English Teacher in Oman
Weekend in Dubai
26 February 2009
The story...
During 2008-2009 I taught English to Omani students at a college in Ibri, rural Oman. A bunch of us teaching at the college decided on a weekend trip to Dubai in the neighboring UAE, about 300km from Ibri.
So, five of us drove down with my rented Nissan Tiida and slept 2 nights at the Dubai Youth Hostel, in Al Qusais Area.
We explored Dubai....mainly some of the malls (Morning of the 26th of February) and Dubai creek (Morning of the 27th February).
We reserved a whole afternoon and evening of our first day (26th of February) for an unforgettable Desert Safari, that lasted about 6 hours.
In this post, I cover our desert safari, that included dune bashing with an off-road vehicle, on sand dunes on the outskirts of Dubai. The nauseating experience ended with a stop to take pics of the late afternoon sun setting in the desert.
We then proceeded to a Bedouin camp, where we had camel rides just before dark.
The evening activities included a buffet of traditional Bedouin cuisine alongside a huge bonfire with traditional belly dancing. Falconry was on display and many little curios shops in the camp offered souvenirs for sale.
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| Ansu and I in the desert during our desert safari |
Desert Safari Dubai
The Desert Safari is a famous and 'must do' tour in Dubai in which you have an unforgettable real desert safari adventure or better known as 'Dune bashing'.
At the end of the Dune bashing experience, is a traditional Arabic Bedouin campsite, where you can enjoy Camel Riding, Henna painting, a BBQ dinner, and entertainment in the form of Arabic belly dancing and traditional Tanoura Dancing shows.
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| Camel Riding at the Traditional Bedouin campsite |
Our pickup & guide
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| Our guide picked us up at one of the malls in Dubai |
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| Ansu in our Dune bashing vehicle |
Mini-stop at Zabeel Palace
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A peacock at Zabeel Palace Dubai - Peacocks roam freely outside Zabeel Palace,
home of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai |
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A peacock at Zabeel Palace Dubai
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Desert Safari
Dune Bashing
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| Our guide deflating the wheels for the upcoming dune bashing |
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| Desert scenery |
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| Feet in the sand |
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Before the dune bashing started. ... afterward, I nearly threw up.
I in my wisdom I was trying to take videos of the experience.....but the
motion of going up and down the slopes of the dunes made me extremely car sick |
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| Dune bashing |
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| After the dune bashing session, we stopped here to watch the sunset |
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| After the dune bashing session, we stopped here to watch the sunset |
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Fran and Ansu at our first stop after the nauseating session of Dune bashing
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| Ansu |
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At the end of our Dune Bashing experience, we stopped to
watch one of the most beautiful sunsets in the middle of the desert |
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| Desert sunset |
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| After the dune bashing session, we stopped here to watch the sunset |
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| After the dune bashing session, we stopped here to watch the sunset |
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| After the dune bashing session, we stopped here to watch the sunset |
Camel riding at a Bedouin campsite
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| Sunset camel riding at the Bedouin camp |
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| Sunset camel riding at the Bedouin camp |
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| At the Bedouin camp for the final activity |
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| Ansu at the Traditional Bedouin campsite |
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| Who me? |
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| Camel Riding at the Traditional Bedouin campsite |
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| Camel Riding at the Traditional Bedouin campsite. |
Evening at a Bedouin campsite
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| Holding a Falcon, at the end of a desert safari - at the campsite |
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| Traditional snacks being made at the Bedouin campsite |
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| Tapestry of Sheikh Mohammed at the Bedouin camp |
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| Cushions around a huge campfire |
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| Some of the food |
To view Iranian Kashti’s and water taxi’s in Dubai Creek, click here!
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