Sundowner Dune dinner / Desert Safari

I was pretty excited for this given the great reviews, but was left feeling only luke-warm about it. I should say upfront that we booked through our hotel, and didn't ask many questions about the service, which may have been the first mistake - but since it was in a price range (~$65) similar to the plethora of tours I'd seen advertised under a variety of companies, I assumed they were pretty much all the same.



For the record, we went with Oasis Palm.

But to start with the positives:-Vehicles (ours and the 10 or so others from Unique that we traveled with) were fairly new Toyota Land Cruisers and felt perfectly safe. -The driver seemed experienced and while the dune driving was thrilling it was never terrifying- We were picked up relatively on time and returned on time as well- The dune driving was indeed fun, reminiscent of the kind of off-roading that your parents didn't want you to do as a teenager...it would make anyone feel like a bit of a giggly little kid-It was nice to get out of the city, and makes for a very easy, all-inclusive evening - would be a great thing to do with kids!



Some negatives:-Our driver seemed to be a nice enough guy, but very quiet and there was not an ounce of a tour guide in him - unlike some of the other reviews that raved about the hospitality and knowledge provided by the drivers.-We did stop for taking photos after a bit of dune driving, but unfortunately it was about 20 minutes too early to catch the sunset; the sun was still too high to even cast a romantic glow on things-No camel farm on our trip - I would have enjoyed that, but then again we probably should have asked ahead of time...-There was a camel ride opportunity once we reached the camp, but it was kind of like a typically sad pony ride that you get at a low quality county fair - the poor camel walked in a circle of about 20 steps before he had to lay down again to switch riders...it was free, but I would rather have paid $10 and been brought on a 5 minute (instead of 45 second ride)-The "traditional Bedouin camp" was a bit of a laugh - which I would have expected to some degree, but really...some effort could have been made to make it even remotely educational or cultural (save for the fenced-in camp atmosphere, which gave it a vaguely, vaguely traditional feel). Instead there was a souvenir stall, a snack bar (Pringles, popcorn and Heineken), a henna station and a shisha/hooka bar...again, kind of had the feeling of a county fair modern UAE-style.



No MC to guide you through the evening or explain to you where you were, what was going on, etc. Belly-dancing was a single dancer who I thought was mediocre, and the majority of the 1.5/2hrs spent there were occupied by watching the very large group of young Arab/Pakistan and Indian tourists dancing on the belly-dancer stage under disco lights.



Food was OK, though not outstanding, and again it would have been nice to hear from SOMEONE who was even remotely close to being an authority on Bedouin culture to explain why what we were eating was traditional (I suspect it wasn't).



In summary, it was an OK evening away from the city, and the dune driving was fun. Because I was in good company with my partner, it probably would have taken a lot to ruin our evening, and we simply enjoyed talking through the more ridiculous parts of the evening. If I had the chance to do it again, I'd search around and make sure I was with a more attentive tour company. Ours was NOT even remotely a cultural experience. I know it's difficult to get 'authentic' culture on a package mini-tour like this, but some effort could have been made - if you're going to call it a traditional Bedouin camp, at least pretend to the live up to the name; otherwise, just advertise that tourists will be brought to a camp in the middle of the desert where they can dance under disco lights and eat Pringles and drink Heineken :)