My wife and I were still adjusting to the jet lag and woke up early again, though I didn’t wake up as early as she did. She was comfortably watching TV in the other wing while I slept. Have I mentioned this place was HUGH. I’m pretty sure the suite was meant to be an apartment as a family of 4 or 5 could easily live there and still have plenty of space.
The kids were still super tired when we woke them up. We hated not being able to let them sleep but we wanted to get breakfast and take the complementary shuttle to Kite Beach.
Kite Beach
After breakfast we gathered our beach gear and headed down to get the complementary shuttle. We also checked out some beach towels from the hotel which were also complementary. The shuttle arrived exactly on time and we were the only people taking advantage of it.
It was a 20 minute ride to the beach that took us along the shore and past the Burj Al Arab. The building is popular as it’s shaped like a sail. It is the self proclaimed “world’s first seven star hotel” whatever that means. It’s in the center left of the picture at the top of this post that looks like a sail. We didn’t stop by but the building looked impressive from the street!
We were dropped off just steps from the beach which was very wide, clean and nearly deserted. The weather was a bit hazy and it wasn’t all that warm so maybe that’s why there weren’t many people.
We walked along the shore path past a cluster of restaurants, a inflatables park which was closed, an outdoor gym and finally a ropes course. The kids REALLY wanted to do that after all the fun they had on the ropes course on the cruise ship over Christmas. It cost the equivalent of about $40 for both of them so we let them do it.
They really loved the course, though about 10 minute into it… it started raining… in Dubai. I didn’t know that was a thing since it is the desert. It wasn’t raining too hard and was more of a gentle shower that lasted about 10 minutes. The kids barely noticed. It stayed overcast for the rest of the day though.
After the ropes course the boys and I played with the Frisbee and soccer ball we brought with us. The beach was flat and the sand was soft and there really weren’t many people there. It was really pleasant. The kids weren’t all that interested in actually going in the water but we did put our feet in to see how warm it was. It was the same temperature as we’ve experienced in the Caribbean. It wasn’t bath water warm but it wouldn’t be too much effort to go in all the way.
Once we get hungry we headed back to the area that had the restaurants and food truck stalls. We each got something different and overall it was pretty good. We then walked a few blocks to the main street to hail a cab back to the hotel. The hotel’s shuttle wouldn’t be back to the beach for a few more hours and we had to get ready for our desert safari!
Desert Safari
We had booked the desert safari the previous morning and we expected the driver to arrive between 3:00 and 3:30 but were told to be ready by 2:30. My wife was exhausted and needed a nap so we watched TV while she slept until 2:30.
We got a call shortly after 2:30 that the ride would be there in 10 minutes so we quickly changed into some long pants and brought our sweatshirts as we noticed it got cooler at night in the city and expected it to be even cooler in the desert.
On the way out the door I also took a motion sickness pill because I didn’t know how intense the dune bashing was going to be. I figured I’d rather have it an not need it. In the lobby my wife got herself a tea to help stay awake as she was still exhausted after her nap.
When the ride arrived we found there was another couple from Norway that would be going with us. The kids sat in the back. I sat in the middle with the couple and my wife sat up front with the driver in the Land Cruiser. The car also had a roll cage built inside so this was the car we’d be doing the dune bashing in.
The driver we had, Khalid, was awesome. Unlike all the taxi drivers, Khalid couldn’t stop talking. He was entertaining, educational and full of personality that really kept things interesting. He was from the UAE and we really learned a lot about the country and the culture. We learned that Dubai is the emirate and not just the city that people think of. I also learned that the desert resort we were staying it was actually in a different emirate than Dubai. That made the name of the resort make more sense.
On the way to the dunes we stopped to let the air out of the tires so they don’t sink into the sand as much. There was a shop you could buy things from and some restrooms. From there we were off to the meetup point in the dunes to wait for other cars from the same tour company. After 10 minutes of waiting we were off.
Let’s just say I’m glad I took the motion sickness medicine. It was fun riding up and down the dunes, but would have been a lot less fun if I hadn’t. The husband from the Norwegian couple did not handle the motion so well and we had to stop for a few minutes. Even with the medicine I was starting to feel it a little by that time so I wasn’t complaining that rest of the ride was a little easier than normal. That said, I wouldn’t say the drive took the rest of the trip easy on us. There were still a few near verticals downhills we went down.
The kids were having the time of their life in the back though!
After another 10 minutes through the dunes all the cars gathered on the top of a hill and people got out to take pictures. The sun was low in the sky as it was within an hour of sunset. The driver took several pictures for us.
There was also a man with a falcon coming by to take picture with guests. We got one of my wife holding the bird on her arm and another with the bird standing on her head.
Awesome pictures, though in hindsight, I feel bad for the birds. I don’t get the sense they were necessarily taken care of as well as we’d like to think.
After the pictures the driver took us down to the camp where the show and dinner would be. They also offered a short camel ride for free and you could take snowboards up the dunes to do some sand boarding.
The driver directed us to a “good” table which was a low table with pillows to sit on. It was right next to the stage so we’d be in the front when the show began. I don’t think there were any bad seats but we appreciated the gesture.
While we waited for the show we went outside the camp and waited in line for the came rides. At the last minute our youngest decided he didn’t want to do it so my wife and Tomatico were the only ones that did it. We got some great pictures.
Back inside the camp the kids played on the small playground to pass the time before the food and the show. When the lights dimmed the first of three acts came on. This one was a man wearing what looked to be a large skirt and he started spinning around in circles. The skirt came out and he spend the next 5 minutes spinning around in place with the skirt part moving at different angles. It was way more interesting than it sounds, I promise!
The next act was a belly dancer. She got a lot of interaction with the crowd. She pointed to our youngest but he was too shy to join in.
The final act was a fire dancer. Guess which one the boys liked the best! The dancer had several different types of implements that he lit on fire and spun around. It was interesting to watch, especially from so close. While it wasn’t a Vegas-quality show, it was pretty good for a camp in the middle of the desert.
Once the show ended the food was served. They had a vegetarian tent that had many interesting and good quality vegetarian options. There was a separate line for the BBQ meat section which had chicken drumsticks and a lamb kabob. The chicken was surprisingly good with juicy meat, though it was spicier than expected. The lamb wasn’t a hit with anyone in our group. There was also a small simple desert plate that we didn’t try.
After we finished eating, the driver came by to gather us and we were off back to our hotels. The trip out of the desert was quite serene in comparison to the drive in. It was interesting to see the desert at night compared to what it looked like when we arrived. The driver also stopped to get some traditional tea for everyone who wanted one. My wife loved it!
Ending the Night
The ride back to the hotel was uneventful, though it was again interesting to see how different things looked at night compared to in the daylight. When we got dropped off the kids were still hungry as they weren’t super enthused by the food at the BBQ so we went to a pizza and pasta place around the corner from the hotel for a quick snack.
Back in the hotel we all went straight to bed hoping to finally get a full night sleep.
Tomatico Travels 
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