Dubai Adventure - Day Six

Today was my sixth day in Dubai--desert safari day! The three of us slept in, and we got picked up by the tour company at 2pm for the one-hour drive to the staging area. We were the first SUV to arrive, but soon we were joined by a dozen other Toyota Land Cruisers. We took a couple of pictures and chatted since it was going to take several minutes for the drivers let enough air out of their tires (from about 35 psi to 15 psi) for the dune bashing portion of our tour.

Dune bashing in Dubai

That's me in the passenger seat :)

Finally, it was time to go! Earlier this morning, Tom asked me if I liked roller coasters, to which I replied no because I don't like the feeling of my stomach dropping. That generally doesn't happen in a car, so I wasn't sure why he was asking. I only needed five minutes of the dune bashing to understand why he was asking. Imagine a big group of dune buggies riding up and over sand dunes along a beach somewhere. Then make those dune buggies big Toyota SUVs and triple the size of the dunes. We went up and down very steep slopes, slid/drifted sideways at a slant while kicking up massive amounts of sand. We were also driving at a pretty good clip (by request). It was such a huge adrenaline rush! But I will say, dune bashing isn't for the faint of heart; if you get the slightest bit car sick, you had better pop some Dramamine before hand. We were twisting and turning and rising and dropping almost non-stop for 45 minutes!

With our driver Javeed and Tom

At the end of the ride, all the cars went to a high dune so everyone could take pictures. I assumed I would stay in the car since going up a sand dune isn't really in my physical wheelhouse. But did I mention we got the most awesome driver ever? He helped Tom carry me up the dune so I could see what everyone else was seeing! I won't lie; the view was pretty awesome :). But the courtesies of our driver Javeed didn't stop there.

We left the photo stop early so we could get to the camp before the rest of the crowd. The first thing we saw was the camels ready for riders. Yes. Yes, I did. Once again, Tom and Javeed carried me to place me on top of the camel (whose name I didn't catch). I freaked out a bit when the camel got up and held on to the handle in front of me for dear life! But soon we started walking, and it was pretty much like riding a horse. I think I had a permagrin on my face for the whole five minutes it took us to ride around the circle :).

Say hello to my little friend :)

After the ride, Javeed drove us around to the other camp entrance so we could get settled before the rest of the tour group arrived. It was a small group, so we actually had an entire bungalow to ourselves. But the most unbelievable part? Out here in the middle of nowhere, they had a separate handicap accessible bathroom! And one of the most functional I've ever seen, with grab bars everywhere at just the perfect height, a higher toilet seat, and even a grab handle hanging from the ceiling! I just couldn't believe it, and it made the evening that much easier.

A whirling dervish show

Since we were the only ones in the camp for around fifteen minutes, Javeed and Tom carried me to a central location so that the people who were part of the camp could come to me. I got a beautiful henna tattoo on my right hand, and even got to hold and pet a falcon! We went back to our seats to relax for a bit, and then the first show started. Have you ever heard of a whirling dervish? It's a dance performed by a Sufi order in Turkey, and basically involves a man spinning non-stop for several minutes. This particular dancer was wearing a costume that lit up, which was super cool!

After that was dinner, which was good, and a belly dancing show. When that wrapped up, it was time for us to head back to the apartment. As I mentioned earlier, our driver Javeed was so incredibly kind and helpful when it came to getting me closer to things and helping carry my anywhere I needed to go. At first I thought he was doing it because it was just his job. But while we were driving back and the car got quiet, he said to me that I remind him of his daughter. I thought it was maybe because I look like her. But he tells us this story. A huge tsunami hit India in 2004, and killed 230,000 people in 14 countries. The tsunami killed Javeed's sister and her husband, leaving behind two children. Javeed and his wife took the children in as his own, and they know Javeed and his wife as their parents. So it turns out that Javeed's neice/daughter has polio and can't walk. She's in a wheelchair too (she's now 26 years old), and as he put it, always wants to "do and go." He said because of me his mind and heart had been in India all day because I reminded him so much of his daughter. It took everything I had not to start crying on the spot. Here's this man who's just supposed to drive us around and treated me like the queen of the world for a day, just because I remind him of his daughter's strong spirit. Connections are made in parts of the world where you least expect it, and despite the AMAZING things I did today, that conversation was the absolute highlight.

I was supposed to fly home later tonight at 3:50am, but in the car on the way back here I started feeling really queasy so I changed my flight to leave 24 hours later. That way I can rest tonight and all day tomorrow while Tom and Rebecca are at work, and won't have to be nervous about being sick on a 16-hour flight. Thanks so much for keeping up with me on this adventure of a lifetime!!