We only had two full days in Dubai and we wanted to see a bit of the place, so the first day we did a Big Bus Hop On Hop Off tour (which I'll cover in another post) and the second day we did an Arabian Adventures Rise and Shine tour.
The tour was fantastic! We got picked up at 8.30am from our hotel by Sayeed in his shiny new Arabian Adventures Toyota 4WD. There were already two people in the back, a father and son from the UK, and the tour continued with only the four of us - perfect!
 |
| Sayeed, our wadi bash driver. One of the most fun jobs a man can have? |
We headed out into the desert, first having a short detour to the Dubai Camel Racing Club to watch the camels scooting around with their jockeys, both human and robot. Yes, robot. They have robots racing the camels in Dubai. Really. Lots of the camels are bred from imported Australian camels which are held in very high esteem.
Then we drove out into the desert proper, stopping en route to cuddle a baby camel owned by a local tribesman. Sayeed lowered the tyre pressure in the car and then we headed out to do some serious wadi bashing which was loads of fun. It was very bouncy, but you never felt in danger at all. Those drivers obviously know what they're doing.
We pulled up to a string of camels and mounted up. Let me just say, camels are VERY different from horses! You sit on them when they're laying down, and then they get up - it's incredibly jerky and you feel like you could topple off. Once you're up and they're walking, it's very easy to sit there and relax.
The camels led us to our Bedouin breakfast which we really enjoyed. We joined up with another group for breakfast and it was fun to sit out and chat with the drivers and the chef whilst we ate a traditional meal. Then we wandered around for a while, with lots of time to take photos, before we headed back to put the air back into the tyres and cruise back to the hotel.
The tour was great and I thought it was good value at AED295/person. Because of the extreme weather in Dubai, the tour only runs between November - April. The temperatures were in the low 20s when we were there, and that's perfect for spending some time in the desert.
We booked our tour the day beforehand at the tour desk in the hotel - easy peasy - or you can book online or give them a call.
Arabian Adventures
Phone:- +971 4 403 4888
I would love to know what the traditional breakfast was? It looks like something I would LOVE to eat. I think I see chick peas?
ReplyDeleteX
Sada
There was a warm chick-pea thing, and a fried noodly thing with cardamom (blurk), what looked like pistachios and maybe sultanas, and a pancake/crepe thing with syrup (but not maple syrup). I chased mine with the traditional breakfast beverage of a Diet Coke. There was also powerful black coffee and dates. YUMMO!
Delete