| home | sitemap | travel pix | interactive mathematics |


Dubai - desert safari

Posted in Environment, Travel & Culture on 11 Jun 2008.
No comments yet

I enjoyed an afternoon in the desert on my recent trip to Dubai. It was quite touristy, but it was great to get among the sand dunes and the lovely colours of sunset. It brought back memories of the time I lived in Outback Australia some years ago.

There are several companies that do desert safaries from Dubai and they do much the same itinerary. You leave the hotel at about 3:00 and they take you East for about 1 hour in Toyota 4-wheel drives.

Dubai-apr08-743

The driver lets the air out of the tires ready for sand dune bashing and then away they go, driving maniacally around the dunes.

They get those Toyotas on some crazy angles - note the one in the top left of this photo:

Dubai-apr08-720

Some of the Toyotas got stuck in the sand, as was the fate of the one on the lower right below.

Dubai-apr08-741

The colour of the sand was magic. There are Toyota tyre tracks all over:

Dubai-apr08-752

The effect of wind and a tiny bit of moisture in the desert sands:

Dubai-apr08-770 

A French guy getting into the scenery.

Dubai-apr08-760

Camels are still an important mode of transport for desert peoples. They are good for camel racing and tourism, too.

Dubai-apr08-779

The moon rises over an interesting mix of old and new transport modes.

Dubai-apr08-783

Most camels are pretty cranky, but this guy was quite gentle. Last time I rode a camel I cramped really badly, so I declined this time.

Dubai-apr08-784

This guy drew a pretty mean camel.

Dubai-apr08-793

This is where we had an excellent dinner of local barbecued foods. There was also a belly dancer and I was left wondering how she fits into an Islamic setting.

Dubai-apr08-754

And I’ve left the best to last - this is my favourite shot from this set.

Dubai-apr08-749

And so that’s the last post on my trip to Greece and Dubai. You can see the other photo spreads in the Dubai series here:

Dubai - history and culture

Dubai - math and science

Dubai - frenetic city

No comments yet


Book-mark this post

Book-mark this post in Del.icio.us, Furl, Digg, Stumble Upon, whatever...
Mouse-over the image and choose your bookmark:


Related articles

Leave a Comment