Dubai Dune Dinner - Keep Discovering

Dubai – Keep Discovering

When we signed up for the “Dune Dinner” tour we didn’t know the term “Keep Discovering” was in store for the group. The Dinner, although an experience, was small in comparison to the 4-wheel drive among the sand dunes. There were 14 autos in our caravan, each carrying 4 passengers. After driving about 45 minutes out of town we turned off onto the desert dunes. Wow! We felt like we were out of control about 75 percent of the time, -- up and down the dunes, slipping, sliding twisting, turning, kicking up sand. After 5 minutes we stopped and each driver got out of his car and took most of the air out of all 4 tires. Left about 9# of air in each tire until they “squatted” down into the sand; took off again. Several times the caravan stopped to let the cars cool off. Some heated faster than others (Chevy). The driver explained about all the items on the cars for safety. We assumed it was for the people, but later come to find out all the items were for the car. Roll bars were installed in all the vehicles and the driver explained that if we rolled, we would not break our necks, but didn’t assure us we would still be alive. Of course, he was kidding (I hope). Here in Dubai each driver needs to have a desert dune driver’s license to be part of a commercial company offering dune tours. We drove up and down the dunes for about an hour and then arrived at our open air dinner area.
Up and over a dune we spotted an encampment which was to be our restaurant stop for the evening. They re-created an experience area of another type. Upon first arrival we saw tables set up Arabian-style (low) with large cushioned seating in groups of 7 surrounding a raised platform covered in rugs. Three camels were on the perimeter which you could ride; henna hand painting for the ladies; dune-boarding on one side of the encampment; after-dinner Hoota smoking; Arabian coffee and tea on another area. In other words, not only were we to have dinner, but would enjoy the camp events including belly dancing for entertainment. While we were eating dinner, our drivers were filling up our car tires from the compressor carried in each vehicle. Now that’s a party!
Lots of fun! Keep Discovering!
Six BMK Travelers
4/22