Sunday, January 10, 2010

November trip to Dubai and UAE


I arrived the day before Halloween, and Porter was so excited for his first real trick or treat. We got to the party, and here he is sound asleep. He slept through the whole party and the Trick or Treat part too.

We all took an Abra tour at the Madinat Jumeira. it was a very relaxing experience, sailing along the man made canal, the hotels shopping center and apartment buildings and the Burge Al arab in the back ground.





An hour long boat tour through The Marina and then into the Ocean and back to the Marina. a very fun trip.




A beautiful shopping center built in the Italian style.


The villa where we go to church.
We took the new monorail to the Atlantis hotel where they have a huge tank of all kinds of fish.
A foggy morning at the beach.
A birds eye view of Jumeira beach where we live. Para sailing was a lot of fun. I would like to do it again.

All of these pictures are from the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. it is the most beautiful mosque I have ever seen. I would go again if I had a chance.







An oasis with farming among the mountains.


The oldest mosque in the UAE


Old castle near Fujeirah. It is being restored and they are also restoring the village that used to surround the castle.


A resort on the east coast of UAE near Fujeirah. the East coast of the UAE is pretty much cornered by Russian tourists. We had a lovely lunch here and a dip i the water.


More dusty mountains with a little water and vegetation here and there in the valleys.


A few camels and a little dune bashing thrown in for good measure on the way to the Wadis. We kept going across the borders between UAE and Oman all day long, but it was very informal.


We were supposed to see pools of water in some of the Wadis ie dry river beds. This was the only one we found and out guide told us not to go swimming in is as it was poisonous. It was an interesting tour. We saw lots of mountains and dry valleys and some oasis where they grew crops and had animals. The mountains seem very porous and you would probably start an avalanche if you tried to climb it. one thing we learned is that you do not plan a picnic at an oasis where they raise goats unless you want to share your lunch with the whole fly population.


We sailed all day in and out of these fjords. It was absolutely beautiful and spectacular. Out guide would make the sound of a dolphin and shortly after the water would be teaming with dolphins. It is hard to catch them on a picture but I can assure you we saw a lot of them. It was such a wonderful relaxing day with so many beautiful images. It was a long day but very worth it.


If we had not booked this tour through a reputable travel agency a crew like this could have made you a little squeeze. This are of the UAE and Oman used to be the headquarters for pirates.
Old fashioned middle eastern boats


Quincy and Natalie and children

Getting ready to scuba dive

Quincy and Porter having a well deserved nap


Us girls shopping at the old Souk in Dubai


Beautiful Park in Dubai where we had the turkey bowl.

Last Camel ride of the day

Sunset at Jumeira Beach

2 comments:

Melin said...

that looks like a ton of fun!

natalie said...

This is making me miss Dubai! Glad you could come visit us!