Dubai IS all that! (Al Maha Desert Dune)

After breakfast the next morning, we caught a cab with a couple of gals we've become friends with on the ship (both a little younger than us, and both widowed). We negotiated his rate and then headed to "Old Town" Dubai in search of a very specialized charger for Ronnie's Garmin watch and a few other things we needed. 

It was very hot, our time was limited and we did a lot of walking. Old Town was just the older version of a giant city but "BO" (before oil). It was huge, crowded with lots of people with business owners vying for our attention. We picked up a few items but unfortunately didn't find the charger we were looking for. We were also rushing to get back while accounting for traffic in time to leave by 4 p.m. along with all the other 180 day folks for an event planned for us in the dunes. 

It was an evening to remember! The ride took about an hour and 20 minutes out to the Al Maha campsite located in the landscape of the Dubai desert. 

It's not possible to drive a bus into the dessert, so we were taken (approx 380 of us) in individual SUVs, 4-6 persons per car (we were in car #59).

 

our driver

When we got close to our turn off, all of the drivers stopped in order to let air out of the tires (less tire pressure helps when driving on sand). We arrived to servers walking around with all kinds of drinks (I had fresh watermelon juice), fresh strawberries, dates and other dried fruits. 

 

cars still arriving - reminded us of "circling the wagons"

 

falconry demonstration

 

People sat on pillows (on top of carpets) spread out on the sand to watch a falcon show demonstration which concluded just as the sun was starting to set. After sunset, we loaded back into cars to be driven about 10 minutes away to the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve where our dinner and entertainment were waiting.

 

sunset over Al Maha campsite

 

 

a warm greeting upon our arrival

 

Upon reaching the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, we were greeted with a customary Arabic Bakhoor (burning of incense) welcome with an Al Ayyala dance (see short video above).

The musical performances included a traditional show of spinning Tanoura dancers, Oud and Tabla players, belly dancers and the skills of henna artists for anyone who wanted to have their hands or arms painted.

Oud and Tabla players

Raqs sharqi ('Eastern Dance') commonly known as belly dancers

getting my first and last henna

henna artist at work

I had (seriously) been concerned the "getting up and down off the ground part" because we knew we would be sitting on the ground. As it happened, there was an empty seat at our table and I borrowed an extra pillow which made it taller and easier to manage. 

There were also girls painting henna on anyone who wanted a temporary tattoo. All in all, it was a very memorable evening! I won't soon forget the belly dancer coming toward me as I was videoing her and making me try a few of her moves. I gave it my best shot, which could only be called pathetic. lol

Naturally the food was Middle Eastern fare with skewered meats, salads, vegetables, etc. along with music and dancing to entertain us while we were eating. 

 

At the end of the evening, there was much confusion with the driving set-up. People started getting in the wrong cars and not waiting their turn and some of the drivers were coming in the exit while others were trying to get out the exit. Cars were backed up both ways with no way to get around each other which resulted in a stand off. Finally the drivers got out of their cars and pow wowed and the cars going out had to back up because there were too many coming in. Sigh...so it seemed to take forever to get back to the ship. We crawled into bed sometime around midnight, only to set our clocks for 3 a.m for our adventure the next morning which I will write about in my next post. This one is getting too long! 

Hopefully the short videos will open. I really wanted to share the "flavor" of the evening. Thanks for coming along!