UAE Day 2

Been There, Done That

What a difference a day makes. The views this morning were gorgeous.

Jenny had two requests when we decided that we would also visit the United Arab Emirates on this vacation- The Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi being priority number one. Our plan was to get there before the crowds so I had purchased tickets for early morning entry weeks ahead of time.

The Grand Mosque is a site to behold, an incredibly beautiful building that is often likened to the Taj Mahal; it is simply stunning – an architectural masterpiece.

The main prayer hall wows and is home to the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet (having taken that title from the Grand Mosque in Muscat).

But what wowed us the most was the serenity it affords the visitors – at least when you get there early. Twenty four hours a day, the Quran is being recited live, over loudspeakers, in an almost singing voice; the mams taking turns in two hour shifts. They locate themselves in the mausoleum where Sheik Zayed, the founder of the nation, is buried in a simple unremarkable grave.

We felt so lucky that we had the place almost to ourselves because when we were leaving, people were literally pouring in.

From the Grand Mosque, we started our drive out into the desert of Abu Dhabi emirate to the Al Maha nature conservancy, where we are going to spend the next night. We quickly ran into flooded highways, and the remnants of cars stuck overnight. At one point I had the window down when I heard a car coming up fast next to us. I immediately hit the window up button but it was too slow for the SUV that was plowing through the water. Thank goodness I leaned forward because our car was completely doused, including the interior and me. Needless to say we got a great laugh at my expense.

Al Maha had contacted us to tell us that if we were coming in from Dubai that the tunnel was flooded and we would have to go around but lucky for us we were not however we did see exactly what it was they were speaking of – absolutely unreal.

The road into Al Maha washed out so badly that they had told us to park down at the gate and they would send a land cruiser to come and collect us. We got a laugh when we pulled our little Toyota Camry in next to a bright green Bentley SUV. But not as much of a laugh as we did when we got up to the hotel and saw that somebody had abandoned their McLaren because it couldn’t make it out on the road. He said he would come back for it in a few days…

it was obvious once we arrived how much damage the hotel had actually sustained from the record rainfall. It was reported in the news that nearly twice as much annual rainfall fell in 24 hours – a new record since record keeping began 75 years ago. We got very lucky with our timing and that we were able to land between storms!

The staff showed us a video of the spa, a river of mud and water coming in one door and going out the other; walkways were damaged; fences were mowed down, huge gullies having been eroded into the sand. Clearly, the villas were also inundated with their individual pools taking the brunt of the floodwaters, but our villa was superb, the view was fantastic and the staff assured us they would get our pool up to snuff in a few hours.

We lounged poolside, watching all the little gazelles moving about in our vicinity and Arabian oryx off in the distance.

The hotel had provided a sketchbook and oil pastels along with an easel for anybody who felt so inclined. Of course, Jenny did, so she sat and drew for a while.

At 5:30 we assembled in the main building to begin our camel track out for sundowners. Jenny and I were surprised that we could convince Billy to go with us though Jenny was a bit apprehensive as well. I was going to do it, no matter what, because… well… when in Rome. We had planned to take a camel ride when we were in Jordan a few years ago, but the rain came and being wet on a soggy camel didn’t sound so appealing then.

Any concerns about controlling these notoriously ornery ungulates was quickly dissipated when we reached the loading point. The camels were all tied together with the camel master leading the way- two to a camel except for me I got my own!

The ride out was about 20 minutes and we got very lucky to ride up on a small herd of Arabian oryx (al maha in Arabic). They were the inspiration for this preserve, having been reintroduced (brought in from Arizona) as a way to save them from extinction here. Luckily the program has been quite successful.

Camels are at least twice as wide as a horse or at least, so it seems. It is an entirely different concept riding along with your legs just dangling and nowhere to rest your feet. Riding them was a little disconcerting; I felt with every step I might fall off, though Jenny apparently rode like Rose did in “Titanic,” both arms straight out soaring like a bird. Getting on and off is especially awkward, not to mention quite a site!

I will say camel riding is one of those things that I can now say been there done that – I don’t need to do it again.

Sundowners was glorious – sipping champagne on the dunes, watching the sun sink slowly behind the hills. It put on quite the show for us. We opted for a ride back in a Land Cruiser, instead of on a camel – one of the ways we could convince Billy to go with us, not to mention after a few cocktails it was probably a very good decision!

Dinner was a delicious five course meal set in a beautiful location with impeccable service.

By the time we got back to the room, the pool had been cleaned up as best as they could and before we knew it Jenny jumped in and enjoyed a late night swim…