My experience of Desert Safari in Dubai

Dubai is the most visited city in the United Arab Emirates, or as we all commonly say UAE. It is known for a lot of many reasons. To name a few: tallest building in the world- Burj Khalifa, luxury shopping, the only 7-star hotel in the world- Burj Al Arab. Now, when it comes to experiences as a tourist, we have many options to choose from. The one which I will be narrating about in this post is Desert Safari.

Accompanied by my best friend, I visited Dubai in February 2019. And MAN, we were so lucky to have chosen Feb as our month of travel. Such wonderful weather. Later I came to know that it was THE best weather to visit Dubai. Anyways, so our tour was a planned one. Our travel agent curated all the experiences and places to go to. Lucky us, our first and last day were the most exciting ones. The desert safari was our first adventure while last day included visiting the Burj Khalifa. 

Let the adventure begin

At around 4 in the evening, we were picked up from our hotel. With 2 more couples in the car, we started our journey for the dunes. Our driver cum guide, Khalid, was such a pleasant person to hang out with. On seeing that we 2 girls were on our own, he suggested that we stick around with one of the elderly couples for our safety. It was such a sweet gesture for a person whom we just met for the first time. Now, while on the road, it started raining. I was loving the weather. But, according to Khalid, rain is not good weather for dune bashing. It could get dangerous. But he assured he had a lot of experience and can surely handle. 

First stop, Quad bikes. We were not much interested in riding bikes. Especially in that weather. It actually started pouring quite heavily. We had to take shelter in the nearby stalls. That area was a meetup point where we met other people who were given the same package like ours. Somehow, we managed to get a few clicks and after a refreshing tea, we were off again.

Soon, we reached our starting point. 5 cars stopped back to back in a row and soon all the drivers got off and started doing something. We had no idea. Upon asking they told that they were reducing the pressure in the tyres. This is to ensure that the tyres don’t blowout due to the friction as sand is hot. Even though it was drizzling, they all did it. As usual, we took this opportunity to get some pictures before moving on.

Finally the main event of the Desert Safari

After driving a few meters, Khalid shouted to ask if we were ready for the ride. He literally shouted. It actually made me jump. And then it began. All of a sudden, the engine roared and the car took speed. We all scrambled to hold onto anything we could to stop from toppling. I was sitting in the front passenger seat, holding my camera in one hand and the other was tightly gripped on the top handle for support. For the next 20 minutes, we all were in a tight position. It was such a wonderful and exhilarating experience. 

Soon, we came to a stop on top of a dune and told to enjoy some time (mainly for photography). We did our part. Never to miss a chance to capture such moments.

When it was time to leave, we all got in our respective cars and started onwards. After about 5 minutes, Khalid gets a call and we all take a U-turn. Upon asking, he told that one of the cars got stuck in the sand. When we reach there, we see the driver trying to get it out but hell it was stuck. Then, Khalid attached the rear of his car to the rear of his fellow car to pull out. After a struggle of 10 minutes, the car was free and we were back on track for our dinner.

Tents in the middle of the desert

From a distance, we spotted the tents just in the middle of the desert. When we entered, it was a huge setup with tents forming a circle with the middle area open with a stage and sitting area around it. A few artists were to perform their art. First, a Fire show.

The person who was performing had a stick with circles of fire at both ends of it and was rolling the stick all around with the beats of music. Now, Belly dancing was the next performance. She was such a beautiful performer. After her performance, she interacted with the audience, picking up random people to come up on stage and teach some of her moves. It was actually very fun to watch guys trying to belly dance. 

For the final performance, we had Tanura show. To be honest, I didn’t know what it was called so had to google it up. It is a show where the person keeps on rotating. He wore attire with a huge skirt. So, when he is rotating, it flows out. Then various ways to improvise like lighting on his dress, then taking the skirt over his head. Doing all this without stopping for even a second. I was literally amazed at how can someone keep on rotating for such a long time. And the best was when is stopped. He did not waver even a bit. That was just amazing to watch.

Time for dinner

It was so beautiful, In the open sky to have such wonderful artisans perform. Afterwards, our host announced that it was time for dinner. Everyone rushed towards the tent where dinner arrangements were made. It was a buffet system. We were asked to line up to avoid any kind of nuisance. Separate lines were formed for vegetarian and non-vegetarian people. We plated up and sat for our supper.

We had a mix of different cultures. The menu offered to us included flavoured Rice, Mix vegetables in curry, Indian style Chana masala, Macaroni, Lamb kebab, Pita bread and some fresh salad. It was a whole bunch of flavours. Enjoyed it but considering the whole day, the dinner is not something you can look forward too much. 

Also, there were many other things offered for our enjoyment. Like, henna tattoo, hookah/shisha, traditional costumes available to try on for photography, bar also available, and a falcon to click pictures with. After spending some leisure time around, we left for our hotel. Bidding adieu to our driver cum guide, Khalid and some new people we acquainted with, we came back to our room. Altogether, it was a well-spent evening. Definitely, a must-try for everyone who visits Dubai.