Another night in the desert

We met everyone at the usual place and headed to Falaj Al Moula – we had such a good time last time we were there. A few people backed out at the last minute because the weather report called for thunderstorms and heavy rain but the nature lovers stopped to get quick Homer breakfast and headed North East.

Next time the cave

Next time I come my goal is to make it up to the cave.

Sights and sounds

We took our time to explore the area and took in the sights and sounds.

Hanging Gardens

We continued onwards and upwards and were not disappointed. The green foliage against the yellow rock was beautiful. We suspected that in wetter weather the waterfall would be more impressive but we enjoyed basking in the cool shade.

Lunch with a view

Back down we scrambled to climb back up the other side. Our fearless leader pointed to our far-away destination and we unquestioningly followed - but can we stop for lunch first?

Enjoying every minute of it

The rocks made climbing difficult but instead of focusing on my unexercised legs I was enjoying the beautiful rock formations and the view. Oh wait, weren’t we supposed to be over there?

Climbing Jebel Qatar

We reached the bottom of Jebel Qatar – beautiful – and started to climb.

Camel milk or Gatorade

In January a group of us drove about 1 hour from Dubai to hike around the Jebel Qatar area (aka Hanging Gardens Hike). Before arriving to our destination we came across a farmer tending to his herd of camels. We stopped to take a picture of the baby camels and the farmer took it upon himself to offer us some camel milk. It was so fresh we could feel the warmth coming through the water bottle he stored it in. We politely accepted and happily didn’t drink the milk which is now being used to make chocolate and may be sold at a store near you (http://www.canada.com/life/World+first+camel+milk+chocolates+goes+global/1812283/story.html).

Mother convicted of killing foetus in traffic accident

By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
Dubai: In an unprecedented ruling, a court on Sunday convicted a mother of accidentally killing her foetus in a traffic accident, prompting a prosecutor to stress that the law preserves the right of foetuses to live.
The Dubai Traffic Court of First Instance fined the 27-year-old Lebanese woman Dh2,000 and ordered her to pay Dh20,000 in blood money for accidentally killing her nine-month-old foetus. The blood money is to be paid to the foetus's successors. A person has to pay 10 per cent of blood money for accidentally killing a foetus, according to Sharia. In the UAE, blood money amounts to Dh200,000.
Salah Bu Farousha, Head of the Traffic Public Prosecution, advised women in the third trimester of pregnancy to avoid driving except in cases of urgent need.

"We are trying to protect the foetuses' rights to live... that right is protected by law. Pregnant women who are about to deliver should protect theirs and their foetuses' lives and avoid driving as much as possible except in emergencies. The Federal Penal Code punishes any suspect who accidentally causes the death of an individual," Bu Farousha told Gulf News. He said he considered the foetus to be a life. Hence, the woman was prosecuted.
The fine was suspended for three years, during which the accused must not repeat the crime.
The woman said she was not at fault. Records said the nine-month-old female foetus died after the umbilical cord was cut.
Bu Farousha said they charged the woman with reckless driving and failing to keep a safe distance with the car ahead of her.
"We have laws which protect foetuses and yesterday's verdict should be a deterrent," he said.
"We ruled out any criminal intentions and concentrated on the mother's accidental error, recklessness and failure to keep a safe distance. We prosecuted the woman to protect the foetus's rights and because accidental killing is punishable by law."

Dubai hotel offers food for those who lost jobs

This is the weirdest promotion I have ever seen . . .

Dubai hotel offers food for those who lost jobs: Gulf News

Hotel offers food for those who lost jobsDubai: A Dubai hotel is offering a free dinner to victims of the credit crunch. UAE Residents recently made redundant can eat for nothing at the Arabian Park hotel from December 15 until January 15, 2009. General Manager Mark Lee said: "To remind people of our value for money we're launching this special offer. Anyone who has lost their job simply needs to bring along their redundancy notice and their food is completely free." The complimentary dinners will be offered in the hotel's Brasserie restaurant.

Happy New Year - Falaj Al Molla

From the first time we visited Falaj Al Molla we wanted to come back to camp here. The first day of 2009 a group of us got together and did just that. We got a late start which made setting up camp much more entertaining. We had a few camping virgins with us who blended in quite well. Once the kababs, plastic burgers, potatoes and sausage were enjoyed some of us headed out for a walk in the desert looking for nocturnal animals. We found many large dung beetles, a snake and an indication of other larger animals. After a successful nature trip we settled into for the night with leftover Christmas goodies and of course marshmallows – yum! The pyromaniacs among us had fun forging for wood, dousing it in lighter fluid and adding empty boxes to mix; the whole time pretending they were doing it for comfort from the cold and protection from snakes. The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we lost some of our group and the rest of us headed home via Fossil Rock. The first dune proved to be a challenge and although Barry executed his new desert driving techniques and got us unstuck, we let the air out of our tires making it much easier for us to navigate sand dunes the rest of the way. We ended the day with a game of melon ball.