Living in Abu Dhabi: December 2012

This past weekend the UAE turned 41 years old…very young country! To mark National day each year, a 2 day public holiday is provided which made for a 4 day weekend. The festivities are unbelievable. It would actually be interesting to take part at some point, but we couldn’t turn down the opportunity to travel. Our trip with our travelling “mates” took us to Jordan. Jordan is a three hour flight from Abu Dhabi. When we arrived we rented vehicles and went straight into the desert to a place called Wadi Rum. It was three hours from the airport, so a long day for the kids.

We met our guide at the village situated right at the entry to Wadi Rum and took an open ride in the back of a very old truck about 15 minutes into the desert to our camp. Our camp was situated inside a circular rock enclosure, with one entry. It was very unique. There were about 6 tents of varying sizes for guests, and a main gathering tent to eat at. There was also two toilets with running water and a sink for the camp, which was a seller for Carmen. We arrived right before sunset and the guides took us to a viewing point to watch the sun go down. We were tight on time so we told the kids to hurry as we wanted to “catch” the sunset. We never gave much thought to our words, but as soon as we got out of the jeep, Trace bolted down the sand dune and just started running. He reminded me off a dog running away. At first we all were laughing and the guides were joking that we will have to drive to pick him up. I tried calling him back, but he couldn’t hear me so then I started to worry as he had gone so far, I could hardly see him. He finally turned around and started making his way back to us, and I soon could hear him crying so went running to meet him. When I got to him, he said with such innocence that he was trying to catch the sun. He thought he had caught it and it was beautiful! My heart just melted.

That night we enjoyed a wonderful meal. The chicken and potatoes were BBQ in a make shift hole in the ground that took around three hours to cook. It was soooo good. The Jordanians also make the best tea. I guess it has sugar and sage in it. Wow, we couldn’t get enough….and neither of us are tea drinkers. The nights in the desert get cold in December…not much above zero, so it also helped keep us warm. The blankets in the tents were nice and thick, but it still was cold on the head. The kids did pretty good, but Rafielle did wake a couple of times saying she was cold because she had lost her blankets.

We spent the entire next day touring the sights of Wadi Rum. It was amazing. There are pictures of us climbing the Rock Bridge of Um Fruth and some sand dunes. Again, mommy was quite nervous. It somehow ended up that the girls went first and thankfully Karen helped Carmen guide Rafielle. However, Carmen wouldn’t let Trace go up. She was just too scared. He was upset at first, but quickly got over it as Logan didn’t want to go and we promised he could climb at the next site. We made many stops along the way, including a canyon walk and a place called Lawrence Springs where you could see a couple of small watering holes. We had lunch and just relaxed as the kids went up and down some sand dunes, laughing, jumping, and diving into the never-ending red sand. What fun! By the time we got back to camp is was just before supper and we all we quite tired. The kids went down very easily, while the adults had a couple of glasses (plasticJ) of wine by the fire.

We left the camp early the next morning so as to see Petra. Apparently, it is one of the “new” seven wonders of the world. It was about a 1.5hour drive and unfortunately as the day wore on, Carmen and Karen both became sicker and sicker. We ended up getting to Petra, walking about 30 minutes to the Treasury, which was pretty amazing, but deciding to turn around and leave. The kids were all out of sorts, and with the two ladies sick, no one had the energy for the 2 plus hours it would take to tour the other parts of Petra. It seemed like a bit of a waste, but will have to come back another time. It just wasn’t going to happen. We had a quick lunch before taking the Kings road to the dead sea. It was a 3 hour drive, which was quite scenic. The views were stunning, but the travel did take its toll. Everyone was happy to arrive at the dead sea and get to a hotel to have a nice long, warm shower. We stayed at a Movenpic hotel with a lot of security. Our cars were checked before we arrived and our bags had to go through metal detectors. Just another reminder of the part of the world we were located. We also noticed a military truck with machine guns was stationed just outside the airport when we arrived.

The entrance to the dead sea was closed when we arrived. I found that funny so we had to wait until the next morning to check it out. We woke up early enough to enter the dead sea for the sunrise. It was very strange to just float. At first you wanted to fight it, but when you just relaxed, it was amazing how your feet just flew up. The adults enjoyed it more than the kids. Rafielle and Trace balled when they got in. The lasted all of about one minute. They had some cuts and all the salt burned them. They cried all the way back to the hotel room and into the shower. Poor little ones. It was just as well, as Carmen and Karen looked very unwell, so we had our breakfast and headed for the airport. It really was too bad they fell ill, yet we all did manage to have another great adventure!

Next trip is off to Canada….the kids have a countdown chart and its 10 days and counting..