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Dubai - desert safari

By Murray Bourne, 11 Jun 2008

I enjoyed an afternoon in the desert on my recent trip to Dubai. It was quite touristy, but it was great to get among the sand dunes and the lovely colours of sunset. It brought back memories of the time I lived in Outback Australia some years ago.

There are several companies that do desert safaries from Dubai and they do much the same itinerary. You leave the hotel at about 3:00 and they take you East for about 1 hour in Toyota 4-wheel drives.

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The driver lets the air out of the tires ready for sand dune bashing and then away they go, driving maniacally around the dunes.

They get those Toyotas on some crazy angles - note the one in the top left of this photo:

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Some of the Toyotas got stuck in the sand, as was the fate of the one on the lower right below.

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The colour of the sand was magic. There are Toyota tyre tracks all over:

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The effect of wind and a tiny bit of moisture in the desert sands:

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A French guy getting into the scenery.

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Camels are still an important mode of transport for desert peoples. They are good for camel racing and tourism, too.

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The moon rises over an interesting mix of old and new transport modes.

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Most camels are pretty cranky, but this guy was quite gentle. Last time I rode a camel I cramped really badly, so I declined this time.

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This guy drew a pretty mean camel.

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This is where we had an excellent dinner of local barbecued foods. There was also a belly dancer and I was left wondering how she fits into an Islamic setting.

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And I've left the best to last - this is my favourite shot from this set.

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And so that's the last post on my trip to Greece and Dubai. You can see the other photo spreads in the Dubai series here:

Dubai - history and culture

Dubai - math and science

Dubai - frenetic city

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