Dubai - 2009  (Before Africa)

The first pit stop on our great African Adventure was Dubai. It seemed to take forever to get here with a layover in Frankfurt. Dubai seems quite massive, and yes everything was under construction. Drivers here are fast and impatient but they seem to get around thanks to the honking of the horn. The global recession has been felt here, with many construction projects slowing or stopping. It seems that all the development has lead to a feeling of no "heart". Since there are few people "from" Dubai, there is no "soul". Many are just migrant workers from somewhere else trying to make a living. Imagine a major city whose downtown core is all under construction at one time. Now build several of those downtown cores all at once. It becomes a mish mash of design styles and one upmanship. It can best be described as the "Middle East for Dummies". All signs are in Arabic and english with most of the stores and fast food places your used to. The highlight of the trip was the dessert safari. We piled into a Toyota Land Cruiser and bounced around on sand dunes for a while. As we started taking our anti-malarial tablets, the excitement built for the great African Adventure to begin.