Desert Safari evening

One of the essential activities for visitors in the UAE is a desert safari. I looked around a lot on the the internet, and I chose this one for us: Arabian Adventures

Overall, it was a nice evening. Our driver, Saeed, took really good care of us. We got to see many of the landmarks outside of the urban center of Dubai, such as the new rugby 7s stadium, a skydiving site, and a huge camel racing complex, before arriving at the desert conservation area.


Falconry is the national sport of the United Arab Emirates. Our tour included a short falcon show, where we learned how the bedouins used Falcons, and we watched a peregrine falcon named Apollo, hunt!

Later, before dinner, they let us pose for pictures with the falcon!

Then, we headed out into the dunes! 

We did get to see a couple of Arabian Oryx, too. They have been reintroduced in the conservation area, and they are doing well! They were too far away for me to photograph, though.

Unfortunately, the combination of a bit of a hangover from the night before, plus the very adventurous dune driving, made both of us get a bit carsick! We weren't the only ones.... When we finally got to the camp, we were glad to be out of the 4x4. The hosts had a big BBQ dinner set up.

We didn't eat much of the dinner, but by the end of the evening, we were finally feeling better. Of course, Sean had to try the shishas! 

There was a really good belly dancer after the dinner. Everyone enjoyed watching her. 

The desert was very peaceful, and the full moon was very nice after the sunset. We had a full moon so it wasn't very dark, even when they turned the lights out in the camp. It was a really nice evening, and a good change of pace from the glitz and glamour we've seen of the Dubai city!