Desert Safari

My morning had been busy, but my day of adventure in Dubai was far from over!

the Dubai Frame

While I'm not normally one for package tours, I realized that joining some was probably the best way to see as much of Dubai as possible before heading on to the US.

After a fantastic Old Town tour in the morning, I had just enough time to get back to the hotel before my second tour of the day. Shortly, a big white Land Rover pulled up in front of my hotel, and I climbed in to join a group of Korean businessmen on our way to the desert!

This was a "desert safari", a package cultural experience crammed into one whirlwind seven-hour tour to the Arabian Desert.

heading out on the dunes

We first stopped to pick up some head coverings. In Arabia, these head scarves, called kufiyah, are not religious, but cultural, and purely functional. They keep the sun and sand off and prevent you from overheating and burning in the hot desert sun.

The guides helped us tie our kufiyahs on our heads, and then our driver pulled off of the paved road and took us off into the dunes.

entering the Arabian Desert

Dune crashing, a desert activity in which you drive really fast across the dunes, is fun, exhilarating, and a little scary! 

"dune crashing" in the Arabian Desert

We were bouncing like crazy inside the Land Rover, and it felt like the wildest roller coaster as the driver sped up and turned sharply, throwing up a wall of sand off to the side of the car.

After about half an hour, we came to the stop at the top of a tall dune to look around and take pictures in the desert.

The driver pulled out something that looked like a polished snowboard, and one by one we got to go sliding down the dunes! It was a ton of fun, and it's amazing how fast you can go... but walking back up was nearly impossible. It was so difficult to trudge up the dunes... every step made you sink up to your mid-calf!

I finally made it back up to the car. It was hard enough to walk back up the dunes, that each of us on the tour decided to only go once...

a man with a hawk

The sun was beginning to go down, and it was time to move on to the second half of the evening tour. After a bumpy drive through the desert, we arrived outside of a traditional Bedouin camp.

The Bedouin, or Bedu, are the nomadic tribes native to Arabia. While there's not much Bedouin culture left in the oil-rich Emirates, there are still villages and camps that try to preserve it. I'll be the first to admit that the Bedouin camp we visited was not actually authentic - it was a cultural village meant to display and demonstrate the traditional culture - but it was still an fascinating experience for the evening.

camels in the desert

First, we took a brief stop to ride camels.

Now, I'm really big on animal welfare, especially when traveling. For example, I don't think it's right to ride elephants. I was debating about this, but I did look online to find out that "as per the research conducted by the National Geographic channel, a camel can carry weight around 270 kilograms or 600 lbs. with ease". Since I don't weigh near that, I figured it would be ok to take a quick photo.

We entered the camp and were greeted with a snack of sweets, dates, and Arabic coffee.

coffee, dates, and sweets

Then we took our seats on low tables set around a stage and waited for our dinner show to begin.

at the Bedouin camp

While waiting, we had the chance to explore the camp. The Korean businessmen went off to smoke shisha, or hookah. I don't smoke, so I went to take a photo with a falcon instead.

holding a hawk

Dinner was a delicious Arabic buffet. After getting our food and settling down on the comfortable cushions set around the table, it was time for the evening's entertainment!

almost dinnertime

First was a Whirling Dervish performance. It was shown here as a cultural demonstration, but the real Whirling Dervishes are quite fascinating. These Sufi mystics spin as a way to induce a trancelike state and become closer to God.

traditional performance

whirling dervish

This was followed by an incredible firebreather!

And the final act of the evening was a pair of belly dancers who came on stage to traditional Arabic music.

belly dancing

Then, it was time to head back into the city. I got back to my hotel around 10pm exhausted after a long day.

The next day would start early and would take me on an exhausting three flights to get back to the US, so I'm really glad that I had the chance to stop in Dubai. This stopover really broke the trip up and made it seem much easier than flying directly without the chance to stretch my legs. It made for a very long journey home, but I'm happy that I did it!