Henry On Safari in Dubai
So what were thinking, visiting Dubai in July where the daily temperature can reach 50 degrees Celsius and at night time it cools down to only 40 degrees. This place is like visiting Calgary in January, you stay indoors and you rush from building to car to building, because the weather is just too extreme to enjoy. But we made the most of our time in this emirate one of the seven that make up the United Arab Emirates, and behaved like a local and stayed indoors for most of the time.
Laurence On Safari in Dubai
This city is not like any other we have visited thus far, it is so clean, new and modern, with amazing skyscrapers, endless miles of overdesigned freeways, mega malls on every corner and the evidence of money everywhere. The city is spread along the coast of the Arabian Gulf and has been mostly built in the last 25 years with excess in mind. The architecture of the new tall sky scrapers truly is a sight to see if you can see them through the sun storm (a fog of sand and heat). Most notably of course is the only 7 star hotel in the world the Burj Al Arab built in 1999 and the world’s tallest hotel which is sits on its own island in the gulf. This iconic hotel with its sail like design truly stands out from the rest, but needless to say we could not afford the $2000.00 a night charge, and only got to see it from the beach.
the Burj Al Arab
Dubai is also now the home of the world’s tallest building\freestanding structure the Burj Khalifa, a futuristic tower that stands an impressive 800 metres in height with over 160 stories. This building dominates the skyline and is an impressive feat of engineering. We took the high speed elevator, the longest elevator ride in the world, to the highest public viewing area in the world to see the amazing views of Dubai and the coastline.
Burj Khalifa
But no one does a shopping mall better than Dubai. These malls are so impressive and large they can take days to discover. On our first day we visited the Mall of the Emirates, a massive structure that seems to go on for miles with countless shops and boutiques, including an indoor ski hill. Ski Dubai is the world’s largest indoor snow park with five ski runs (longest being a ¼ of a mile) toboggan hill and a snow man making area. It was most odd to see everyone hiding from the heat and enjoying good old Canadian fun, so we had to join in. So we both put ski suits on and skis on our feet and took several runs down the famous ski hill, it was a blast and after over 15 years I now know I can still ski.
Outside view of the ski hill @ Mall of the Emirates
Henry skiing in Dubai
But the most impressive of all the malls is the new Dubai Mall located at the base of the world’s tallest building the Burg Khalifa. This mall is larger the West Edmonton Mall, and contains not only a skating rink, but the world’s largest fish tank, an underwater Zoo and a fountain show similar to that at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. This mall had every high end store imagined and went on for miles, too much for only one visit, it even has an area dedicated to high end chocolate stores.
Fountian @ Dubai Mall
In addition we toured the Palm Jumeirah the manmade island shaped like a palm tree in the Arabian Gulf, with its massive homes, condos and of course the incredible Atlantis Hotel.
Water Show @ Dubai Mall and Front of Burj Khalifa
But the highlight of our stopover in Dubai was without a doubt the Desert Safaris. We had great fun in a 4WD climbing sand dunes west of Dubai. This exhilarating ride over countless dunes and sliding down the other side was a heart stopper for sure. And then in the evening we were treated to a Bedouin feast in a camp in the desert including an incredible performance by a belly dancer.
4WD climbing sand dunes west of Dubai
