Desert Safari & Eid Mubarak!!!

Over here in the U.A.E., we were fortunate enough to be blessed with a 3 day holiday due to Eid (or better known as Hari Raya Haji back home in Malaysia). So after much deliberation and planning, we finally coughed up approximately RM250 each and engaged Emirates Adventures to take us on a desert safari trip. I've personally been on a similar trip 2 years ago from Dubai and enjoyed myself enough for me to give it a go once more.

At 3:30pm, we took a 5 minutes walk to a nearby supermarket where we were due to rendezvous with our safari guide. Being early, we helped ourselves to some 31 Baskin Robbins before packing ourselves in the Land Cruiser a.k.a. the safari wagon. We took a leisurely 45 minutes cruise before coming to a halt at a camel farm. Before alighting from the vehicle, our guide, Faizal warned us not to stand behind the camel or risk suffering from the strong back kicks of this desert animal.

Other visitors soon joined the entourage and there were no less than 13 4x4s in the group. All of us posed for photos with the camels and it's kinda pitiful to see some of the camel's front legs being tied up. Apart from camels, other animals were also available at the farm namely goats of different species, chickens & fowls and pigeons. One of the kid (baby goat) came towards JJ and I and managed to squeezed itself through the wooden fencing and started to adorably nibble at our clothing. This attracted the other visitors to group around us before they picked the li'll kid up and started snapping their cameras away. Soon, another suprise came when the camels were let loose out of their pen. They were galloping in all directions much to our amazement. We soon realized that these are actually very docile creatures who only wants to be stroked. We took photos aplenty before getting back into the vehicle for the 2nd part of our adventure.

From the farm, we straightaway proceeded with the dune bashing. We were told to buckle up and prepare ourselves for a bumpy ride ahead. Faizal accelerated and manouvered the 4x4 expertly through the steep desert dunes. Imagine a roller coaster ride without tracks ... only very precipitous slopes made of the finest sands. This went on for a good 30 minutes or so before we were given the chance to sandboard on the desert itself. Due to insufficient number of sandboards available, most of us simply ran down the 'sand slide' ... BIG MISTAKE!!! Why you ask ... because the climb up was most tiring and excruciating on the muscles ... no joke yo.

More dune bashing followed before we arrived at our camp site. Since the buffet spread wasn't ready yet, we took the oppurtunity to browse the site and see what are its offerings. Some of us went for a short camel ride while the ladies got themselves some pretty henna tattoos. Eddy tried some Arabic coffee and he only managed a tiny sip of this potent concoction. I remembered my experience with this similar beverage ... utterly YUCKSSS.

There was also a small souveneir shop selling local products from tobacco to musical instruments. JJ and I bought ourselves each a photo frame containing the desert sands collected from the seven emirates of the U.A.E. while the rest of the gang donned the abayas and konduras (local Arab clothing) for another round of photo oppurtunities.

Tired from all the day's activities, we plopped ourselves on one of the tables beside the stage where the belly dancing performance was due to take place. Served with complimentary soft drinks and water, we rested while waiting for the performance to begin. Alco drinks were also avaialble but that's chargable of course.

All of a sudden, all the lights were switched off and the camp was pitch black. The speakers started blasting Arabic music before the spot lights illuminated the stage ever so brightly. The blonde belly dancer dressed in lightning blue walked gracefully to the center of the stage and started doing her thing. The way she shook her body was indeed mesmerizing ... a lot of core strength needed to perform such a sensuous dance routine. Soon the dancer went around choosing 'volunteers' to help make her performance more 'interactive' and the first one she set her eyes on was none other that my colleague, Jenson. After much persuasion and 'shoving', we finally managed to get Jenson on stage. Together with a few others, they danced along with the dancer although some of them seemed to be equipped with two left feet if you know what I mean *wink*.

After the dancer was done with her thing, dinner was served. The spread was buffet style and on the menu were salads, hommous, briyani, vegs and kebabs. We stuffed ourselves silly and for desserts, it was sweet cake with a variety of fruits.

After dinner, we walked to a nearby area where carpets and cushions were laid out. We sat down lazily and smoked some pretty decent sisha (flavoured tobacco) as we gazed upon the million of stars up above the desert sky. It was most relaxing with soothing classic instrumental numbers playing in the background. The camp operators even turned off all the lights to provide us with a better view of the twinkling stars. I was personally on a natural high as it's moments like these that you wished you have your loved one with you there to cuddle with.

The lights were later turned back on ... signalling the end of the night's program. Our driver told us to check our belongings before taking us on a silent drive home.

Eid Mubarak everyone!!!