There is no doubt that the desert safari is a classic activity that must be enjoyed while in Dubai. Yes, it’s tailored for the traveler, but certainly gives you a good perspective of the arid region at the same time mixing in some of the schmaltzy touristy stuff that we secretly all love.

The adventure got off to a very slow start when our “no personality” driver picked us up from the hotel in our 4 x 4, and literally didn’t say one word for the 45 minute ride to the “safari site”. We had no idea where we were going, how long it’d take, nothing. And to top it off, the other 4 passengers in the car didn’t say anything – kind of that weird awkward silence, where at a certain point it would be even more uncomfortable to break the quiet and say something.

When we arrived to the edge of the vast desert land our driver took some air out of the SUV’s tires, since clearly we were about to get down and dirty with 4 wheeling it on the dunes. It was a blast high tailing it up and down the sand dunes, coming very close at times to either tipping over or getting stuck in the sand (we saw a bunch of stalled cars stuck in the sand) – it was an absolute thrill. Jason and I were even the lucky recipients of the back seat where you could especially feel every bump magnified – definite sore on our tush’s.

We made some scenic stops along the journey to take in the grandeur of the barren region, as well check out some camels, and my favorite was watching the sun slowly set over the desert. This funny couple was really into taking our picture as the sun set, so we got some killer pictures of us as they directed us to pose in silhouette positions – it was kind of strange, but all we cared about was getting a good picture.

The final destination of the safari was to a campsite setup literally in the middle of the desert. Here, we got to ride a camel, although we basically just went around in a circle in a little area (this was more about the photo op!). When we entered into the actual interior of the site, it was amazing to see the sprawl of carpets and pillows blanketing the sand, which is where we enjoyed a delicious traditional Arabic dinner. We also got to smoke the hookah underneath the stars in the open desert –that certainly hasn’t happened often in our lives. Lastly, we enjoyed an amazing performance of a belly-dancer who was absolutely incredible, pulling off some very unique moves. It was certainly an action packed evening that will be emblazoned in our minds.