What a great, wet weekend we had! We felt it was time to enhance our culture understanding of the northern part of UAE and visit emirates Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain. The reality was that Carmen bought a special hotel package on a discount website which included water park tickets. We'll worry about culture later....
We left after work on Thursday ...about a 2.5 hour drive and a bit to our surprise ended up in the middle of the desert surrounded by an industrial park…no wonder the hotel was cheap! Its not real pretty, but very interesting landscape …probably the biggest sand dunes we have seen yet. I think when people think we're in the middle of the desert this is more like would one would imagine....blowing sand, camels crossing the road, local men in their disdash. The hotel was actually fine, but just so weirdly situated. Friday we arrived at Dreamland Aqua Park pretty much right when the gates opened at 10:00 am. It was a huge facility with a good kids area, but in no time at all, we had convinced the kids to try some of the bigger slides. Lets be honest, Carmen and I weren't going to be satisfied watching the kids in the play area... There was hardly anyone at the park and the lifeguards were very friendly and accommodating that they allowed the kids on many of the rides, even thought they really weren’t tall enough for them. At first we were worried that the kids would be scared, but they loved the attention and the rides. They hit almost every ride in the park minus the two kamikaze slides (i think the name describes them well). Trace wanted to try them (once he saw Dad on it) but it was quickly kiboshed by mom. There were a couple of raft rides the kids loved and some pretty fast tunnel slides that by the end of the day we were all racing down. During the day a family we have met from Australia/South Africa came to join us – Karen, Michael, Logan and Imara. Ironically, Logan shares the twins’ b-day, but is two years younger. We all had an absolutely awesome day and the kids were wiped by the end of it all. Thus, the adults were able to socialize a bit at the hotel in peace and quietJ
The fun didn’t stop there though. The next day, only 18 km further down the road was another water slide park. This one was called Iceland Water Park and is only two years old. It was huge and very uniquely done to look like the north pole….quite funny again considering it is in the middle of the desert. It had a great kids area, better than Dreamland probably and some very unique adult rides, but the security was much tighter so the kids were only allowed on two family raft rides beside the kiddie area. This meant the adults didn’t get to go on as many rides, so will have to go back again some dayJ Both parks were great, but would say we had more fun at Dreamland just because the kids could come along with us on everything. That said, Iceland would really get the heart pumping if one had the time. All adults but Carmen went on what I would say was the fastest (most painful) straight down slide – Mount Attack (its like the kamikaze on steroids). Wow, the force was unbelievable! Its never a good sign when you don't see anyone going on the slide. It either means its boring, or you are putting you life at risk. Lets just say it was a one time only! All the adults also went on a really different raft slide almost like a skateboard ramp…again some bruises for memoriesJ All in all a wonderful weekend and really enjoyed sharing it with some new family friends. We are already talking about a trip to Cape Town in the next year together…imagine how excited Carmen already is!
P.S. As I write this, Carmen is flying over the atlantic to Canada. Her Master convocation is in Lethbridge this week so she is doing a quick trip to be able to walk across the stage to receive her degree. Congrats Carmen...you deserve it!!!
The fun didn’t stop there though. The next day, only 18 km further down the road was another water slide park. This one was called Iceland Water Park and is only two years old. It was huge and very uniquely done to look like the north pole….quite funny again considering it is in the middle of the desert. It had a great kids area, better than Dreamland probably and some very unique adult rides, but the security was much tighter so the kids were only allowed on two family raft rides beside the kiddie area. This meant the adults didn’t get to go on as many rides, so will have to go back again some dayJ Both parks were great, but would say we had more fun at Dreamland just because the kids could come along with us on everything. That said, Iceland would really get the heart pumping if one had the time. All adults but Carmen went on what I would say was the fastest (most painful) straight down slide – Mount Attack (its like the kamikaze on steroids). Wow, the force was unbelievable! Its never a good sign when you don't see anyone going on the slide. It either means its boring, or you are putting you life at risk. Lets just say it was a one time only! All the adults also went on a really different raft slide almost like a skateboard ramp…again some bruises for memoriesJ All in all a wonderful weekend and really enjoyed sharing it with some new family friends. We are already talking about a trip to Cape Town in the next year together…imagine how excited Carmen already is!
P.S. As I write this, Carmen is flying over the atlantic to Canada. Her Master convocation is in Lethbridge this week so she is doing a quick trip to be able to walk across the stage to receive her degree. Congrats Carmen...you deserve it!!!
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