4. Flirting with Camels

We had a few days in Dubai (just to be safe, in case our luggage went to Dublin, Durban or Dubrovnik) and we used this time to experience a little of Arabia before we set sail. So, on the second afternoon we went dune bashing in 4x4’s, followed up by dinner under the stars in what was a reasonable replica (I hope) of a Bedouin camp.

It was interesting, and reasonably diverting, but all a bit too mass produced to be able to be recommended. There must have been around a hundred identical 4x4’s in groups of 10 or so that afternoon – and our driver told us it was a quiet day!

All headed out separately from various hotels around the city, and mustered in massive “outspans” while they waited in blistering heat for everyone to arrive. Then they left in groups behind a leader, swooping over the dunes, slipping and sliding, up steep slopes, and suddenly cresting the dune and shooting straight down the other side.

Various strategic “photo stops” punctuated the excursion, but it was clear that this was to allow other groups to get ahead, or to follow – all in all these stops were very hot, very dusty and very boring, and lengthened the time to a point where it became irritating. The actual dune riding was probably no more than 20 or 25 minutes, but the long ride out from Dubai, and the interminable “photo stops” and mustering before and after stretched the time out to nearly three hours before we arrived at a camel farm, for a quick “shoofti” before dinner. Here, Rory and I are eyeball to eyeball with a camel, hoping to discern her inner beauty.

The supper was also interesting, but again, just a little too stage-managed for purposes of efficiency of handling a large group. But it did give us enough of a glimpse of what a Bedouin lifestyle must be – carpets spread on desert sand, big, silky cushions to sit cross legged on before low tables, partly under cover of expansive tents.

Another slight disappointment was the “City Tour” the previous day. And again, it was not the sights that disappointed, but the over-organization, the time wasting involved in gathering the maximum number of tourists together before starting, and then the multiple languages that all descriptions were given in so that everyone followed what was going on.

Other than the “hurry up and wait” nature of the tour, it was really fascinating to see this huge, vibrant and fast growing city, which has emerged from the dusty desert in less than 40 years. A highlight was crossing the creek in the little “taxi-boats”, to the Gold Souk. Here is a "dinner dhow", a floating restaurant we passed on the crossing.

Later, when we took a taxi to the Mall of the Emirates, we decided that what we should have done rather was hire a taxi for two or three hours, and do the city tour ourselves. In that way we could spend short stops at the spots we were not interested in, and take as much time as we needed at others. Taxis are really inexpensive – short trips around the city cost as little as Dh 8 (R 16, or around 1 pound).

While on the topic of the Mall of the Emirates, this was one mother of a Mall – put two Gateway’s side by side, then stack another two on top, and add to this a full Ski slope (looked like half a kilometer long, about 80 metres wide, with the start about 25 stories high), covered with real snow, dozens of ski-suited people on the high chair-lift, kids on the junior slopes and toboggan run, après ski taverns – all enclosed in glass and aluminium – and all this in the middle of a desert! This is nothing like what I expected – I had an idea of an artificial, nylon slope about two or maybe three stories high - this place must be seen to be believed. Imagine keeping the temperature below freezing – it reaches up to 50 degrees in mid summer!