Desert Safari!

The "Desert Safari" is a de rigeur tourist activity in Dubai, but I had never been on one until yesterday. A driver in a Toyota Land Cruiser picked myself and a couple of other people up at my hotel and drove us out towards Hatta, where we joined about twenty or thirty other Land Cruisers, formed a caravan and made our way across the dunes:The meandering ride through the dunes took us up along the ridges and down into the troughs. It was winding, bumpy and disorienting. One of the people in our vehicle got carsick. I'm glad I was sitting up front; had I been in the back I probably would have gotten nauseous as well.

Driving in caravan through the shifting, undulating dunes requires skill; in Dubai, professional desert safari drivers have to be licensed by the Roads and Transport Authority. Before entering the dunes, drivers have to let air out of their tires in order to increase their surface area so that the vehicles don't get stuck in the sand. Driving a 4x4 through the soft sand is also puts a lot of strain on the engine and transmission and that, combined with the 100+ degree afternoon heat, causes them to overheat quickly. After about 15 or 20 minutes of driving the caravan has to stop and let their engines cool down:

There is something both humbling and serene about the vast emptiness of the desert:

Our destination was a camp in the proverbial middle of nowhere. Once we arrived at the camp we were treated to a dinner of traditional Arabic foods: shawarma, kibbeh, hummous, tabbouli, barbecued lamb and chicken. Other Arabic-themed activities, such as camel rides and henna tattoos, were available as well. A belly dancer provided after-dinner entertainment:

When it was all over, we got back into our Land Cruisers, made our way out of the sand, stopped to re-inflate our tires, and drove back into Dubai. All in all, a fun afternoon outing.