For our last night in Dubai we had booked a desert safari which included a number of kitsch but fun tourist activities – including camel rides and belly dancing (no audience particpation!)

We were driven out of the city to a nature reserve – through vast expanses of new apartment developments which are presumably where you live if you can’t afford the glittering skyscrapers of Dubai proper.  Not much beyond those you are in a vast expanse of sand – and not much else.  On the way we passed the camel racing track and the Dubai 7s rugby stadium – an oasis of green grass amongst the dust.

Once we got to what seemed to be a nature park there was a brief demo of falconry (Romeo the falcon looked pretty fierce), half an hour of dune bashing (which Kumar our driver enjoyed more than some of our tour companions!), a brief ride on a 🐫 (getting on and off was interesting), and finally dinner and a belly dancing show.  All quite fun and nice to be out of the intensity of the city.

As. usual, pics follow.  It’s early here in Palermo and the hotel wifi is temporarily cooperating!