Desert Safari in the UAE

The most exciting excursion offered to authors and guests of the Fair was our trip to the desert on Wednesday.

We all boarded a hired double-decker bus at about 4:00 pm.  

We drove out of town,

and into the desert.

We stopped at an archeological site in Mleiha.  Two thousand years ago there was a fort here, iron-making foundries, and houses in a mile-wide area, with weapons and coins found from the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Unfortunately, there wasn't time to see the museum planned--just a quick stop where we transferred to cars.

We learned that this desert was all underwater at one point, as evidenced by fossils found in the rocks.

We saw one lone beautiful bush, and one lizard when we got out for pictures.

This was not an ordinary car ride through the desert.  The sand was our road, and the drivers wanted to make this a dune-busting adventure.  It was pretty intense!

Then we drove to our camp.

And we rode a camel!  The camel was on its knees for us to get on.  The surprise was the jolt as the camel stood up. :) 

We sat at low tables on cushions on the sand and were treated to a feast.

 

It was a memorable evening to chat and relax with other guests who had come from different parts of the world to share this adventure.