We arrived safely on this desert island at 12 midnight on Thursday. Our trip was extremely uneventful and about as uncomfortable as any 'cattle class' international flight. As airlines go Etihad was very nice and service was good.
Arrival formalities went well - Heidi says probably because of our advanced ages!! At both the visa queue, the eye scan queue (what's that?) and the passport queue we were directed to the front so practically no waiting. So its not only cheap movie tickets that make 65+ the age to be!
Heidi and Darrell are renting a large house in an enormous complex (Heidi keeps referring to it as 'compound' which to South African just doesn't sound right). The guest room with own bathroom has sliding doors out to their, admittedly, tiny garden and is pretty much 5-star. Very comfortable bed, air con. and a big vase of lovely flowers (presumably imported). Most living things here are imported, including many of the people and all the food. But definitely not oil which as you know is what runs their economy.
Friday morning just somehow disappeared in a mass of early morning tea and rusks (imported - Ouma!) opening arrival gifts, talking, late breakfast, admiring everything, walks to local (in- house) shop etc. Quick afterlunch snooze was cut short at 2.30 in order to set out for the desert. T
he house itself is on the island but the city stretches far beyond. It is beyond impressive with marvellous roads, greenery everywhere, everything new and modern. This city is only fifty years old and is truly amazing. Eventually we turned off the main road into the countryside - read desert! Disappointingly there were no camels but we have been assured that that was just bad luck and we would be bound to see some soon.
Next turn was on to a dirt road and soon we stopped for Darrell to let down the tyres and attend to other desert requirements. On we drove, pretty much through the desert now and eventually stopped at a tree which would provide a scrap of shade. Being winter it wasn't too hot - maybe akin to a Durban summer day. There were several families, all in 4x4's and they all parked with their fronts facing down the hill (dune). We discovered why when had to take off.
A couple of things particularly took my attention. One was the enormous power pylons stretching over vast tracts of sand and second was the tree farms. Yes - acres and acres of small trees growing in the sand, watered by black plastic piping that we could see stretching over the sand (desalinated water, by the way!). The trees were very nondescript, probably chosen for their aptitude for desert survival and are moved to city, suburbs and gardens as required.
Our afternoon in the desert was great! The sand I discovered is of the finest texture and is lovely between the toes but makes climbing dunes a tortuous exercise - one step forward, three quarters of a step backward slide. The kids, of which there were many, charged unbelievably up and down the dunes (I can think of some SA kids who would have loved it!). The moms and this one granny relaxed in chairs in our chosen picnic spot and the men - including one grandpa - went dune bashing in the 4x4's. Of course and inevitably, one got stuck and the guys had enormous fun trying to get it out. Then the fires were lit as it started to get dark, meat was cooked (H and D had brought wors, the others sausages), car headlights were switched on so we could see what we were doing and eventually we reversed the tyre letting down process and went home. Great start to our holiday.
That was Friday (Muslim day of rest, equivalent to our Sunday).
Disaster struck this morning. Heidi, tripping down the stairs to let dogs out and make tea, literally tripped and ripped her ankle. Very bad sprain or tear. X-rays show no break but it is very sore. So today, second day of our holiday has been spent at home relaxing and doing nothing much. With seven weeks ahead that's no problem - plenty of time to do lots of things. So we have had a nice gentle day with our daughter and three gorgeous grandchildren. Time now to take the children for a swim and then I must organise supper!! Will put some photos in later.
Arrival formalities went well - Heidi says probably because of our advanced ages!! At both the visa queue, the eye scan queue (what's that?) and the passport queue we were directed to the front so practically no waiting. So its not only cheap movie tickets that make 65+ the age to be!
Heidi and Darrell are renting a large house in an enormous complex (Heidi keeps referring to it as 'compound' which to South African just doesn't sound right). The guest room with own bathroom has sliding doors out to their, admittedly, tiny garden and is pretty much 5-star. Very comfortable bed, air con. and a big vase of lovely flowers (presumably imported). Most living things here are imported, including many of the people and all the food. But definitely not oil which as you know is what runs their economy.
Friday morning just somehow disappeared in a mass of early morning tea and rusks (imported - Ouma!) opening arrival gifts, talking, late breakfast, admiring everything, walks to local (in- house) shop etc. Quick afterlunch snooze was cut short at 2.30 in order to set out for the desert. T
he house itself is on the island but the city stretches far beyond. It is beyond impressive with marvellous roads, greenery everywhere, everything new and modern. This city is only fifty years old and is truly amazing. Eventually we turned off the main road into the countryside - read desert! Disappointingly there were no camels but we have been assured that that was just bad luck and we would be bound to see some soon.Next turn was on to a dirt road and soon we stopped for Darrell to let down the tyres and attend to other desert requirements. On we drove, pretty much through the desert now and eventually stopped at a tree which would provide a scrap of shade. Being winter it wasn't too hot - maybe akin to a Durban summer day. There were several families, all in 4x4's and they all parked with their fronts facing down the hill (dune). We discovered why when had to take off.
A couple of things particularly took my attention. One was the enormous power pylons stretching over vast tracts of sand and second was the tree farms. Yes - acres and acres of small trees growing in the sand, watered by black plastic piping that we could see stretching over the sand (desalinated water, by the way!). The trees were very nondescript, probably chosen for their aptitude for desert survival and are moved to city, suburbs and gardens as required.Our afternoon in the desert was great! The sand I discovered is of the finest texture and is lovely between the toes but makes climbing dunes a tortuous exercise - one step forward, three quarters of a step backward slide. The kids, of which there were many, charged unbelievably up and down the dunes (I can think of some SA kids who would have loved it!). The moms and this one granny relaxed in chairs in our chosen picnic spot and the men - including one grandpa - went dune bashing in the 4x4's. Of course and inevitably, one got stuck and the guys had enormous fun trying to get it out. Then the fires were lit as it started to get dark, meat was cooked (H and D had brought wors, the others sausages), car headlights were switched on so we could see what we were doing and eventually we reversed the tyre letting down process and went home. Great start to our holiday.
That was Friday (Muslim day of rest, equivalent to our Sunday).
Disaster struck this morning. Heidi, tripping down the stairs to let dogs out and make tea, literally tripped and ripped her ankle. Very bad sprain or tear. X-rays show no break but it is very sore. So today, second day of our holiday has been spent at home relaxing and doing nothing much. With seven weeks ahead that's no problem - plenty of time to do lots of things. So we have had a nice gentle day with our daughter and three gorgeous grandchildren. Time now to take the children for a swim and then I must organise supper!! Will put some photos in later.
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