Rainbolt Travel Diary

Planning a vacation from Lagos requires a lot of work. That is why I don’t do it. Gina is willing to sift through the ton of web sites, exchange emails with anyone and everyone, and sit patiently as the various airline websites load. She talks with people who have been to the places, she consults the travel books, looks at the hotel websites, and in general puts a lot of evening hours into putting together our vacations. When you are traveling with kids it just works better if you do the advance work.

This vacation was the same, but somehow what we booked and researched turned into something a bit different once we got to the places. We had intended to see some sights, and we did. We had planned for some time on the beach, which we got. We had planned to relax, which we did. We had not necessarily planned on adventure, but that is what we definitely got.

We knew that we wanted to visit Thailand. Several families around here had done the trip and there was nothing but positive reviews. Gina and I were very interested in traveling to Asia. We both had images of good meals, cheap souvenirs, and a bit of feeling of being back in a world filled with conveniences. Gina started to make plans for a Thailand trip. Looking back, Gina’s first choice is the one that turned this into an adventure holiday. We could fly to Thailand on Ethiopian Air with a layover in Addis Abba, or we could fly Emirates Air with a layover in Dubai. Both trips cost about the same. Dubai? The Middle East? Hmmm….Now if you already have a layover why not spend a few nights? A few nights in Ethiopia would not be much different from a few nights in Accra, or any other African city. We have done that. But a few nights in a Middle Eastern Country? Now that could be interesting.

With many of the student’s at AIS and more than a few parents Dubai is Disneyland gone wild: water parks, ski slopes in the desert, huge shopping malls, movie theaters every where you turn, and desert safaris. The adults talk about the 7-star hotels and the tax-free shopping. This just seemed like something we needed to checkout. Gina booked the flight through Dubai, and then we started considering places in Thailand. Looking at the map and the web site for Air Asia we began to include a trip to Hanoi, Vietnam into the Christmas plans. It was only an hour-long flight and round trip tickets were not that expensive. Our friends, the Vincent’s, thought the country was amazing and the guidebooks said it was a wonderful place to visit. More internet time and more airline etickets arrived in our email. The final itinerary included Dubai, Bangkok, Phi Phi Island, Khao Sok National Park, Cheow Lan Lake, Hanoi, and Hai Long Bay. No snow in this Christmas trip. When we were planning all of this, our friends Joseph and Mary Teauge, graciously decided to join us so we wouldn’t be alone for the holidays.

The adventure in Dubai began at the airport. The flight from Lagos arrived at 2 in the morning. I figured we would be in the airport forever. How many people are going to working at the immigration desk at 2 in the morning? I also admit I was planning for the worst at immigration based on my beliefs about what it would be like in an Arab country. I imagined a careful examination of all our luggage, a long page-by-page examination of our passports, and a long form to be filled out. We were, after all, Americans the second least liked people in that part of the world.


Dubai Mosque

When we got off the plane and were greeted by tall men with dark beards wearing the long white robes and the red and white checkered head coverings I was sure I was right. Then the idiot factor kicked in and I started to get a little nervous. We were going to be deported for sure. I was so wrong.

When we got to the international arrival hall, there were twenty immigration desks and every one of them had a person working at it. The immigration officer was polite, welcoming, and fast. Within 20 minutes, We had our luggage and the Teague’s had their luggage, and we were on our way to our hotel for a quick nap.

At this time I need to state the most amazing part of our whole break: Selma Hayek and I were in Dubai at the same time. Gina will remember it as the time she was in the mall with Brandon Fraser.

We actually had three adventures in Dubai. Adventure one: the kids and I went snow skiing. In the middle of the Arabian Desert we spent 2 hours gliding down the snow covered slopes of Ski Dubai. Jacob mastered the chairlift. Emily worked on right hand turns, and I managed to stay awake. Gina? Gina finished some Christmas shopping and along with Mary and Joseph, found us a dinner spot. It was fairly easy because Ski Dubai is an indoor ski slope in the middle of the second largest mall in the world which is right down the street from the largest mall in the world which is in the shadow of the soon to be completed tallest building in the world which is a few miles away from the most expensive hotel in the world. This fairly sums up Dubai.


Emily gets ready to sandboard

After a full nights sleep we tackled another kid friendly site; we headed out to the newly completed Atlantis Hotel to spend the day at the water park next to the hotel. The kids had a great time and I have to admit I did as well. We floated the lazy river and played on all the water slides. In the middle of the water park is reproduction of an ancient Babylonian pyramid. The pyramid is several stories tall and from the middle of it comes one long, steep, water slide. Jacob looked at the slide and said, “Not for me.” Emily looked at it and said in her developing pidgin accent, “What is this now! Are you crazy-o?” Gina didn’t say a word; the look said it all. Mary was already set up on her lounger and had her book open. Joseph and I were already climbing the steps to the slide. From the top of the pyramid you can see back into the city center skyline. The Burj Al Arab, which is shaped like a sail, could be seen rising up from the water. The cranes still working on the top floors of Burj Dubai seemed to touch the clouds. The crystal blue waters that surrounded the hotel were filled with small boats and expensive yachts. What couldn’t be seen from the top of the pyramid was the center section of the water slide. It just disappeared and this was not because I didn’t have my glasses on either. I started to wonder if this was more adventure than the trip required. Joseph just commented, “We climbed a lot of stairs.” There was no line, Gina and the kids were near the bottom with a camera, so the choice did seem limited. I went down the slide. For a brief moment it does feel as if you are free falling, then you plunge into a dark opening, which sends you sliding through an acrylic tube that runs through a giant aquarium tank before it dumps you out of the slide. When Jacob and I did the inner tube slide, which was one over, I had my glasses on and we were going slow enough to see that the aquarium tank was filled with sharks. The end result of the steep slide is both Joseph and I managed to make a couple of trips more down the slide to get our adrenaline fix for the day. Two days and two adventure outings.



Jacob's sandboard technique

Day three in Dubai was centered around a trip out to the desert in a four-wheel drive vehicle. The brochure said it was “a beautiful drive, through majestic sand dunes, to a beautiful desert oasis for a fine Arabian meal.” The words “dune bashing” did not appear on cover of the brochure. Dune bashing requires a stop just off the main road to let air out of the tires before headed out through the sand dunes rise and fall across the horizon. The drive sends the 4x4 up the side of the dune and lets it slide down the other side. When you get the feeling that the side ways drift of the car is going to send it cart-wheeling down dune, he straightens it out and charges up the next dune. The kids screamed, the adults said, “Ooohh oooh.” and we all laughed out loud as the process repeated itself. Jacob claims that dune bashing is at least a “three star roller coaster, but better because the ride is really long.” Somewhere in the middle of the desert, we stopped at the top of the dune and the driver brought out the sandboards. Jacob, Emily, and Joseph master the boards quickly and I verified the fact that skiing was enough for me. It only took one ride to the bottom of the dune to come up with another comparison. Climbing a dune is like a Stairmaster on 7 but longer. I step up and you slide two steps back. At the top, I was hot, sweaty, sandy, and gasping for air. After my third workout up the hill, I was again gasping, but this time it was not physical exertion that caused the sharp intake of air. The sun was setting over the dunes and it was truly amazing. The sand absorbed the rose hues from the setting sun and the shadows turned the valleys a deeper red. The open horizon quickly filled with layers of orange and pink that quickly filled with deep blue of a night sky.

Desert Scenary

It took longer to empty the sand from our pockets, shoes, and socks then it did to drive to the dinner spot. We were still digging sand from out of our pants pockets a week later. We sampled Arabic coffee, which was worse than any coffee I had ever tried; Gina and the kids got henna tattoos. Joseph and I set in a corner and enjoyed a hookah pipe. We had grilled chicken, dates, and a lot of grilled vegetables under more stars than you can see in a city. Of course, there was belly dancing and pictures with a camel, and the opportunity to buy the Arab headdress. We passed on all of those and just enjoyed our third adventure of the trip.


End of the Day

And…all this happens in Dubai with Selma Hayek.