Desert Safari

One of the "must do" things in Dubai is to go on a desert dune bashing and safari followed by a traditional Arabic BBQ dinner with belly dancers, camel rides, henna tattoos, 4-wheels and shisha!  We were picked up in a Land Cruiser, which is the only vehicle that can handle the desert sands, and headed out to bash some dunes!   This was Mason and Rod's second time to do this, but a first for Bobby, Debbie and myself.  There were a few white knuckle moments, and my favorite quote of the night was by Debbie who said, "And all I wanted to do is ride a darn camel!" ha, ha!  Our driver gave us a great ride, and we got to stop along the way to watch a beautiful sunset and run up and down the sand dunes, which was Mason's favorite activity!  After about an hour of dune bashing, we met up with the other vehicles at the campsite and enjoyed a festive evening of Arabic BBQ and lots of dancing!  Here are a ton of pictures of our fun evening:

 This is an extra sturdy desert tree and the roots grow real deep into the ground to get water

 

 Mama and her baby camel, which was born earlier that day!

 Bobby:  "I can now say that I've smoked a camel AND ridden a camel!" Ha!

 Prepare for dismount!

 Bobby trying out the shisha

 The belly dancer was making Mason very uncomfortable, so he closed his eyes - ha!

 Mason decided to do his own performance while the belly dancer was taking a break

 Sheik Ali Bobby and Sheika GranDebs :)

 An amazing performer that twirled in circles for approximately 15 minutes!