"Half-Day Desert Safari" Abu Dhabi Travelogue by zuyao

I booked my desert safari with Desert Adventures at BHS Building, Hamdan St. just after noon time and was able to get a place for a half-day safari on the very same day. At around 4pm, Farid (our safari guide) picked me up at my hotel. Together with 2 other Korean girls and a family of Germans, we headed towards Al Ain towards the Wathba desert. Our destination was about 80km out of Abu Dhabi, in the middle of the desert.

On arriving at our point of destination, Farid stopped the 4WD and started deflating the tyres. This is necessary to ensure a better grip when bashing the dunes. Mean time, we took in the beautiful desert sand dunes scenery and started snapping photos.

We then began our main itinerary -sand dune bashing. Farid was a skilful driver with 13 years experience in sand dune bashing. It was a really heart-thumping experience, as he drives at high speed up a dune, runs parallel to it on the tip of the dune. Then suddenly he swerves and 4WD just bashes the dune and slides down. It feels as if the 4WD was going to topple but that did not happen. Yup.. this is sand dune bashing - a daredevil sport - not for the faint-hearted. It was an exciting experience and a must-try for anyone who visits Abu Dhabi.

The sand dunes in Abu Dhabi are yellowish in color. According to Farid, it's red in Al Ain, a combination of red & white in Liwa and dark orange in Dubai. Interesting fact for me!

We stopped by a camel farm and had the opportunity to snap photos with the camels. The camels were really very mild-mannered and friendly animals. They love being stroked on their neck and they kept following us around - just wouldn't want to be left behind. They are such loveable and cute animals.

After a short stopover at the camel farm, we continued our sand bashing activity. All in all, it lasted for almost a hour. After having our heart 'exercised', we proceeded to our Bedouin camp.

At the Bedouin camp, we took a camel ride. You have to hold on tight when you sit on the camel. The camel rises very suddenly and you may be thrown off! Same thing when the camel gets down! Sand skiing is also available - the equivalent for snow-skiing.

Then it was to the camp. First thing up was to try on a Arabian costume complete with the head gear! The girls even wore the black Abaya complete with the veil!

Soft drinks were served as many as we like. Tried the Arabian coffee too, which I did not really like. After that I tried a spot of henna on my shoulder - had a scorpion printed on my shoulder now and would last about 10 days according to the henna lady.

As the sun sets, we had an Arabian buffet dinner - kebabs, tandoori chicken, hormuz, salad etc. Quite filling. And as we ate, a belly dancer kept us entertained. Then it was to the shisha corner for a spot of shisha smoking.

We left about 9.30pm from the Bedouin camp and headed back to Abu Dhabi in the night, with fond memories of the Arabian desert.