Abu Dhabi 12.12.09

Carols in the desert and kayaking in the mangroves.
The weather didn’t really clear. We set out for the designated spot for the carols - 60km into the desert (tar road all the way!) under ominous cloud and sure enough just as we were all settled and the braai fires were lit the rain started. All twenty drops of it. A few far thinking people produced raincoats and umbrellas but we just did the standard Joburg thing and ignored it, assuming it would soon go away. Which it did. Even so it was quite cold with a bit of a wind (it is after all mid-winter) and we were glad of fleeces and blankets. The evening was really lovely ; there were lots of people and we were in a group of Heidi’s friends - two couples , both the men pilots with Etihad Airline. The crowd obviously included Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans and probably some Americans and Europeans. And apart from the different terrain and the smaller number of people it was reminiscent of the carol services at Botanic Gardens. However the twenty raindrops didn’t quite add up to what Carl always and rather rudely described as the annual washout!! Darrell braaied the wors (yes - it seems that South Africans manage to source wors no matter where in the world they are!) and we had wors rolls with tomato sauce - just like home! The singing, it must be admitted, was not up to the standard of the Botanic Gardens services with the Welsh choir in the lead but it was very pleasant with Gerron in full and excellent voice and the rest of the crowd mumbling along, .
The weather still didn’t look good this morning (they get rain only about five times a year, so why now??).Nothing daunted, the men loaded three kayaks onto the roof of Darrell’s 4x4, we called Daisy to keep an eye on the kids during our absence, and off we went to chosen launching spot. When we arrived the rain started again but after all the trouble of getting the kayaks onto the roof there was no way that we would not take to the water. Off we went, with Heidi and I sharing one kayak and for nearly two hours we paddled amongst the mangroves. From the beach it just looks like one big ‘island’ of mangroves. But in actual fact it is many clumps of trees, some very big , some very small and with channels and tunnels between them. The rain started again once we were water borne but we just ignored it. Heidi and I were not the most successful team, in fact we were a bit of a disaster and we kept paddling into the mangroves, partly because we laughed so much each time we lost control of where we were going. Some of the passages that Darrell (skipper in charge of the fleet) were very narrow and filled with obstacles. Gerron took to it like a duck to water (only because I was scared of falling off my broad-bottomed pseudo-surfboard!) and we two girls struggled along enjoying the amazing beauty of the mangrove swamp. After over an hour of going hither and thither we were convinced that we would never find the shore but we took another turn and there it was. By that time we were freezing with sore bottoms so were actually rather glad to step ashore and head for home. But what a lovely morning outing and Kirsten you will be surprised to hear that I did not actually fall into the water. Several close shaves but we always managed to right ourselves in time. Next time say H&D we will go to a beach instead of a mangrove inlet an paddle across to the islands. Next time I do hope we choose a sunny day! Bad news is that my trusty little canon camera got wet and is currently an ex-camera. I am hoping that it will recover when it dries out.

Gerron: Cars!
We all visited The Emirates National Auto Museum, a.k.a. The Rainbow Sheikh’s Car Museum, at a point, literally in the desert (where else?), some 45 kilom-itters (that thanks to those who, from ignorance or just plain cussedness mispronounce kms.) due south of AD where the 200, or so, motor vehicles are housed under a mock-pyramid. An impressive array with a variety of vehicles that should appeal to most visitors who grew up during the 30s (1930s not 1830s) and are still able to derive some ooh/aah pleasure thereby. Exhibits are, generally, in excellent nick but my gripe is lack of tyre-inflation maintenance and the unkempt condition of a circa 1927, or earlier, Chrysler and a Dodge; unacceptable for any museum but more so for one that is attempting to demonstrate the alleged opulence of it’s claimed “dedicated collector”.