Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
One of the challenges when cruising and short times in the port - what to do? We did not arrive until 1:30 pm and our tour started at 3:30 pm so not enough time for even a quick drive around the city. We got off the ship and went to the terminal which was amazing. All kinds of shops there, so I got my obligatory magnet and wandered into some of the shops. We then hustled back to the ship and got ready for our tour. On our way to the Sand Dune Safari experience, we drove through Abu Dhabi. I have never seen a cleaner place than this- even cleaner than Japan, I believe. That oil money allows them to keep their city pristine. The highways were spotless, and the bridges and traffic signs were all tiled in fabulous patterns. It made me kind of sorry we did not do a city tour, but we did drive by the mosque, and it looked fabulous. The safari was really taking a ride in a 4 x 4 vehicle through the Al Khatim desert, home to the highest sand dunes in the world which rise to impressive heights of up to 984 feet. The ride was pretty wild, climbing up 50 to 100 ft dunes then barreling down the peak, sometimes sliding sideways down the steepest part.
Before they drove us up and down the sand dunes, we got to view some camels feeding in the pen while our drivers deflated their tires. Then it was off to ride the dunes!
The desert was beautiful but challenging. The wind was whipping the sand around us, into our eyes, ears and nose. The women all joked that we were getting a facial since the sand was exfoliating our skin. I don’t know how anyone could survive out in the desert for long as it got up to 107 degrees while we were out there.
Our view of the terminal from our cabin.
As we drove to out to our dune safari, we got a few views of what looked to be an incredible city to visit. A real shame we could not do both.
Feeding time - there was a camel farm that we passed through on our way to the dunes.
These shots are courtesy of Matti Chan. A look at the dunes and our "dune" buggies!
It was quite hot and ever so windy...we got sand facials and body treatments for free!
Climbing the dunes is harder than it looks! Mickey's hat blew off and he was lucky it got buried in the sand or it would have been long gone, so he was able to retrieve it...
There was a lot of laughing and hanging on to each other in the jeep as we navigated the dunes. Our driver was excellent, and I think he enjoyed our hoots and hollers as much as we did. While it was a bit harrowing for us, it was a unique experience that we will never forget, and glad we choose it.
The ride was an absolute hoot. A bit scary sometimes but our driver does this every day, and he did a fine job for us.
One of the gals in our jeep riding her camel. Mickey and I rode the camels but forgot to ask someone to take pictures of us on them. The ride was smooth, but the dismount was brutal. Watch the end of the video, Mickey just disappears! Off our bucket list.
Tik Tokkers did some sand surfing at the Bedouin camp where we had dinner.
We had a typical Bedouin buffet, that offered a variety of traditional dishes, from Tabbouleh and mixed vegetable curry to shish kabobs and Arabic sweets, and then the entertainment came out. The top one reminded me of the Whirling Dervishes in Istanbul. Fun to watch.
And no visit to the desert would be complete without belly dancing...
The evening ended with a fire baton show. Pretty spectacular end to a great day in the desert. I took similar pictures, but Matti Chan's photos were superior to mine and he has been kind enough to let us use his fabulous work. The bottom left picture he did against the huge dune outside the camp, where the girls were sledding down the dunes earlier.
And we rode off back to the ship.
Again, always hard to make choices. We saw the mosque from afar, these are pictures shared by other fellow cruisers who took city tours. I wish we could have seen this one, it looks like another work of art. Gives us a reason to come back.
We definitely want to come back here. A lot more to see and absorb. Tomorrow is Dubai - only an hour drive from Abu Dhabi, so a slow float tonight.
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