Dubai Desert Safari - October 2008

PROJECT
Desert Safari – Dubai – 19th October 2008

What was the OBJECTIVE?
Take visiting friends from UK for a Desert Safari

What are the Official Features of a Desert Safari?
Dune Bashing
Go to the Sunset Point on the desert
Camel Ride
Dune Buggy Ride (Optional extra)
Dinner with Soft Drinks (Hard Drinks optional extra)
Belly Dance
Pick Up and Drop
Time: Pick up at about 3.30 pm and drop back by 10.00 pm

How do you select a Travel Agent?
Read up reviews on the web. Write and/or call your shortlisted travel agents. Select the best in terms of cost and service delivery. We selected North Tours. There are others that are more expensive without perhaps additional value. The Cost would vary from 120 AED to 300 AED depending upon something that I am yet to decipher. Maybe in a camp the food is better(I am conjecturing).

What matters most in the selection process ?
1. Does the agent response promptly to your queries?
2. Does the cost suit your budget?
3. Do they have goodwill in the market?

The Beginning:
The assigned escort would typically call you and fix the minute time arrangements and pick up point. We had asked him to come at 3.30 pm for a possible departure by 3.45 and he was on time. The vehicle would typically be a Toyota Land Cruiser. Since we were in Qusais we quickly got onto Emirates Road and then took the Hatta, Oman exit. I would reckon that after about 20-30 kms we came to a roadside inn cum touristy thingy shop. Here the escort would deflate the tyres to about 15 psi from the normal 29-32 psi so that we are ready for the desert. A tyre with lower pressure would have a better grip over the desert sands.

The Main Event:
We were now on our way to the desert where we left the highway and got into the real desert. This is a designated place fixed by the Government for the Desert Safari Tour Operators to “bash the Dunes”. We went deep inside the desert and then when we reached the dunes it was like a thrilling roller coaster ride. We went up and down the dunes and at all sorts of angles. The vehicle roared along and finally we reached sunset point. We de-boarded to go through the mandatory photography routines and also took a shot of the setting sun where each amateur was trying to outdo the other. It was also entertaining to watch the other vehicles traverse the terrain up and down and you realize that you would need special skills to drive around in a desert like that.

The feeling of your barefoot touching or submerging inside the soft silky sands were fantastic. It reminds you of touching nature closely that we in our daily mundane lives have forgotten to do. All done, we were on our way back to the camp where Arabic tea and dates were waiting for us.

The Camp:
Once we reached the camp, we were provided as promised the tea and some not so good dates. The tea was provided in small cups and when you finished off the used ones would be thrown into a bucket full of water. After a while the same cups would be recycled and I understood that washing here meant just submerging used cups in unchanged water for a mile. No Arabic tea for me next time for sure.

The camp is surrounded by a dense fence. Inside the enclosure there is a concrete stage surrounded by tables and cushions. There were drink and food counters along with a henna(a paste made of powder prepared from Henna leaves is used to typically decorate your hands) counter. You could try out sheesha (flavoured tobacco smoke passed through water – not necessarily absolving you from the toxins).

After a few rounds of drinks (remember that you have to pay for hard drinks), they would announce that food is ready. A selection of grilled lamb and chicken and some vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes were on the offer. You had some insipid dessert too in the form of some custard with apples.

The grilled lamb chops were good, but the rest of the food was some roadside common eatery and nothing to talk about.

The END:
That was that, and we were no entertained by a belly dancer, who we found was quite good in her art and looks too. She managed to pull in one or two from the crowd and we did enjoy her performance that was accompanied by some good Arabian Music.

Our small one in the group posed for a picture or two with the dancer and then it was time to say good bye. Same vehicle, same driver and off we went before stopping once again to inflate the tyres. We did tip the escort and the end of it all we were quite a pleased lot.

Views:
The driver Sharafuddin from North Tours was extremely polite, smiling and helpful. He was also an expert on the sands and that makes a lot of difference to your enjoyment. North Tours gave us competitive prices and for a full house Landcruiser (6 pax) we paid 1000 AED for the tour (all inclusive). There were others too but I felt more comfortable dealing with them The camp is shared by a few travel agents and I have suggested North Tours to take it up with the organizers on the quality of food and attitudes of the people who serve the food. Overall I was happy, and I would give an 8 on 10, the two marks being deducted for the gliches.

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