My taste of Dubai

Hello Lovely readers

I trust that everyone had a wonderful holiday, and even if you were working that you managed to take out some leisure time. Afterall, we live in a beautiful country with so many breathtaking sights.

Having said that, we decided to spend our break abroad, taking our boys on their first overseas trip. Every year we spend New Years out of Cape Town which is our timeshare week. The boys love our time at Pine Lake each year, but as they started growing up, other social events started happening back home. With this in mind, and the fact that my eldest, Ziyaad,will be turning 16 this year, starting a part-time job in December; we opted to do a special holiday to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Ziyaad (15) has expressed the need to spend some time with his buddies, so I have to accept the fact that this past holiday will be his last with us over our timeshare break. So onto the experience of Dubai….

Having only traveled to Europe and UK before, this was my first foray into an Arab country and I was genuinely impressed. My first impression is of a clean, safe and seriously organised country. During the following days, the city opened up like a beautiful bloom, exposing the impeccably clean streets, beautiful mosques and massive skyscrapers. My kids were overwhelmed and it was refreshing to see how my baby, Ihsaan (9), drank in everything he saw, touched and ate.

From sightseeing on the Big Bus, to Wild Wadi, The Dubai Mall & Aquarium, Burj Khalifa, there was so much to see and do. Whilst the food was rather pricey, especially when doing the conversion to ZAR, it was well worth being able to pick and choose since anything and everything was strictly Halaal. A far cry from my trips to Italy and France!

Of course we took in the sights at the Old Souks, and markets, engaging in the art of negotiating prices for goods. What an absolutely diverse city, with the Old Dubai (Deira Dubai) and the new, modern Dubai (Burj Dubai) one can really appreciate their amazing progress in a short 42 years.

After a week in Dubai, we moved onto Abu Dhabi where our first stop was Ferrari World. This was the highlight of the trip my kids had been eagerly anticipating. Some more shopping, and completing our Friday Prayers at the Grand Sheikh Zayed mosque ended our whirlwind visit through this great cosmopolitan city.

Even though we had a amazing time, it wasn’t without mishap. Ameer (13) landed in hospital and on a nebuliser by day 2; and losing Ihsaan (9) in Wild Wadi for about 45 minutes added a bit of drama never to be forgotten.

Hopefully the FEW pics will give you a taste of Dubai ….