Desert Storm

 

Having returned from an eventful trip to the desert in Abu Dhabi i thought I'd share some of the experiences.

Being lucky enough to make it to the airport through the last big dump of snow I was pleased to be escaping the cold, wet, wind and snow to the warmth and dryness of the desert in Abu Dhabi.

I was met at the airport by my friend Dominic# who was to be my host, tour guide and jinx for the next 9days.

# name has not been changed in order to out the guilty.

Here is a brief rundown of events in chronological order...

1. A failed attempt to negotiate with the car park attendant resulted in having to pay the penalty for someone loosing his car parking ticket.
2. Having planned the holiday to catch 2 weekends for maximum effect - the first night was alcohol free due to a religoius holiday. The desert was drier than expected.
3. A snorkelling trip to the Gulf of Oman had to be shelved due to high seas.
4. Camping on the beach beside these high seas, we had to evacuate the campsite from the incoming tide.  Campsite Evacuation
5. Day trip to Oman didn't happen as we were refused entry mainly due to the border guard and his AK47 stating that Dom's store discount card was not suitable ID. There was no argument from me on this part.
6. Hiking a wadi up to its source had to be abandonded after 14ft high bamboo grass became impenatrable and several stumbles nearly resulting in the creation of a human kebab.lucky Dom in the wadi
7. 4x4ing further up the main canyon in a thunderstorm with Dom's heavy foot helping the 4x4 off 'off' road until it became stuck. The crumbling canyon walls and torrant of water were only narrowly avoided due to the kind help of 14 Arabs who wondered why the heck we were driving towards 'big water' the rescue party
8. Ideas to venture into the desert to swim in a highly saline pool vanished after the pool we were seeking had vanished.
9. Raw Eel sushi disagreeing with me
10. Being ejected from the palace for wearing sandals
11. A trip on dune buggies was planned but failed to materilise as did the Jet Skiing - but that was mainly due to high waves and low hangovers.
12. The Abu Dhabi Wakeboarding competition cancelled due to extreme weather
13. The camel racing was cancelled by high winds        camel on a day off 

where did you park the car Dom?

the only 'high ground' to be found

I think I'll draw the list to a close on the number 13. Still a great time was had, and thanks to Dom for making it a memorable one.

Update on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 1:46PM by John Alexander

Map of Mishaps

Comments

[elspeth]

Excellent journey notes. Proves it is impossible to be bored in Dom's company.