Abu Dhabi – do!!
On arrival we were whisked off to the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr to settle in. Next morning we were whisked off again – this time by Jetboat!! Yellow Boats Tours offer scenic trips along the corniche and are a great way of seeing the layout of the city. After leaving the sedate fishing harbour we set out to sea for an exhilarating trip to Yaz Island. Mooring up in the marina was a fitting arrival to the island home of Ferrari World and the Yaz F1 track – although I can’t say that we looked very glamorous at that point!
The Yaz Hotel looks amazing – it straddles the F1 track and has a shell which changes colour. It can be seen from miles around and is currently the largest LED installation in the world. The styling continues inside, it’s light, airy and all six of the restaurants have terraces with views of the track. Virtually next door, Ferarri World is home to Formula Rossa – currently the world’s fastest and fifth longest roller coaster. Any repairs to our appearance were undone by the Rossa & G Force but it would be a shame to go there and not ride the top rides!
Our evening was spent at the Emirates Palace. The hotel was full so we were very limited in what we could see but the food was excellent and the service was everything you would expect from a hotel of this standard.
At the end of a more traditional city tour, we arrived at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque for a private tour. Ladies have to don a black Abaya and headscarf provided at the entrance to take a tour - but it’s worth it. This building is stunning and houses Swarovski crystal chandeliers, white marble from around the world with decorated walls and pillars. The main prayer hall has the largest hand made carpet in the world and the mosque can accept over 40,000 worshippers!
Abu Dhabi has great plans & Saadiyat Island will soon be home to four iconic projects. The Zayed National Museum, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, an incredible looking performing arts centre & the marina with a half submerged hotel! There is already a world class Gary Player golf course open on Saadiyat.
We returned to have a wonderful lunch at the Fairmont in their Italian, Marco Pierre White restaurant ‘Frankie’s’. I hadn’t been a fan of this more modern face of Fairmont – until now! Our contemporary room was very generous in size with a freestanding bath and rainfall ‘wet room’ shower. The upgraded rooms have a view of the mosque but for a ‘standard’ room, ours was very impressive.
The final part of our whirlwind weekend - how can you visit a desert nation without going to the desert? We were picked up in two huge Land Cruisers and drove for around an hour. We entered the desert and stopped at camp where we saw some falconry & I thought we would transfer to different vehicles for the dune driving. To my surprise we took the same vehicles back into the dunes! These dunes looked to us like huge walls of sand and I’m amazed that we got to the ridges on top – even more amazed that we got back down in one piece – albeit sometimes sideways! It was certainly both a more comfortable and more dramatic ride than I expected!
Later, after riding camels and quad biking we moved to the main area of camp for a desert barbecue dinner complete with a resident henna artist. After dinner we went outside the compound to sit under the stars on rugs having Arabic tea made in the embers from the fire, hearing how most people lived in Abu Dhabi in camps such as this only 30 years ago – before the discovery of oil took over from the traditional pearling industry.
Abu Dhabi is proud of it’s history and is building a great & generous nation for its nationals and visitors alike. Again - in 10 years time it will have changed hugely and I for one would love to return and watch it grow.