Day 46 Dubai and the Safari

We had a leisurely morning at Isaac’s apartment and set off to see the city.
 

The beach from Isaac's balcony:

The city from the balcony:

Wow!  Everything is huge, modern, and sparkling with glass water features and polished metals.  The city has mostly been built in the last 20 years.  We drove to the beach along a strip of stores, restaurants, clubs and way too many US chain food places.  We drove onto the Palm Development that is really land that was claimed from the sea by trucking in sand for fill; it is the shape of a massive palm tree that you can see from the air. 

All built on land fill, the massive size and scope of the place is stunning:

We wandered thru one hotel, Atlantis, with breathtaking displays of glass, fountains and a massive aquarium.

Hotel entrance:

Glass fountain in main lobby:

30-foot tall fish tank in the hotel lobby:

Next we went to the Mall of the Emirates, big shiny high-end stores from all over the world.  The most mind-boggling thing about it is the indoor ski slope and winter wonderland.

Ski slope:

The outside temp is nearly 100 degrees but it's only 25 there and everyone is wearing winter snow gear that they rent.  There's a double chair ski lift with a couple of runs for skiers and snow boarders, a j-lift for beginners and a small luge for kids to slide down plus a giant bubble wrap sphere a kid gets into to roll down a  hill. 

Bubble-wrap snow ball video (you have to tilt your head to watch):

We had lunch in front of a fake fireplace and went back to Isaac's where we were picked up for the evening's Desert Safari.

This is a metro stop!

We climbed into a Land Cruiser with a young couple from Belgium and drove 45 minutes out to the desert.  The highway was 6 lanes, one car per lane, all going the same direction - how different normal seems since India!  We left the road for the open desert with miles of sand and dunes over 10 feet high with peaks like the crest of a wave. 

Looking over desert before serious dune course:

On top a dune at a stop in the desert:

Those silly kids, always having fun:

Our driver would go 50 mph and slide down 40 degree sand dunes that seem endless.  Words cannot do it justice so I hope pictures help. 

Our car and driver:

Even the crabs enjoyed the ride:

Sliding down the dune with sand kicked up by the front tires digging in the sand:

A sense of the ride:

And one more sand driving shot:

We watched the sunset as it painted the desert and the sky with a palate of changing color until it slipped into the dune. 

Sunset in the desert:

Another sunset:

When we got to the staged bedouin camp, we had a chance for a short ride on a camel, which was fun.

Camel ride:

They gave us a marvelous show with a whirling dervish and beautiful belly dancer, along with a feast that would please a sheik of old. 

The dervish entertaining us:

Dervish all lit up:

Video of the dervish (again, tilt your head):

Belly dancer:

Video of the belly dancer (yep, gotta tilt your head):

We were glad to get back to the apartment for showers and bed.