 dirhams or $3 Canadian each. They
were refreshing on this hot day. Back at
the room we each had a banana for lunch.
The group met in the lobby at 3:30 for the Desert Safari. We were split into groups of six and escorted
to a Toyota Sequoia 4 x 4 SUV, which was white, had leather seats and a good
A/C system. Outside, with the Humidex it felt like over 40C. Our group includes Myra & Doris and Gary
and his daughter Sara. Gary’s wife’s
parents were one of the original couples that moved into our life lease
building back in 2008, but they moved across the courtyard a few years
ago. The location of the Desert Safari
was an hour’s drive out of Dubai. When we arrived at the site there were 30
other similar vehicles stopped just off the road on the sand, releasing some
air from their tires, in preparation for a ride over and around the reddish-brown
sand dunes. Next it was fasten your seatbelts and we were off road crossing the
desert, sometimes using a path and other times blazing a trail across the
dunes. Everyone in our vehicle had strong stomachs for the vertical climbs and
sudden turns and skids. There was a
break after 15 minutes to stop and watch the sun, not yet setting and enjoy the
desert breeze. It was a break for the
drivers and a chance to check the tires.
The desert was not flat, it was full of small and large rolling sand
dunes. When we looked around from the
highest dunes we could see other collections of 4 x 4 vehicles. There were over
70 racing around the desert. We drove on
for another 15 minutes over thrilling routes through the dunes. At the second stop the sun was red as it
began to set. On our final dune ride we passed about a dozen camel walking in a
row with no one around in charge of them. Don’t know if they were wild or not. All the drivers were experts. There were no collisions. At the last stop,
the drivers re-inflated their tires. By
the time our car arrived at the Bedouin “Village Camp” the red ball was almost
below the horizon. We entered the Royal
Adventure Camp gates. Outside there were
camels and handlers giving free one minute rides or for a longer experience
there was a fee. Within the gates there
was free roasted corn cobs or popcorn, free small henna tattoos or a fee for a
larger henna tattoo. There was a place to have your fortune told, to dress in
traditional Bedouin Robes, or try the hubbly-bubbly, experience sand surfing on
a quad, or lay back on the pillows with a Shi Sha, the water pipe style of
smoking. In the center of the compound,
were dozens of low tables of six, set with red patterned cloths placed on red
patterns Arabic rugs and a one meter high stage about eight meters by ten
meters. The tables were numbered and
each vehicle was assigned a number.
There were between 900 and 1,000 guests at this event. After everyone had arrived and found the
water and soft drinks kiosks, the entertainment started. Muslims are not allowed to drink alcohol, but
there was a bar for the guests. With the sun down, the temperature was still
mid 30s and an occasional breeze was felt. The first act was a dancing man on
two meter high stilts, followed by a belly dancer in a glittery costume who danced
to three different non Arabic tunes, blasting from the nearby speakers. She did
not have a great variety of classical belly dance routines. Next came the invitation to join the dinner
buffet. There were Middle Eastern specialties including chicken, lamb, Shish
Kebab, hummus and tabouli, as well as Arabic salads. Guests ate the meal sitting on cushions at
the low tables, as might a Bedouin family a century ago. Although for the less
agile of the group, one or two spare cushions were found to allow for a
comfortable sitting height. The music playing during the dinner was quite loud,
so as soon as we finished eating, we walked out to watch people having camel
rides, about 200 meters from the speakers.
It was loud top 40 pop music, not Arabian tunes. There were more acts after
dinner, which we watched through the large gate opening, as more of our group
escaped to this quieter place. One of
the other vehicle parties had gathered their driver and passengers and were
skipping the rest of the entertainment. There were two more dancers doing
swirling dances, one wearing a costume decorated with tiny coloured lights. The
finale was a fire dancer who nimbly threw and swung his flaming torches, at
which point Sara spotted us, Myra and Doris and asked if we would like to leave
since she knew where to find our driver.
We all said yes. Within a minute, she had the driver and Gary and we
were traipsing through the sand to the car. Once on the highway we were back to
the hotel in about 45 minutes.
We organized our clothes a bit for packing in the morning since we are
on the road to Abu Dhabi at 8:30 a.m. and leave in the evening to return to
Canada.
Final step count 14,193.
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