Dubai UAE - The Desert Safari Experience

If you're ever in the beautiful country of Dubai, UAE (either for work or vacation) one of the must do's there is the Desert Safari.  It's just one of those things that you should add to your bucket list when you go there.  I found myself speechless as I sat on the top of a dune, overlooking vast areas of nothing but sand. It's scary and awe inspiring at the same time.  You can just imagine being back in Biblical times wandering in the desert with your group.  It's simply amazing.  The sand itself is an amazing hue of red.  The type of sand so fine I think you can actually use it in an hour glass.

Sand as fine as it gets.

The current cost of the desert safari depends on the type of tour you'll be taking and which tour company you hire.  The cost ranges from 100 AED per person up to 400 AED per person (1 AED = about 12 pesos).  You can Google a dozen tour companies which offer the desert safari experience or you can ask your hotel for a good tour company. But the basic inclusions for the evening desert safari tour are:

• Hotel Pick up/drop off
• 20-30 minute desert safari drive
• Buffet dinner and BBQ
• Belly dancing show

The Desert Drive

The best part of the desert safari for me was the drive to the desert outpost.  From the city proper it'll take about 1-3 hours to get to the desert.  The tour company will pick you up in a Toyota 4x4 with built in roll cage for safety.  Once there you make a quick stop at a store at the edge of the desert so that you can buy some water.  I suggest you buy some water especially when you go there during the summertime.   Because you'll be going into the desert and water is a must!  The next stop will be at the campsite for dinner unless there is some random stop in the desert for some sand surfing.

In the desert the drivers will pick up some speed and literally ride the dunes.  They'll go up and down and left and right and slide down sand dunes.  It's pretty safe but your body will still pump out that adrenaline.  If you're prone to throwing up I would suggest carrying a plastic bag with you.  You can never be too careful and the drivers will thank you for it.  

Our driver drove over a dune and slid down the side while the wheels where spinning and we got stuck.  We had to get out of the car while it was basically on its side.  It took them a while to get the car unstuck. I took this time for some snapshots.

Car stuck in the sand.

Desert view.

I took below video of them trying to get the car unstuck.

It took them about 30 minutes to get the car out of the sand and we got going again.  After a few more minutes of driving we arrived at our camp site for the buffet dinner and BBQ.  Here you get the chance to ride a camel and get some henna tattoos while waiting for dinner to get ready.

The food itself was amazingly good, lots of BBQ, middle eastern food, and plenty of belly dancing and a guy twirling for over 20 minutes doing different things while twirling.  Man, that guy must have been dizzy doing that!  The twirling guy was one of my most favorite shows for the night actually because lets face it, twirling for that long would make all of us puke.

After enjoying the dinner and show it was time to head back home to the hotel.  Overall it was a very fun and exciting experience.  It's a must try when you get the chance.  Maybe it's time to book that Cebu Pacific flight and make Dubai your next destination.