Desert Safari & Tiny Dancers

We recently went out on a desert safari with some friends from Dwayne's office and we had a blast! We all met up at the Habtoor Grand Resort & Spa and loaded up into a minibus. After over an hour on the bus, we arrived at a small middle-of-nowhere minimarket/tacky souvenirs shop where we all eagerly exited the bus and headed in to buy bottled water and snacks. It was a good thing that we picked up those Pringles because Kaleigh and Ashlyn were starving and the SUVs that would take us into the desert were late...late...late. Like...the sun was going down kind of late. After almost an hour of waiting, our desert rides arrived and we loaded up based on whether or not we wanted an "easy" dune ride or a "fast" dune ride. Sand-duning is basically riding in an SUV up, around, across, and through the dunes at speeds high enough to make it over the summit of the dunes and not get stuck in the sand. It quickly became evident that it didn't matter what we told the driver...we were going fast! We had one of our friends and her youngest child (1st grade) in the SUV with us and she laughed at Lisa when we approached our first dune. It was high and STRAIGHT UP. Lisa had butterflies in her stomach and quite the look of panic on her face! Ashlyn was in the backseat saying she wanted to go home and Kaleigh was just laughing! We climbed up to the top and WOW - - was that ever fun! Dwayne had done this before so he knew to expect.

It was a fun and insane ride over the dunes and only last about 10-12 minutes (because we were running late!). We arrived at the desert camp where Ashlyn exclaimed "That was fun!" The desert camp is literally in the middle of all the dunes and was set up in a circular format. There were some little shopping tents, a henna station, a drink station, a shisha area, an area where you could dress in National Dress (very cool), and of course the food! Fantastic...fantastic.

In the center was a stage for dancing and surrounding the stage were traditional Middle-Eastern style tables (you sit on a small cushion and the table is at about knee height). These are absolutely the best tables for kids and the style encourages conversation and intimacy because you are so close to everyone at the table. Almost immediately, Lisa, Kaleigh and Ashlyn headed over to the henna painting to have their hands painted. Lisa had henna done before at the Bab al Shams resort (another company event) and knew it took awhile to dry. It generally takes about 30 minutes to 1 hour. After it dries, you can wipe away the dried plant-based paint and you are left with a semi-permanent tattoo which lasts about 2 weeks. It's quite beautiful! Kaleigh and Ashlyn then took off and started running around the camp with friends they had made and simply were having good old-fashioned fun. The girls are very accustomed to hearing Middle Eastern music and they knew a belly dancer would be performing later. Check out their moves!

Just before dinner was served, Lisa and the girls decided to see what they would look like in the National Dress. Ashlyn then refused to put on an abaya or head scarf, so here are pictures of Kaleigh and Lisa! Ashlyn did have a good point...it was hot!