Riding the Dunes

"I know the desert is beautiful for I have lain in her arms and she has kissed me." from The Poet in the Desert by Charles Erskine Scott Wood

Friday, February 20th : Desert Safari Day

I started Friday morning by heading out to Safa Park for my last long run in preparation for the Mirdif Milers 10 Mile race I will be running on February 27th. Each lap of Safa is 3.4k or about 2.1 miles. I ran four laps, which was not an easy feat without my running partner, Natalie. While I was running Safa, she was running the RAK Half Marathon with several others I know, so I figured the least I could do was four laps in solidarity with them. After my run, we took Rachel and Ellyn to brunch at Carpe Diem / The Art of Living / La Cafette, a yummy cafe that has way too many names. We lunched on crepes with ice cream and deliciously fresh salads keeping in mind that we wanted empty stomachs for when it came time to depart for our desert adventure.

Our designated pick up time for our Footprints in the Sand Desert Safari with Arabian Nights was 3:15pm. Youssef, our Iranian driver, arrived right on time. We piled into the Toyota Land Cruiser with Ellyn in the front, me, Tyler & Rachel in the back, and Scott & Alex in the way back, and we rambled toward Hatta. Our first stop was a random grocery store along the way which seemed to be a meeting point for tens of 4x4's from many different tour companies headed on similar journeys. Outside the store there were coconuts with straws, a man with a falcon, and lots of random tourist tsotchkes. We decided to hang out in the car in the hopes it would expedite our arrival to the dunes. Once Youssef had visited the facilities and the other drivers, we were off again. We crossed the dividing line of the highway, making a u-turn, and then charged onto the adjacent desert. Climbing the dunes a short distance from the road, we stopped once again. This was the meeting point for all the 4x4's from Arabian Nights on the day's excursion. While we waited for everyone to arrive, Youssef prepared the vehicle. He deflated the tires, checked the fluids, and convened with the other drivers. While the drivers prepared the Land Cruisers, the kids played in the dunes, and we all gathered around for the photo ops.


Youssef and Ellyn


Alex as a Sand Angel


Can you tell they miss the snow?


Ready to launch

Once the vehicles were all present and prepped, we loaded back into the 4x4 and caravanned into and over the dunes.



Imagine, this is the view downhill as we are about to slide toward the other 4x4s.


Sand envelops the car, as we slide down a dune.

Now, I love roller coasters and so does Ty. Unfortunately, Alex and Scott do not. By the time we had careened over and down the third dune, Alex was in tears. I envisioned an hour of screaming hysteria, and took a deep breath. Then, somehow, Alex decided dune bashing was fun. He went from sobbing to giggling and hollering "Wheeee!". It was shortly after Alex had his change of heart that Scott started turning grayish-green. We slowed down to check out some camels, and Scott hopped out to get some fresh air. Once Scott's stomach eventually returned to normal, and he switched seats with me for the rest of the ride. Unfortunately for Scott, Youssef seemed to be getting a kick out of subtly torturing him over every dune. We were laughing, but Scott was getting greener....







Alongside all the tourist safari cars, locals and expats were riding the dunes, too. We passed all kinds of vehicles with all kinds of passengers.


Dune buggies


ATVs


Peace riders

As the sun began to set, Youssef guided our Land Cruiser to meet the others 4x4s in our group on top of a massive dune. We piled out, and the kids darted toward the highest sand peaks they could find. The sunset was stunning over the red sands and even though I had run almost 8.5 miles that morning, I found myself running though the dunes with the kids. It was smiles all around... except for Scott who was still recovering....





A Bedouin style camp was the next stop. At camp, you could ride an ATV, ride a camel, sandboard down a dune, smoke shisha, get a henna tattoo, dress like a local in an abaya or a kandura, eat traditional Arabic foods and drink Arabic coffee while sitting on cushions on Persian carpets, purchase personalized sand art and watch a belly dancer. Whew.











Proving what a small town Dubai can be, we ran into one of Alex's best friends from school at the camp, too. For the latter half of the evening, the children had an impromptu play date running up and down the dunes which suited them just fine. As the hour approached 9pm, we were given the 10 minute warning. The kids made one last pit stop, we found Youssef by the door, and we trudged back to the Land Cruiser. Giving us a few last thrills, Youssef shot us back into the dunes and at one point turned off his lights as we plunged through the sand. We had an amazing experience that we will each remember for a long time. Tyler's thoughts on it all were summed up with one phrase earlier in the day as we were sliding through the sands. In his very innocent and enthusiastic five year old voice, he said "Even my penis likes it!"