Day 94-95: Dubai

Tuesday was a quiet day. Mike was still in Qatar, so Jackie and I spent the day with Sheila. After lunch Sheila took us to 'Barracuda', a large liquor store an hour outside of Dubai. The prices were more or less on par with what we would pay in the States, which makes it cheaper than Canada by a fair margin. They also had a good selection of beers and wines. Jackie and I helped to offset the dent that we have been putting on Mike and She's beer and wine stocks.

It was interesting to see camels and donkeys off the side of the roads on the drive out and back, though Sheila was disappointed that none were any closer. She was telling us that often times camels will be on the roads and traffic needs to accomodate. We did get to experience first hand some of the frustrations of driving in Dubai, with constant construction; roads that used to be direct are now either littered with traffic lights or torn up and drivers need to find other ways around. Also street signage is inaccurate and incomplete. Regardless we did make it back safe and sound. In the afternoon, Jackie and I went for another swim, and when Mike got back we made pizza for dinner.

Day 95, we went on a desert safari. We were getting picked up at the apartment at 2:15 in the afternoon so Jackie and I spent the morning swimming and kicking back. At 2:15 we were loaded into a Chevy Tahoe and introduced to our driver, Omar. 

*Apparently, we like to swim in sync

Omar told us some of the history of Dubai, and pointed out some of the interesting landmarks on our way out of the city. We drove about 45 minutes into the desert, stopping once to see the jockeys that drive the camels in camel races. Camel jockeys used to be 10-12 year old children that would ride the camels in the 4-10km races. Now the race has been modernized. Radio controlled whipping machines are now strapped into the saddles with the 'supervisory controllers' following alongside in their cars. The future truly is full of marvels.

*Robo-jockey

When we arrived in the desert reserve we stopped to deflate the tires. We were told that deflated tires help to get better traction in the loose sand. We took some photos while waiting:

*Ragtag band of wanderers

When we were ready to go again Omar took us to one of the largest dunes in the desert to go sandboarding. This was an activity that Jackie and I had been looking forward to since we knew we were coming to Dubai. It is essentially snowboarding down a sand dune. We got out of the car and took some more photos while waiting for the sand (snow) boards to be brought up to us.

*Jackie taking a GQ photo of me (below)

Sandboarding was a lot of fun. To prove myself I volunteered to go first. It was not as fast as snowboarding but it was still a challenge for someone who has only ever skied.

*Ready to go

*Sheila picking up speed

*Mike before flipping head over heels

We got a few runs in each. Jackie took to it right away and Omar even directed her down one of the most challenging dunes, a steep path between patches of grass. She nailed it.

After sandboarding we were taken to see a Falconry show. It was pretty entertaining. The Aussie who hosted the show finished every sentence with 'okay?', which was pretty annoying. Otherwise, it was fairly educational. He told us that the falcons are not domesticated, but instead see their handlers as an easy source of food. If the handlers did not take proper care of the falcons, they would simply fly away.

*Falcon whizzing by

Following the show we headed out in a large convoy of vehicles to go dune bashing. This was when we realized that our driver Omar was the man. We were the second car in a convoy of about 25 vehicles. The car infront of us was blazing the trail and we were following fine when the car behind us got stuck leaving the rest of the convoy struggling to find a way around. We swung back around and Omar got out of the truck:

*What happened to Omar?

Omar then took it upon himself to flag the following cars in a direction that would avoid the stuck truck. Getting back in the truck we overheard some razzing coming over the radio, with the assumption being that our vehicle was the one stuck. Omar picked up the radio and said to the whole convoy; "Omar does not get stuck... When was the last time you saw Omar stuck?". We laughed about that for a while.

We drove over the dunes for another 20 min or so until another car got stuck. Again, Omar got out and started directing the convoy. This time we got a couple photos of him.

*Omar directing traffic

*"Yes, I just saved the convoy"

Despite the fact the convoy was once again safely progressing through the desert thanks to Omar, we took more flack over the radio.

*Cars following us over the dunes

*Oryx grazing in the desert

We stopped to enjoy the sunset over the desert and again got a few more photos:

*Sheila jumping in front of other safari-ists

*GQ'ing in the air

After the sun set we went back to the main camp where dinner was to be served. Before dinner we had an opportunity to ride camels. The hardest part was staying on while they stood up. Fortunately, all four of us made it. Here we are once up:

*Yee-haw

After the camel rides we headed into the camp for dinner. The meal was traditional Arabic with falafels and rice (as well as Chinese noodles...). It was fun. The meal ended with a belly dancer, a larger Russian woman who really had the attention of the nearby Argentinean rugby team (who are in town for Dubai's Rugby 7 competition). During the meal there was also henna painting and shisha (a tobacco water pipe).

*Jackie's hand after getting henna painted

Jackie and I agreed, today was one of the most fun days we have had this trip. It belongs in the top five along with the Fjord tour, the Budapest Baths, the trip over the Alps, and the food tour of Modena. We have definitely been enjoying our time in Dubai. Till next time.