Friday 18th and Saturday 19th April
Today dawned bright and clear and as we manoeuvred to begin our approach through the channels to Dubai. We could see the low lying man-made islands that lay off the coastline. Once again we looked out on a very low lying coastline with its display of high rise buildings. One unusual aspect of this coastal approach were the brilliant blue-white lights that shone out at us from various points along the shore. I thought at first that they were electric arc signalling lights of the type used on board warships, which double as search lights because of the intensity of the light. It slowly became apparent that this was in fact the sun rising behind us and reflecting back from the glass façades of the buildings on the horizon. Dubai has a more spiky or pointy outline than Abu Dhabi and as we drew closer we could see the more prominent (and famous) buildings begin to come into focus. The most famous of which is of course the Burj Al Arab but almost as prominent, though further inland, were the Emirates Towers and the Burj Khalifa. It is a much more spectacular sea approach than Abu Dhabi. Entering the cruise terminal basin we could see outlined on the reclaimed land opposite, plots for new high rise hotels and buildings which will form the new cruise terminal. Landscape planting of the gardens and palm trees had already begun even though not one brick had been laid, what a contrast to building work in the UK where the building is constructed first and the landscaping carried out almost as an afterthought.
Once berthed we had plenty of time for breakfast as transport for our seaplane flight was not due to depart until 10:00am. We went down to the terminal at about 09:45 and on the dot we picked up in a luxury Mercedes minibus and smoothly whisked away through Dubai to the Park Hyatt Hotel which was part hotel part luxury apartments, its grounds swept down to the inland waterway where our aircraft was moored at a small jetty. Prior to boarding we were all photographed individually (or in pairs) on the jetty. We were told that this was for a souvenir photo / certificate, I didn’t say anything to Carol (she was nervous enough), but the thought crossed my mind that it was for identification purposes should we end up embedding ourselves in one of the many high-rises we would fly round/between. Our extremely personable pilot Andy welcomed us aboard (with a slight antipodean accent) and said the escape routes would be demonstrated by the two guys outside the aircraft as there was not enough room inside. As we were sitting at the front, we had to rely on the people at the rear to remember what was said because it seemed a rather complicated arrangement of a top gullwing and a lower step door clipping together. It was an eight seater aircraft and each seat had a window. Once airborne we could move around inside the cabin if we wished to take pictures out of the opposite windows. After being told what the flight plan was and shown where we could find our laminated maps, we strapped ourselves in and Andy wound up the turbo prop. We watched in fascination as he flicked switches on the huge panel in front of him and various images of dials and barcharts flashed momentarily on the video displays in the centre of the console.
The frequency of the turbine had reached and then exceeded my range of hearing when he reached down between the two front seats and pulled a leaver. Immediately we heard the deep growl of the prop beginning to bite the air and we surged forward away from the jetty. Our speed increased until we were almost flying as we taxied down to where we would start our take off. The buildings either side flashed by and what amazed me was Andy could not see out of the front windows above the control panel, partly because of the angle of the plane and partly because he was as short as I am. He looked out of the side window as if he too was enjoying the ride. After what seemed an age the revs slowed and we settled down into the water again, Andy then turned to us and said with a grin “well that’s it folks welcome back and I hope you enjoyed your flight”.
A few moments later after we had turned around (done a one eighty as the jargon has it) and were facing back down the water. We watched again as Andy flicked a few more switches, muttered into his microphone, the whistle increased again, this time at a much faster rate until it reached its crescendo roar and the hand went down again to the lever. Up it came, the growl this time had a more serious gravelly bite to it, the surge forward pushed us well back into our seats and we noticed that Andy now had both hands on the column, hanging on as if his life depended on it, (which I guess it did, ours too). We accelerated up to what seemed a phenomenal speed, buildings, trees, cars flashed by, we zipped under a couple of bridges, no I made that bit up, but the banks were so close it wouldn’t have surprised me. Spray was flying up from the skis and the ride was as smooth as silk as we lifted up. The ground fell away rapidly as we climbed to about fifteen hundred feet before banking sharply away towards the coastline.
It was Carol’s first trip in a small plane and those first few robust manoeuvres were a bit disconcerting, but within minutes the views beneath us totally absorbed her. Andy flew a course which allowed both sides of the cabin the same views, timing his turns so that we were in a perfect position to take our time taking photos. However with the aircraft banking so sharply, the people on the opposite side of the cabin had almost as good a view as the ones next to the window on the inside of the turn. We flew up the coast with views of Dubai’s buildings on one side and the islands on the opposite side. We then returned over the sea performing lazy snaking S turns and circling, first clockwise then anti clockwise. Close enough to see people on the ground stare up at us staring down at them. Past the world which had only a few islands occupied with villas and landscaping, the remaining islands just barren sand dunes. The world islands are protected by a huge circular breakwater which overlapped at the entry point, making it difficult for the postman to find. The palm was almost fully developed with only a couple of empty fronds. The scale of this development is almost beyond comprehension as we looked down and saw just how many villas were on each frond, the design such that each villa has a huge private beach. We then headed inland circling the buildings many of which towered above us. Then further on looking down on the various race and golf courses, all immaculately kept, before finally and rapidly losing height as we dropped back to the small strip of water we had left 40 minutes previously. We touched down so smoothly we were hardly aware that we were down, if it had not been for the spray zipping past the windows. I think we both agreed that this had been one of the best experiences of the cruise. We were then presented with our photo of departure and certificate to authenticate our flight. It was all over too soon and we were on our way back to the ship to prepare for our evening ashore at the ships world voyagers gala dinner cruisers dinner.
Showered and dressed in best bib and tucker we left the ship once more for the Madinat Jumeirah. As we arrived we joined the line to shake hands with the Captain and several other officers and dignitaries before availing ourselves of the hospitality available on the many silver trays circulating in the assembled guests. Whilst waiting for everyone to arrive we wandered around various distractions put on to amuse, like having your name written in Arabic and having tour photo taken with the various hawks being held by their handlers. It was more amusing to watch some faces as the birds were put on their wrists, because the birds themselves were so calm they could have been stuffed (they weren’t, by the way), but some people looked so terrified that you would think they had an alligator on their wrist. Further on I spoke to a lady who had her name written in Arabic and she asked how she could know it said what they told her it said. I told her you will never know, because it says, whatever you do, do not tell this lady what I’ve written here. The look on her face was a picture, so was the look on mine, as there were only four letters (or symbols) written on the card.
After an hour or so we made our way in to a huge hall where sixty or so round tables were set around a central stage. I can’t go through all the entertainment that was laid on, suffice to say it was lavish and continuous. Ranging from popular European songs, to whirling dancers with illuminated costumes. My favourite was the belly dancers, one lady came right up to where I was kneeling (filming!-stop it!) and mesmerised me. (See video). When I found my way back to the table Carol asked me why my eyes were rotating like Catherine wheels. But like everything, all good things have to come to an end and we eventually found ourselves outside warming up because Carol found the air conditioning a bit too fierce and as it was getting a late, instead of going back in we clambered aboard a waiting coach that was about to depart. The trip back was just as fascinating as the journey in, all the buildings in ‘Down Town Dubai’ were now festooned in their finest illuminations and seen close up, were more spectacular than from a distance. By any standard, it was a good night.
We were a tad late getting up the following day, but that was not too much of a problem as we were going to have a look at the various markets close by where we were berthed. We finally wandered ashore and grabbed a taxi into the spice souk. This was a fascinating veritable warren of narrow alleyways with tiny stalls many of which were packed from floor to ceiling with spices and herbs. Stall holders were only too willing to talk at length about all the different products and what they were used (or good) for, opening jars and saying smell this. Some were pungent some were sublime, I would have bought most of what was shown me if it wasn’t for that moderating influence, otherwise known as a wife. I did end up getting some vanilla pods which were as cheap as chips, even there I ended up getting half the quantity I originally wanted, as Carol said we are not going to use all that before it starts to go off.
We spent a couple of hours or more getting lost in this maze before walking back along the creek, we toyed with the idea of popping into the gold souk but we guessed from the few shops on the outside it would be the same as the others and as our legs were just about to drop off. So we made our way back to the ship sailing was early tonight and as I am late with this dispatch I’ll close for now.
[Video quality due to dad’s phone only sending low res versions to his cloud storage. I’ll replace them if I get my hands on the originals – Paul]
