Desert Safari

We woke up at 6 am and got ready for the desert safari we had planned with Platinum Heritage. We were immensely excited for the tour because they operate with a fleet of Range Rovers. They have a heritage, platinum, and overland collection and offer a variety of tours. Hunter found them online mentioned in an Instagram post initially. We further explored their offerings when we found out they are the only ecotourism safari operator and the only Desert Safari Company to have been awarded the coveted Green Tourism Award by Dubai Tourism. Between the Range Rovers and the ecological focus we were very excited. 

Before we left for the safari, we went to the. Executive Lounge and had a drink and light snack because we were not exactly sure how long we would have too wait for breakfast on the tour. Hunter had some smoked salmon while I had some cheese. 

Morning view out our window

Our guide, Mutty (moo-tee) met us in the hotel lobby at 7:15 am sharp and brought us to the shiny range rover parked out front of the hotel. The interior was beautiful with tan leather and 4 zone climate control. Mutty was excellent at conversing, sharing the history of Dubai, the UAE, and some personal stories. The drive to the conservation area took approximately 1 hour. Along the way, Mutty took us to a camel racing track after Hunter won a geography quiz by successfully guessing the world's largest desert with my help (hint: don't think sand). Mutty was very knowledgeable and did a great job answering all our questions. 

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Camels

After seeing the camels and their tiny robotic jockeys we continued our drive. Along the way, Mutty continued sharing local history and culture. They previously used children as jockeys but switched to robots for safety reasons. The racers win 4x4s which they use to coach the camels from and the sport is still very family oriented since gambling isn't allowed here. He also started briefing us for the more off-road portion of the drive and it was clear he was excited we were familiar with deserts and off-roading. I don't think they're used to getting tourists who have spent much time outside cities. We told him about our 4Runner, which he actually knew about and was excited to talk to Hunter about off-roading. 

We continued down the highway before turning off onto a series of increasingly bumpy dirt roads eventually passing a house that was described as belonging to the cousin of the ruler of Dubai with massive falcon aviaries attached. Mutty said a lot of the older Royals like to live in the desert since they are only a few generations removed from their Bedouin ancestry. The local culture definitely has a respect for nature and wild places which was cool to see although different from home. 

From there we went through the gates and onto the 225 sq mile Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. This reserve established by Royal decree, (probably easier than the process in the US) was at the edge of the Dubai emirate and also the edge of the Rub Al Khali, or empty quarter, a truly massive desert spanning Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, and Yemen. It is one of the harshest environments in the world and even today is largely untraversed. We would just be visiting a tiny corner of it yet almost immediately we could feel the sense of immense emptiness as the sand stretched out seemingly forever. 

Upon arrival, we stopped at their base and were given Arabic headscarves for the sun and some photos. We also got to take pictures with the classic range rovers. Hunter was excited to see both defenders and even older series I and series II land Rovers. These were old British right hand drive models with 80mph speedometers and straight walls. 

The safari base camp where people meet to go on the tours

We aired down the tires just like we did with our 4runner for the grand canyon a few weekends ago and then proceeded into the conservation area. Mutty had to check in with the Rangers and verify we had working GPS in case of an emergency. We were met with views of sand dunes and Arabian Oryx. Mutty also pointed out many animal tracks in the sand as we were the first ones into the conservation area that morning and could see all sorts of things. Scorpion tracks were the most common, but we also saw gerbil, oryx, and snake tracks. The wind was still so the tracks on the dunes were incredibly clear. 

Airing down

Entering the conservation area

Can you see any tracks?

We quickly encountered a male oryx who was walking along the boundary road. During mating season they try to keep some of the males separate from the females or else they may kill the babies of rival males. The desert conservation reserve was a bit different in this respect than National parks at home they took a more active role in managing the wildlife than the park service back home does, while it certainly wasn't a zoo it also wasn't quite the same as the extremely hands-off approach we are used to from the National park service.

A male oryx staring at the females on the other side of the fence

The sand dunes were amazing to see

As we continued deeper into the reserve we found more oryx, tracks, and native plants. We learned about the Ghaf the National tree of the UAE. A cultural icon, it shows where there is water underground and is a great way to find water in the desert if your camel can't smell it (evidently camels can also smell the water from some distance if it's near the surface). Mutty also let us know that the stereotypical palms near anything other than a massive oasis in the desert are usually a hint that the oasis has been changed by man since they require so much water they do not occur naturally at most of the smaller oases in the Rub Al Khali.

Ghaf tree

This oryx was running in the sand

We forget the name of this one, but Mutty described it at natures pharmacy

Eventually, after stopping for the extremely photogenic oryxes, we reached a small oasis. There were some Arabian gazelles that looked tiny in comparison to the imposing oryx. They were very adorable. Adjacent to the oasis there were also some vegetation study plots fenced off from the animals so they could study the differences. Mutty explained that the oasis was lined with a plastic material to prevent seepage since the groundwater in this area was not recharging as fast. In the oasis, we saw native fish and birds. We also learned more about Bedouin culture. Since their nomadic lifestyle meant they had very few belongings tribesmen were always improvising. Mutty showed us a reed, Nzah,  that could be split open and separated into fibers that could be used for a fishing rope, net, fire starter, or whatever was needed.

Can you spot the two gazelle in this photo?

Fish

Mutty explaining all the way you could use nzah 

a baby oryx that had the zoomies on the other side of the oasis

As we continued our safari, we spotted an incredibly crisp fresh snake track. Mutty immediately identified this as being from a saw-scaled viper which Hunter later told me is responsible for more deaths than any other snake. However, we still jumped out of the car and followed the tracks up the dune. Although we didn't see any animals you could see an entire story of local animals in the sand. There were gerbil tracks that the saw-scaled viper had followed up with this weird body-throwing motion that left snake-shaped prints on the sand in a row as it moved. Also likely following the gerbil were the tracks of an Arabian horned viper. It left a sidewinder-like pattern as it climbed the dune. Finally, there was a long almost straight line that looked like what a gopher in a cartoon would dig. This line stopped halfway across the dune indicating that it was still there. Mutty told Hunter this line was likely from a stiletto snake, a small almost blind venomous snake that searches for its prey with side-facing fangs that it then uses to envenomate them by brushing against rather than biting. Hearing we were standing on a dune that recently contained at least three venomous snakes and still likely contained at least one was interesting, but Mutty seemed unconcerned and we just stayed clear of where their tracks led, took some photos, and headed back to the range rover.

Snake Tracks

ripples in the sand dune

Seeing what made the line under the surface of the sand

Scorpion tracks

Gerbil tracks

Mutty continued the tour and took a turn onto a road that they made specifically for the true "off road" experience. It was bumpty and twisty, but a lot of fun like Hunter and I do in the 4Runner. Mutty asked us if he was going too fast which we both responded with an emphatic no to. I also managed to spot a hard-to-find desert monitor lizard which quickly ran under a bush in a blur. 

After enjoying the fun, but much too short, off-road section, we came out to an oryx feeding station.  Mutty explained the only way to tell the females and males apart is by the shape of their horns. If they are bent, they are females, and if they are straight, they are male. Along the road we also aw several Agamas a local mid-sized lizard species that was reminiscent of the chuckwalla back in Utah. Mutty knew exactly where their burrows were and he was extremely sharp-eyed. There were more gazelles along the way with a few oryx sprinkled in as well. 

This is a male 

Eventually we came arrived at Al Maha, a luxury desert reserve and another Marriott property an hour from where we had started. Here we had a delicious breakfast of local jams, fresh bread, fruits, and more. For his main, Hunter ordered their signature salmon and nut omelet while I had Eggs Royale which was a salmon eggs benedict dish. Our breakfast was extremely filling, but it was absolutely delicious. The resort was beautiful and overlooked an oasis, but this one had palm trees so we knew, as Mutty had told us, it was human augmented. We enjoyed the terrace for a bit before we made our way back out to the range rover.

When we returned to the entry gate Mutty aired the range rover back up to highway pressure and we drove back out past the cousin of the ruling family's house. With our binoculars, we were able to spot some of the exotic wildlife on the grounds of his desert tent palace. It was a very interesting construction and massive. Surprisingly, Mutty seemed totally fine with us peering into a royal estate with our binoculars and we definitely enjoyed looking around and appreciating the giant falcon aviaries. 

From there we made our way back to the main road and then turned back towards Dubai. I worked on my blog a bit and also took a nap while Hunter and Mutty talked about off-roading and cars. We also fielded some travel suggestions from Mutty for our next trip he said he would most like to go to Patagonia which is high on our list too, stay tuned to find out if we can make that happen! 

When we returned to the hotel it was noon. I worked on my blog posts while we waited for afternoon tea in the lounge to start at 2:30. We didn't have anything else specifically planned for today, but we decided we would go to the pool after snacks. The pool was quite busy, but we found two lounge chairs beside each other. I was worried the pool was going to be cold, but it was actually a lovely temperature. Hunter and I swam around a bit, and then of course had to take some photos. This was the first time I've owned a waterproof phone, so it was exciting getting to use it. I didn't fully submerged it though because I was too worried, although Hunter did make an excellent point that my phone is excessively protected for accidental damage. We stayed in the pool for a while longer watching the sun set. It was beautifully red.

We got out and dried off, returning to the hotel room impressed and surprised with how clean and not sticky we actually felt since the pool is a chlorinated pool. I was working on my blog, but became sleepy, and fell asleep. Hunter fell asleep too and we eventually woke up again around 9pm. We decided to go back to the mall before it closed at midnight to have dinner. We went to Black Tap which is a buger and shake place we've previously been to in Switzerland, except it was half the cost here. We were seated outside by the fountain which was awesome because a show went off right as we were looking at the menu. It was to the Mission Impossible theme song. Hunter ordered a burger and I ordered fries because I wasn't super hungry and would just have a few bites of hunters burger. We also wanted to order a milk shake and I knew if I ate a full buger too, I wouldn't be able to have any milkshake, and icecream is more important (haha)! We ordered the Oreo milkshake that came with a full ice cream sandwich on top. 

We ended up finishing dinner right as the restaurant was closed. We then walked through the mall to where the taxi dropped us off, only to find out that was a drop off location only and pickups were on the other side of the mall. The mall is massive, so we were disappointed to have to walk all the way back through it again. On the plus side we passed the main aquarium tank that we had visited the other day and were just able to see with the lights off the sharks and other animals in their restful although not technically asleep states  When we finally got to the other side, we were able to get a taxi pretty much immediately and returned to the hotel. Even though we had slept for a few hours this evening, we were still sleepy and had no issues getting a full night's rest ourselves. 

We passed the aquarium as we were leaving. They turn off the lights at night, but as you can see, there's a lot of lights from the store fronts.

Clips from Safari Day!