I’ve been meaning to write about Dubai because this was the last part of our Africa trip. You can go back and read about my time in Ethiopia and Tanzania if you’re curious! This post chronicles my time in Dubai, which was just for an afternoon/evening but a really enjoyable one.

To Dubai

FlyDubai

We took the Emirates budget airlines called FlyDubai mainly because it was the best and cheapest way to get to Dubai from Zanzibar. The flight is actually long, around 5 hours, and we left early in the morning and landed sometime in the afternoon. The flight is alright, and actually above what I thought it would be for a budget airline. I think the worst part is the flight time but that can’t be helped.

Dubai Airport

Dubai Airport is efficient and it was amazing how quick we cleared immigration. We were only connecting through and had an 18-hour layover but man the Dubai Airport was so efficient. He looked at my passport and said welcome to Dubai. That was all within 15 minutes getting off the plane. Truly impressed.

Dubai Airport is also modern and easy to get around. I was impressed with how efficient everything operated and would highly recommend if you need to connect through here. I’ll talk about Emirates later because I really loved flying with them to Chicago.

Dubai Desert

So from the airport, we booked a tour to go out to the desert to ride a camel, dune bash, and boogie board in the sand. It was a way to do something with our layover in Dubai and this tour I can highly recommend. Now there are many tours to choose from but I checked on TripAdvisor and went with Dubai Private Tour. It is well worth the money and our tour guide was awesome. He does this tour nearly every day and he knew exactly how to fulfill this short 3-hour tour.

Camel Ride

So the camel ride was the shortest part of our tour. It’s not exactly what I thought it was going to be at first, I mean it’s right next to a busy road and next to people riding around on RV. So basically it’s just for a picture on a camel but still fun. It’s at the Al Bedayer which is a desert recreation area and contains all these activities.

Boogie Boarding on Sand

The second part of the tour was to boogie board on sand dunes at the same site. Now although you can still see people atving, the dunes themselves are very high and we were separated from the rest of the large group. Honestly, we felt mostly alone during our time since the area is huge and extends into the desert.

Boogie boarding on sand is quite an experience. First of all, it’s hot, so in the videos keep that in mind. Also, it’s very messy and the sand got everywhere. However, this was so much fun and certainly something I’ve always wanted to do. Coming back up the dunes is so, so tiring because the temperatures were at around 110 F. I was literally sweating just going up a little part of the dune.

Dune Bashing

The last part of the tour is called dune bashing and it’s basically driving up and down dunes. You’d think this would be dangerous but it really isn’t and certainly the easiest way to have fun in the desert. Our tour guide was great and took us up and down the entire area of the dunes. This is a highly recommended tour and I certainly would recommend doing it again!

Downtown Dubai

From the desert, we then drove into Dubai for the evening. The journey is not that far, maybe 45 minutes and it was nice to have the sun go down so much cooler temperatures. We decided to check into our hotel and then head to the souks and downtown Dubai.

DoubleTree by Hilton at Business Bay

We stayed away from the exact city center to save money. Dubai hotels are very cheap and what you get for the price is truly amazing. This is why I would recommend connecting through Dubai as it’s easy to connect through and the quality is high.

The DoubleTree is only a taxi ride away from the downtown area. Technically we could have walked it but we were told it’s better and cheap to just take a taxi. Also, this was a brand new hotel and some of the taxi drivers were confused about where it actually was.

Downtown

The downtown area is large and mostly built for shopping. Honestly, this really what you’re going to do in Dubai if you’re staying around this area. Is it like a giant shopping mall? Yes, it really but the quality of food and shopping is high so I’ll give it some credit. Plus it is very hot in Dubai, even at night. The only way to feel comfortable at times is to stay indoors like at the Dubai Shopping Mall.

By the way, the Dubai Shopping Mall is very important they have it’s own taxi queue and a huge area for visitors to unload. This is pretty much where all the tourists stop when coming to downtown Dubai.

We decided to have some Asian food and just kind of chill inside. We also went to the Dubai Water Fountain show, which is like a bigger Las Vegas show. I recommend doing this if you have time but I don’t think I would go out of my way.

Also nearby are what I call the shi-shi souks. A normal souk would be more craft-like but here the souks are in modern buildings and inside. It was cool to visit but we bought nothing from these souks.

Overall it’s just a shopping mall and we didn’t’ expect it to be anything different. There is enough to do for an afternoon if we wanted to shop but honestly, we have all these stores in Chicago. We came to rest, chill and just check out downtown Dubai. Is it overrated? Maybe slightly but it’s part of the Dubai scene.

Emirates – Dubai to Chicago

Our flight was at 9:00 am the next day so we woke up kind of early and then went direct to Dubai Airport. Like I said the airport is super efficient and we had an easy time getting through customs. The only thing I noticed is the extra security to fly back to the United States and it does make sense but it was on the more excessive side. We had a nice Emirates guy check our bags before settling in the area for our flight.

We choose the back of the plane in a 2 seater as this plane was on a 777. Now Emirates makes you pay for these 2 seats together but if you check in and these seats are still available, they will let you choose them for free. So that’s what we did. And although we were in the back of the plane we had an amazing time.

Emirates gives you free wine, beer, etc. The food was above other airlines. The free movie selection was incredibly extensive. And the best part was that this flight was direct to Chicago.

I had amazing views from my seats as well. This flight flew over Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and then into the United States. It’s about a 15-hour flight but this flight did not feel that long. Super easy and very enjoyable.

Thoughts on Dubai, UAE

I want to say that Dubai has never really been on the top of my list to travel to. The human rights record is to be desired and the fact that this country is homophobic doesn’t make me feel fuzzy towards it. And Dubai itself is kind of soulless. Yes it has tall buildings and yes it has shopping and good food but there really isn’t’ anything beyond that. And that’s okay, we expected all of this.

Beyond that the desert was fun and we did have a great time with our tour. We also were never asked about our relationship with each other and never felt like we would get ourselves in trouble. We stuck to the rules and enjoyed Dubai for what it was. I think if you expect Dubai to conform to your ideas you’re going to have a bad time. Overall it was a pleasant time in Dubai and a great 24 hours.