Playing in Dubai:
Dubai Desert Safari and Desert Balloon Adventure
The best option for a superb day out is to utilise one of the many professional safari tour operators in Dubai - your tour operator or hotel will have details. It’s easy to get this organised, we had booked with a quick phone call on the day we arrived with the Dubai tour company who had picked us up from the airport.
It’s traditional in Dubai for you to be picked up from your hotel at around 2pm in the afternoon and taken to meeting point for other desert safari adventurers. The drivers will usually practice their driving skills and check their vehicles before setting off with you.
All vehicle will start together into the desert - crossing sand dunes, climbing dune mountains, driving at what seems to be a precarious (but totally safe) 45 degree angle. Following a drive lasting about 90 minutes, all vehicles park up to allow the amazing experience of watching the sun set over the desert dunes. The vehicles and their occupants will then drive to a central camp in the middle of the desert, where tents, tables and chairs are provided to allow you to sit and relax.
It is usual for the tour operators to arrange a barbecue - they will do it all for you - all you have to do is eat. You will also be able to enjoy camel rides and for the more adventurous, some dune bashing. During the barbecue, you’ll normally be treated to some traditional belly dancing. After dinner and entertainment, unless you have a sleepover package, the vehicles will head back - via a rather more relaxed route seeing as you have all that food inside you. The entire experience should last around 6-7 hours.
Some hints and tips - have an early lunch - the trip out is not comfortable on a full stomach! Wear light clothes, and avoid formal shoes - open sandals are easier to get the sand out of. Travel light, in essence with nothing but your camera - tour operators carry all the required drinks and light food but don’t sign up for a desert safari if you are pregnant, suffer from heart disease, prone to motion sickness or just generally ’fragile’, the undulating sand dunes will test your stomach! Be sure to confirm any concerns you have with the tour operator.
For those of you preferring a more gentle way of experiencing Dubai’s desert landscape there’s the Dubai Balloon Adventure. Guests from most of the hotels in Dubai can get picked up by car early in the morning and taken to a suitable site from where they can rise above the landscape into a clear blue sky, in a balloon operated by a fully qualified pilot. Each flight is unique, dependant only on the way the wind is blowing on the day and after 60 minutes in the air, you will descend onto the sand dunes and enjoy some light refreshments before being taken back to your hotel. Expect the entire experience to last about 5 hours.
Some hints and tips - wear closed toe shoes, lightweight summer clothing (jumper also required in winter months) and quality sunglasses! The Dubai Balloon Adventure is open to anyone 5 years old and above. Be sure to confirm any concerns you have with the tour operator.
