Desert Activities at Al Maha Resort

I was told that my company had to pay US$400 per person per night to cover our rooms and choice of two activities in the desert. The meeting package and desert dinner should be subjected to additional fee.

Actually our schedule only allowed one activity for each of us. Our company had short-listed Falconry, Sand Skiing and Nature Walk for us. The other activities included camel trekking, archery.....view the full list of Al Maha activities.

Though Al Maha was famous for its Timeless SPA treatments, we just didn’t have time to try it out.

Personally, I was afraid that Falconry could be quite bloody and Sand Skiing too exciting, so I have opted for a Nature Walk.

To avoid the sunny heat, we had to start at 6am. Only Sheila and I were in the group, accompanied by our Field Guide Gavin.

Gavin showed us how to spot the desert habitats by their unique footprints. Zigzags were snakes; 3x2 mini holes were beetles; holes like the size of our little finger were homes of spiders; gazelles footprints were bigger for the fore limbs and smaller for the rears; footprint shapes like dogs and cats were oryx and fox. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any of these creatures except oryx and gaxelle which could be seen almost anywhere within Al Maha. The Walk concluded in about an hour.

Gavin, our Field Guide took us to Nature Walk at dawn

After the morning activities, we all joined together for a Dubai city tour, followed by a 5-star cruise on a private boat. Our German guide told us that UAE is such a rich country that the locals don’t have to work. All those who have to work are from overseas. Due to the limited time we had, we were only able to visit one shopping arcade and a souk where my colleagues were madly shopping for carpets and shawls.

As for myself, I only wanted to buy the three little jars from my bath room and also the beautiful set of cutlery from the hotel restaurant. However both items were not for sale. That was the only complaint I had for Al Maha. After all, my only souvenir was the three post cards which were free from my tent (see below).

Al Maha Desert Resort Activities

Anna's Amazing Journeys