Abu Dhabi
And Some More Camping
6th December - 12th December | 2023
The next morning I had a bit of a lazy morning and in the afternoon I went to the famous Sheik Zayed Mosque. If you ever get to Abu Dhabi you have to visit this mosque as everything is just breathtaking (in terms of biggest, largest, etc.). After that impressive visit, I went on the hunt to get a local SIM card. The GCC countries are already not cheap, but UAE is really expensive for SIM cards, but I needed one.
The next day, in the afternoon I went along the Corniche and went to visit the Louvre. I thought you also could visit the architecture from inside and the museum is another section, but unfortunately, you would have to buy a ticket for all. As there is nothing really interesting for me to visit in the museum I just had a stroll around the building. Later on I met up with Musdaque (FB: Musdaque Chowdhury (Raj)), an Overlander biker from Bangladesh. It was really interesting to listen to his story. He and his wife want to travel the world with his small motorbike. Listening to his amazing story you realise how good it is to have a German passport. That makes visa requests and travelling really easy. With his story you realise what a difference the nationality in passports makes!
The next morning, I had an early check-out as I had booked to visit the “Royal Falcon Hospital” (www.falconhospital.com). I once saw a report of another overlander couple and it made me really curious! It was not easy to find it as there is a lot of construction going on around the place, but I made it, as sometimes helpful to be on a bike and going down pathways!
I had to check in with the reception for the tour, which was already impressive walking into that waiting room. There were the owners with their falcons sitting! That felt so unreal! After a short time of waiting (having a cafe) the guided tour through the hospital and its history started. It was all so amazing, especially when we were allowed to come into the treatment room. There were all the falcons lined up and waiting to be treated. We were lucky as it was the start of the hunting season, so they came in for their “MOT”. Usually they get checked over including blood tests and ultrasounds. The feathers get thoroughly checked and of course some pedicure for the claws. We could watch the treatment on one falcon, which first gets under anaesthesia for the treatment.
After the treatment one of our group could feed (as a treat) one of the falcons. Wow, how amazing was that! And then we all could have a falcon sitting on our arm. What a moment! I should have studied for veterinary (as that was my childhood dream job, until I had to learn latin!), then I could apply to work here ;-) We also visited the nursery of the birds and then the tour was already finished - far too fast as super interesting! However it is not a very cheap tour, but for me it was definitely worse!
After that I drove to Al Ain, where I will meet Katia again as we are planning to do some camping. She was already with Tiago and Maria, a Portuguese couple I was already in touch with via Instagram a while back. It was so nice to meet them all and finally speak some Portuguese ;-) Tiago went with us up to Jebel Hafeet which was a lovely twisty road up. We girls peered our eyes out to see if we found a suitable camping spot for the night, but the parking lots didn't look too inviting for us as there were no facilities for us girls. Also there was nothing suitable or allowed down in the park at Jebel Hafeet. We waved goodbye to Tiago and we went to a camping spot we found on iOverlander close to Lake Zakhor.
We found a very nice spot in the parking / picnic area to pitch up our tents, with a great view over Jebel Hafeet. Luckily the picnic places are not illuminated so we could have a good night sleep. During the night though I started with a sore throat - not good!
Once all packed up on the bikes in the morning we went back to the main road and tried to find a place to fuel up the bikes and find some breakfast. Once done, we went to the so-called “Ghost Village” at Al Madam. We were lucky we found an easy entry point to it as most of the tracks leading to it were deep sand tracks. It was such an amazing place, a lost place and the sand started to take over. We met a group of Jeep drivers from Dubai, and they later provided Katia with amazing places to go to in Oman.
On the way out, we quickly stopped at a car mechanic that seems to specialise in old cars. It was so amazing seeing some old cars parked around! After some pictures we went to find again a place for fuel and a snack and to top up some snacks for tonight camping up at Jebel Yanas.
The dirt road up to Jebel Yanas was in parts pretty tricky as loose stones, but manageable for us two biker girls. The last kilometre to the top however, we had to give it a miss as it is rutted (by jeeps) and loose stones. So we turned around and slid down to a lower level. As it was pretty windy and would be getting cold, we decided to go some more levels down for the camping during the night.
We found one on a big parking lot, but no bush to hide and on the level above us were a group of campers too. So we had to wait until dark for our necessaries ;-) Again, this is the moment you wish to be a man! It was really nice to see the sunset here in the mountains, but unfortunately I started to feel really run down and feverish. The fever and sore throat continued all night so I decided that I need to get as fast as possible into a hotel for tonight.
After all packed in, we went down to the nearest town to a fuel station for some breakfast snacks. I started searching for a hotel in Ras Al-Khaimah that was much cheaper than Dubai. Katia carried on to another spot she wanted to visit and camp for the night. So we hugged our good-byes as it is probably the last time we will meet each other as she is then off to Oman and me soon back home to Germany and Portugal.
I arrived at the Citymax hotel in Ras Al-Khaimah and it didn't take me long to crash in my bed. The hotel was of a very good standard! When I woke up later on I got a message from Katia that she will be in the hotel too as her camping plans didn't work out as she couldn't find a suitable spot. So we met for dinner :-D It was so great seeing her again!
The next morning we had breakfast together at a nearby fuel station and then we went to a supermarket together as Katia needed some things for the ongoing travelling. After that she left to visit Jebel Jais. I went back to rest as I was still feeling run down. In the evening we went for a local restaurant close by which was super delicious (and cheap).
The next morning, we had once more breakfast together, it was definitely time to say good-bye to each other. Boa viagem Katia!
At lunchtime I went myself up to Jebel Jais, but you cannot go to the top as you only can access if you got a reservation at the restaurant or the hotel. However, you had a fantastic scenic view, but with a cafe it would have been nicer. Back at the hotel, I felt I was improving, but still not 100%.
I hope you enjoyed also the past days and we are coming soon to an end ... can you believe it: one more blog next week Sunday and the time in the Middle East comes to an end (for this year)! Also some other changes will come up ... so in the meantime grab yourself in the meantime your favourite drink!
Places | Cities:
Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Jebel Hafeet, Jebel Yanas, Jebel Jais.
Driven km | Trip:
Total | Steffi: 35445 km
Information Border Crossings:
./.
Maintenance | Breakdown:
./.
Health issues:
Flu.
Special thanks to:
(Nomad) Katia to share your experience of Overlanding and being such a cool driving buddy.
The Royal Falcon Hospital for being such an interesting place in Abu Dhabi.