Here we are in the lobby of the J W Marriott in the Bur Dubai area waiting for our room.
The hostess handed us glasses of mango juice and grapefruit juice as we arrived. What a difference from the beach. It’s MUCH, MUCH too serious here and MUCH more formal and traditional with more of the traditional dress on both men and women. Can you believe that I REALLY feel out of place? To pass the time I’ve decided to start early on the blog.

This morning before leaving our beloved Burj we donned our swimming suits and caught the jitney to Wild Wadi Water Park which opened 1 hour prior to general admission hours to accommodate hotel guests. The guys went on the Speed Slide – I decided to sit it out or maybe it could be considered chickening out. The next ride of eleven slides was great – the water pushed you and your tube UP the slides and around the curves and through tunnels. We headed back to pack, check out and take a taxi to the Marriott.

We’ve booked a Desert Safari tour for this afternoon which includes going over desert dunes in 4 X 4s, sand boarding, BBQ dinner, and belly dancing (maybe my past lessons will come in handy). Photos to follow. Time is slipping away and we’re plotting every minute to see the “must-see” sites before leaving Dubai early Monday morning.

We climbed in the Toyota SUV at the Marriott for the beginning of our desert safari with our driver Ramsey. While driving out to the desert we chatted with another woman LeDesa, a kindred spirit who turned out to be lots of fun except that she refused to throw herself under the bus for the sake of the group. Right, LeDesa??? I can’t begin to describe the onslaught of SUVs flying up and down over the dune ridges not knowing what to expect on the other side in addition to doing side slides, hairpin turns, 45 degree angles and best of all, we didn’t flip. What a thrill and of course, we had our seat belts on. Thank goodness since we were still thrown around the seat.

Stopping for a short break for photos we then continued on through another Emirate – Sharjah - for the camel ride, lamb BBQ, and belly dancing. Garry, Rich and I decided to nix the camel ride since our time in Mongolia. I didn’t care to see another camel as long as I lived. The camel (Mongolia) I had refused to walk and no matter how much coaxing. and kicking I did, he wouldn’t move. So I walked to the oasis instead. But LeDesa wanted the camel ride experience and she got it in Dubai. Way to go!

Down the hill to the lamb BBQ with kabobs, potatoes, mixed pickles, drumsticks, hummus, tabulleh, and other choices. Actually the meal was quite tasty and ended just in time for the belly dancing show. Garry and I actually had a chance to dance with the belly dancer. She wanted me to balance a metal cane across the top of my chest and shake my hips at the same time. Let me tell you, the belly dancing classes I had taken never taught me that trick! Maybe the trick was more beer and less clothing.. Garry got under her veil with her shaking his hips a bit. She had great showmanship including many people in the audience. On the ride home we had to stop to let out more air in the tires and shop at a local store - one polo shirt, 4 postcards, 3 Magnum bars cost us 36 USD – the owner threw in a pack of Chiclets. Now you know we were taken. Great fun today, but no sand boarding. Dr. Work, aren’t you happy it didn’t work out?!

Tomorrow(now today), we, along with LeDesa, head to the floor of the Dubai Stock Exchange for a tour. Later, we plan to taxi to the Mall of the Emirates for the indoor ski slope and Chillout Ice Lounge and later to the Gold Souk back near our hotel. It’s our last day and we’ve run out of time.

Tamara, Rich, and Garry

Captions: 1) Desert Safari 2) Tamara, Rich, and Garry with Belly Dancer 3)More desert safari 4) LeDesa, Rich, Garry and Tamara 5) Location of Lamb BBQ in the Sharjah Emirate