Desert and Dunes

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is the largest in the United Arab Emirates, and most of the land is desert. Before the weather gets too hot, we wanted to head out and have our first dune bashing experience, so we booked a half day desert trip with a local company.

 

The first trip Hubs and I ever took together was to Morocco, where we were able to spend several days in the Sahara outside Ouarzazate. It will always be one of our favorite memories- the sunrise over the dunes, riding camels for days, and sleeping under the stars.

 

This was great fun, but a bit more hurried and with about 100 new friends. Still, it was a great intro to the local area and I wouldn't want to go dune bashing with a driver who didn't have a ton of experience.

 

Just 30 minutes outside Abu Dhabi city, Shafil (our driver) stopped to let some air out of the tires so the Land Rover could handle the dunes properly. Our first stop was at a camel farm, which was fine by me. I adore camels and could watch them all afternoon. This particular place had a few babies, too, and plenty of adults to meet.

 

 

Next, the caravan of SUVs lined up and began the dune bashing. These particular dunes aren't the tallest in the country (that distinction lies with the dunes in Liwa), but they were sizable. Shafil indicated he had a months-long course to learn how to drive the dunes, and thankgod, because it was scary. Exhilarating? Yes. Was I gripping the headrest in front of me? Also yes.

 

Dune bashing consists of the SUV driving straight over the top of a dune, along the ridge line, and sideways down a steep track. When the sand starts to slide underneath the car, the driver will turn into it and keep moving forward, as in the picture below. People definitely go dune bashing in 4 x 4s, but (no surprise here) I would only be comfortable going in an SUV with a reinforced roof.

 

If you come visit me, we're definitely doing this, though.

We spent the end of the evening at a little camp in the desert. We tried our hand at sand boarding (harder than it looks), hung out with camels (again, of course, always), had some tea and dates, visited the woman paining henna, and enjoyed dinner and traditional dancing under the stars.



 

There is nothing like a sunset in the desert. After re-inflating the tires, we were on our way home- this time, via the highway.