The last camping weekend of the season

April is a warm month so we explored some new areas in an attempt to find a cool spot. Although the sights were beautiful we didn’t find a decent campsite so we revisited a tried and true spot which already held memories for us. On the way home the next day we came across an interesting flock of goats. This wasn’t only the last camping trip of the season it was also the last UAE camping trip with a very close friend who was moving from Dubai a few weeks later.  We will miss you!

International symbol

You may not be able to read Arabic but you know what they're serving.

A tribute to our Coleman tent

Our tent, of Dubai, UAE, passed away suddenly in April 2010 on an island near Abu Dhabi.

Our tent is survived by Heidi and Barry who appreciated the shelter it provided throughout these two years of memorable camping trips.

Our tent came to be after two camping trips with a borrowed tent. After those two trips we realised that we would be doing much more camping during our time in the UAE. We took a trip to the local Carefour to select our tent and since then it travelled with us to the desert, mountain terrain and through wind and rain. Our tent grew used to the UAE sights and soon ventured to Oman where it proved to be more than just any tent and provided comfort in the highest of altitudes.

The dung beetles of the desert were damaging and left a hole in the side of our tent during a hot September camping trip and we then we noticed his poles getting weak. Not wanting to retire he stood strong with the help of gorilla tape and was happy to provide shelter and never was a struggle to put up until that one windy night on an island in the Arabian Gulf.

The wind was constant and strong. We placed him beside a stronger tent to shield him from the most wind but nothing stopped the relentless pull of Gulf winds against the tent walls. Even with ropes our tent was bending with the wind. We piled sand against the tent to keep it on the ground and although it didn’t look very welcoming, we decided that sleeping inside of the tent was better than sleeping on the ground – it turned out to be the last and most comfortable night we spent in our tent and because the fly couldn’t be attached we had a full view of the stars and moon.

Goodbye tent.

Island camping

It’s hard to tell from the pictures but the wind was relentless! We were so pleased to be camping on an island that we just simply enjoyed it anyway. Although we were confident the wind would die down at night – it did not. We spent the day sun bathing, burying/cooking half a lamb in the sand (yummy!), exploring our little island, saving an owl from drowning and eventually we fought against the wind and attempted to put up the tent. The wind blew the peg holders from perfectly round to perfectly straight and blew the tent right out of the ground. Our tent met its match. We used the sand and extra rope to hold the tent down to the ground and surprisingly - eventually - had the best night’s sleep in this tent ever. That said, our tent was never the same again. We had a great time – very memorable.