Dune Bashing

We went dune bashing on Thursday night. We met up with some friends at one of the local hotels on Thursday afternoon at 3:00, and only had to wait minutes for our adventure guide to pull up in his nearly new limited edition Toyota land cruiser. He drove the five of us about an hour east of the city before we turned off into the desert. After just a few minutes, we saw a group of people gathered around large pens of camels. There were a dozen large pens with 8-10 camels in each, the camels were eating and drinking and we were all gathered around taking pictures. There were 5 other land cruisers there with drivers, for the group that was already on site and after about 15 minutes we were told to mount up and we started a convoy into the desert. Our driver was very dedicated to his sport, and for the next hour we weaved, climbed, jumped and slid over the most beautiful country we could imagine. We all laughed and whooped so hard, our sides were sore the rest of the night. If it would have ended there it would have been worth every penny, instead we pulled through a gate into a 2-3 acre level site with large lavish tents, a raised stage, kneeling tables all around the stage, an open bar, a buffet line building, bathroom facilities and tables full of coffee, cokes and snacks to hold us over until dinner. After a cup of coffee and a little rest, four of us got on quad bikes and raced around for about 30 minutes. When we got back to camp, there were camels available to ride so we definitely had to do that. The camels lie down, you get on their back and then they stand up front legs first. Camels are very tall, and it’s a ride itself hanging on until they get up on their huge hoofs. The ride was short, and I’m glad there was a handler leading us the whole time. After the camel ride, we all hit the buffet line and loaded up on good local food that included grilled chicken and lamb. Immediately after dinner, the perimeter lights dimmed, and a lovely belly dancer put on a show for us. When the show was over, it was 10 pm, our bellies were full, sides still hurt from our earlier whooping and laughing our driver told us we could load up when we were ready. We got back to the hotel at 11 and to our villa about 11:30 tired and already committing to experience that whole thing again. If any of the above sounds like fun to you, all you have to do is come to visit (free food and lodging), and I’ll gladly call the same driver for a repeat performance.