QAT: Desert Safari

Desert, South of Doha, Qatar

My BFF and I didn't want to miss the chance to experience dune bashing in Qatar. Prior to arriving at the country, we'd booked an afternoon session of private desert safari with Arabian Adventures Qatar via e-mail correspondence, paying a sum of QAR 600.00 (~S$222.55).

We were picked up promptly by our driver at The Royal Riviera Hotel. He couldn't speak English well, but he tried his best to communicate with us through simple words and hand gestures.

The journey to the desert took approximately 50 minutes.

While waiting for our driver to deflate the car tires, we had fun interacting with ponies and camels. I'm not particularly interested in riding on a camel though, so I gave that a miss.

Did you know that camels have three eyelids and two rows of eyelashes?

I had no intention to touch it, but it edged closer to me when I was posing for the photo.

We had a nice cup of karak chai (Middle Eastern milk tea infused with spices) each.

Here's the first panorama shot that I did for the day. Do click on it.

With energetic Arabian songs in the background, we had lots of fun during our very first dune bashing experience, thanks to our skilful driver.

Let's not litter in the desert!

I really enjoyed the thrilling experience.

Our driver and another one were certainly enjoying themselves too, especially at the steep sloping dune.

Enjoy the two video clips below.

We stopped by Khor al-Adaid, the inland sea at the southern part of the desert.

Apparently, it's a UNESCO-recognised natural reserve with quite a diverse marine ecosystem.

Posing with the amiable driver!

Pikachu and Melon didn't want to miss the opportunity to take photos in the desert.

Here's a clickable panorama photo of the inland sea.

Subsequently, we continued with the dune bashing experience a bit more before going to the beach that's not too far from the inland sea.

The sun started to go down at 4.00pm.

"What a pristine beach!" was what came out of my mouth when we reached there.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can be seen from far.

While walking along the beach, we saw a dead blue-coloured crab. Rest in peace, little one.

Time to watch the sunset!

Ignore the mosquito bites on my arms and focus on my smile. Haha!

 

Have you every thought why is the sun round?

Once we were done, the driver drove us back to the hotel. We were also given a bottle of chilled water each to hydrate ourselves.

A full-day desert safari gets you the opportunity to have activities at a Bedouin-style camp, as well as a buffet dinner before the day ends.