a desert safari

G0561312

the boy noticed long ago that i had a peculiar item on my bucket listbe somewhere where all i can see on the horizon is sand. i don’t know…i just have always thought it would be really cool to be quite deep in a sandy desert. when the boy realized that this frivolous little dream could become a reality in dubai, he was all about making it happen. (bless him! he’s the best at making my silly and serious dreams come true.)

we went on a desert safari, which included “dune bashing” in land cruisers, digging our bare feet into endless luscious sand, a camel ride and henna tattoo, and dinner with a show at sunset. it was suuuper gimmicky and so crowded with tourists, but we loved it nonetheless. my bucket list item got a big ole checkmark next to it and we just had a really nice time out in the desert.

IMG_0586IMG_0593IMG_0595
^^ the dune bashing was pretty intense sometimes. it was like a really bumpy, and really fun, roller coaster. we both had a blast while it lasted but were pretty glad when it was over because our stomachs were ready to be still! ^^
IMG_0587IMG_0601IMG_0603IMG_0608G0571318G0571325
^^ the boy had this idea to throw sand at the gopro while the self-timer was going. we have about twenty funny pictures from trying to get the sand in the picture just so. i think both of these (above and below) are pretty cool! ^^
G0571328IMG_0616IMG_0617
^^ ian loves this pose. i’m not complaining. ^^
IMG_0626
^^ the dinner camp. kind of magical. ^^
IMG_0629 IMG_0631IMG_0633 IMG_0636
^^ gotta love the atvs in the background of these photos! ^^
IMG_0643 IMG_0649IMG_0654IMG_0656IMG_0658
^^ the camel ride was pretty hysterical. we waited in line for quite a long time in order to get a ninety second ride in a camel chain with a bunch of other tourists furiously taking pictures. we were giggling about the experience (or lack of?!) the whole time. ^^
IMG_0660
^^ aaaand, our picture came out pretty blurry to boot. haha! ^^
G0601334G0601337
^^ but this camel selfie makes any long wait for any short ride worth it an hundred fold, am i right?! ^^
IMG_0666
^^ this may be a top ten photo from our trip. i snapped just as ian was moving away from giving the camel a little pat. the camel wasn’t too keen on it! ^^
IMG_0673IMG_0682
^^ this guy put on a pretty amazing traditional show. he was constantly twirling. it was incredible. and then his costume continued to morph even up to lighting up like crazy. pretty cool. ^^
IMG_0683
^^ and a henna souvenir from our desert safari. ^^

it was a very sandy dream come true!

{side note – in that first picture in this post, ian and i were not very happy with each other. we had had a difficult day communicating and decided to put our happy faces on for the desert safari. we got over it pretty quick and really did have an awesome time. but just a note that traveling with someone 24/7 can be difficult, even if that someone is your dearly beloved. we sure learned a lot about each other on our eighty days abroad!}

Comments

  1. On your little side note: I totally feel you on that one. When spending 24/7 with my SO, tensions and miscommunications can arise. It is always impoortant to be able to talk it through--well and taking cute pictures with camels might also help :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love when people are real! Not that you've ever come across as not real, but it's always a relief to know that everyone has quarrels! When my hubby and I went to Europe for two weeks, I tried my best to keep the peace because I didn't want to ruin our wonderful opportunity by fighting. Sadly, we're human, and I'm sure we argued but seven years later, I don't remember those things. Just the wonderful memories we were able to make!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The camel selfie made me laugh so hard. Love the pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ha! Yes, sometimes you can't avoid other tourists when you're being a tourist. In cases like the desert safari I've learnt that it's best to block out the other tourists and just concentrate on the experience.

    I have also learnt that quarreling says nothing about your relationship and sometime can't be avoided. But it's still annoying, because at least my husband and I quarrel over the most stupid things (which we don't realise at the time of the quarrel).

    ReplyDelete
  5. These pix are brill.

    I especially like the selfie pictures with the camel, the one of Ian after he'd patted the camel & the sand ones.

    The camel selfie really did make me laugh out loud.:)

    I would've found it really hard to be with someone for 24 hours a day. I know being with someone special on holiday etc is lovely but I'd still need my own space.

    Just curious, what was the temperature there? I'd imagine it was really hot during the day but cool in the evenings.

    ReplyDelete
  6. These were some of my favorite pics! The stark beauty of endless sand was beathless to me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. We did that crazy dune safari. In those days though it was belly dancing at dinner instead of an electrical extravaganza. Of course, when they asked for dancers from the audience, Dad was right there in a blink!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I’m really amazed with your posting skills as well as with the layout on your blog site. Is this a paid style or did you modify it yourself? Either way keep up the pleasant quality writing, it is rare to see a great site such as this one these days.I recently came to know about http://www.ttegulf.com/, their Business Setup Consultant Dubai are very effective.
    Business Setup Consultant Dubai

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment