RepGuardian

When traveling to Dubai with your family, you might consider one of the tours of the desert dunes.  There’s a variety of packages and companies available, and the price range is roughly about $65 for an afternoon cruising in the deserts.  The day after we checked into our 4 star hotel Dubai, we contacted the concierge and made plans to get out riding in the dunes.  Before too long we and about ten others were out in Toyota Land Cruisers, with a driver who made the trip something like an off-road adventure, the kind your parents wouldn’t want you to even consider when we were teenagers.  We had a great time, laughing like kids.

The positives of our particular trip were several: Dune driving can be exciting, even thrilling, but in the hands of our driver, it wasn’t scary.  The service was punctual, picking us up and delivering us back in a timely fashion.  And it was a good thing to get out and see the desert, making it something we could do with the entire family.

There wasn’t much in the way of negatives on this particular trip.  I could mention that our driver seemed extremely shy; I’ve heard people say that on these tours you can learn a lot about the area, but our driver just wasn’t that talkative.  I’ve heard, too, that some of these desert excursions include a camel farm.  We didn’t have one, but I know I should have asked before we scheduled the trip.  It’s not as if we didn’t get a chance to ride a camel, which we did, once we reached camp, but I’d prefer a longer ride than the one we had.

The camp was supposed to be a replica of a traditional camp used by Bedouins, but, again, on this trip, it didn’t seem quite traditional — not with a snack bar that offered popcorn and Pringles.  I don’t think there was dancing under disco lights, either.  But that’s the way it is sometimes.  You set your expectations for something and then when it’s not quite what you thought it was, you’re a little disappointed.  But there was nothing really wrong: from the tour I chose, I wanted something a little more educational.

All in all, though, it was a good evening out, and I did enjoy the dune driving, and that was the point of the whole tour anyway.  I’d say, if you want to go out dune driving in Dubai just make sure you look around and find a tour company that really meets your needs.  I wanted a cultural experience and didn’t really have one.  Next time, I’ll ask more questions and I’m betting there’s a tour out there that provides exactly what I want.  I just have to look harder for it.

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